Riding into Ecuador

After crossing the Ecuadorian border Matt, Dylan, and I agreed to stop in Tulcan. Made for a blessedly short day for me - we needed it after the monster climbing session into Ipiales. Nobody really recommends Tulcan, Ecuador as a tourist destination, I believe Lonely Planet refers to it as a "cold, windswept, gritty, commercial city." Just a border city with a bunch of people going about their daily business - surrounded by lots of potatoes. We caught the afternoon World Cup game, Paraguay v. Spain 0:1, at a Chifa (Andean Chinese food) and sampled Ecuador's beer selection. We stayed at a friendly family run hotel by a small plaza and church with a wedding. The city was downy jacket cold but an enjoyable place with people going about their business - plus it has a velodrome and Matt's dad lived there as a child!
I feel a little over tourist destinations at times. I feel as if I am being sold something which I am. Reminded me of a Freddy Nietzsche quote, "All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth." Our choice of tourist destinations is no different. Strolling a beachfront of luxury hotels, condos, and timeshares. Walking in awe the cobbled pathways of monumental colonial administrative centers. Skipping from one to the next. All very nice but unrelated to our daily lives, yet we revel in our association without asking how did this come to pass? Therefore, I enjoy the pace of the bicycle as you pass through every point in between. The points between can be the most rewarding. You are not so much off the beaten path as you are forced to look at the path.Ecuador is immediately different. A kind of bluntness that some use to characterize the Andes. Not to make others sound false but there can be an honesty in advertising like this mural in front of a military installation that is nothing like the "Army of One" or heroics of Colombian military ad campaigns . . .A soldier is lying in the foreground with a hole in his head and people are getting blown to bits in the background. And alcoholism in Ecuador . . . not a disease or a choice but a defect.I'll drink to that, after I pop my over the counter diazapan (Valium), and smoke a cheap cigarette. Initially, we enjoyed the escape from the heat into the high mountains but now it is raining and cold. The weather is uncharacteristic for the sesaon but reminds me of the first two months in the United States.After 40 odd kilometers of rain - through beautiful green country side - we stop at a chifa in San Gabriel. I spent about five minutes ordering and explaining that I did not want ahi no moto (msg) - "yo no quiero ahi no moto" (x8) then "oh! ahi no moto" . . . uh yeah . . . After finishing eating, watching the rain, and trying to discern how many butt cheeks were in the boteroesque statuary in the small plaza - we decided to wander into San Gabriel to find a hospedeja. We dropped our stuff at the Residencial Montufour ($3 night) on the main square and we headed out to cruise the Sunday scene in San Gabriel. The town appears to be a small regional center with neatly laid out streets ascending into the surrounding hillsides - perhaps 5,000 people living there. People are out socializing with a few drunks wobbling about the main plaza but overall streets are quiet. We walked past the church to look up at the enormous San Gabriel Angel rising from the roof. Men are playing a curious game with large wooded paddles covered with small rubber cones and ball about half the size of a soccer ball. Occasionally, an errant ball rolls down the street to the valley below and boys on bikes give chase. In the field adjacent, in front of the gymnasium, is a spirited game of volley ball. The rain appears to be tapering so we grab a a few beers and walk across town to climb five blocks of stairs to a lookout. We sip our beer while a group plays guitar and sings nearby, apparently a few beers ahead of us. As the clouds clear we catch our first glimpse of a snow covered peak in the distance and are thankful to not be setting up camp despite the clearing.
Upon walking back towards the center and relaxing awhile, Matt mentions that it is the Fourth of July and he noticed a burger place, Krusty Burger (The Simpsons are a popular export). Besides not really wanting to cook in our room we deem burgers the proper way to celebrate Independence Day.
People are curious and polite but not intrusive - they do not see tourists in San Gabriel. We noticed the majority of graffiti has been declarations of love and/or declarations of love coupled with a big apology . . . But that is everyday life to which we all owe our existence.