I woke up in Sucúa after a night of endless downpour to more rain.  My plan to get to Cuenca wasn’t very appealing and indeed I was wet before even leaving town.  Driving out of Sucúa the curvy jungle road passed through a small town where I stopped for breakfast and was told that one of the roads to Cuenca was blocked by mudslides.  So I took the recommended road (which was well paved) up into the Andes through beautiful green mountains, clouds, and many waterfalls.

Above Mendes, Ecuador

Waterfalls Above Mendes, Ecuador

I was enjoying myself thoroughly until I came to a large washout where I was warned not to try to cross it.   I contemplated for a while, there was about 1/2 foot of fast moving water, 1 meter of rocks and mud, it looked passable possibly but I wasn’t sure I’d get much help from the others if I got stuck.

Above Mendes Road Washed Out, Ecuador

So with deflated expectations of reaching Cuenca in the early afternoon I wound back down to Mendes to take the other road through Limon to get to Cuenca.

Returning Down to Mendes, Ecuador

As I arrived in pleasant Limon, totally soaked for the second time today, the curious school-children talked to me about my bike and warned me I might get robbed on the road to Cuenca.   As I left town, the near perfect pavement turned to rocks and dirt singletrack and it became cold and rainy as I climbed.   At about 3500 meters it leveled off into a high alpine valley of cactus and large lichen-ish plants.  Thirsty and tired – it had taken about 4 hours to travel 70kms, I contemplated drinking from one of the waterfalls.

High Alpine Valley - Near the End of Limon to Cuenca Road, Ecuador

As the road descended and became warmer I changed into dry clothes anticipating arriving for a warm shower in Cuenca.  However a new rockslide occurred sometime within an hour before.  The small bulldozer wasn’t able to move the boulders so all the traffic was backed up to allow a large front-end digging machine to get to the slide and start knocking the debris over the other side of the road.

Landslide Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador

After 1 hour of waiting I could finally pass and found heavenly pavement again.  I sped to Cuenca arriving at dusk after an 11 hour day of driving.   I stayed at the noisy El Cafecito hostal for $6 (+$3 for outside parking) and met Chessi for a few beers at a brewpub.  Cuenca is a well-developed (for tourists) colonial town that seems to have the most number of Americans of all the Ecuadorian towns I’ve seen.

Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador
Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador
Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador
Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes, Ecuador	Above Mendes Road Washed Out, Ecuador
Above Mendes Road Washed Out, Ecuador	Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador	Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador	Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador
Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador	Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador	Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador	Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador
Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador	Landslide Sucas to Cuenca, Ecuador

Sucua to Cuenca, Ecuador