Puerto Lopez to Quito
04/09/11 23:19 Filed in: Ecuador
We left Hosteria Alandaluz at around 11:30 bound for Quito. A good day for travelling. Slightly overcast and not too hot.
There being no obvious enforcement of traffic regulations some municipalities resort to budget speed bumps. A length of 3" mooring line across the road tied on either side.
Traffic mayhem continues at a nearby crossroads while these officers enjoy a sunday afternoon in the shade listening to music.
Hotel California in San Antonio. From here on we began the climb back to Quito.
The road up into the mountains begins as a single carriageway. The traffic is insane. Probably the most dangerous road I have ever been on. It is geographically challenging but the danger lies with the large number of very stupid drivers, commercial and private. Queue overtaking over double yellows on blind corners, excessive speed and driving without lights. Add fog/mist and dampish roads and the mix was really toxic. Much of the commercial traffic comprises large American 16 wheelers. Kenworth, Mack, International all driven by idiots.
I would have been surprised if we had made it back without seeing at least one incident. We didn't. Still on the single carriageway traffic slowed to a crawl. A large Kenworth rig (40+ tons) coming downhill in the dark had gone into a shallow corner way too fast, lost the plot, and tipped onto its side blocking the approaching lane, fortunately not taking any other vehicles with it.
After 9 hours and 55 minutes we were back in Quito. In one piece. Next time we will fly.
Coast road up to Manta where we picked up route 30 all the way to route 35 which took us back to Quito. We used google maps on the I-Phone. Not very accurate but the best we had. Road numbers did not match those on the few signs we saw.
There being no obvious enforcement of traffic regulations some municipalities resort to budget speed bumps. A length of 3" mooring line across the road tied on either side.
Traffic mayhem continues at a nearby crossroads while these officers enjoy a sunday afternoon in the shade listening to music.
Hotel California in San Antonio. From here on we began the climb back to Quito.
The road up into the mountains begins as a single carriageway. The traffic is insane. Probably the most dangerous road I have ever been on. It is geographically challenging but the danger lies with the large number of very stupid drivers, commercial and private. Queue overtaking over double yellows on blind corners, excessive speed and driving without lights. Add fog/mist and dampish roads and the mix was really toxic. Much of the commercial traffic comprises large American 16 wheelers. Kenworth, Mack, International all driven by idiots.
I would have been surprised if we had made it back without seeing at least one incident. We didn't. Still on the single carriageway traffic slowed to a crawl. A large Kenworth rig (40+ tons) coming downhill in the dark had gone into a shallow corner way too fast, lost the plot, and tipped onto its side blocking the approaching lane, fortunately not taking any other vehicles with it.
After 9 hours and 55 minutes we were back in Quito. In one piece. Next time we will fly.
Coast road up to Manta where we picked up route 30 all the way to route 35 which took us back to Quito. We used google maps on the I-Phone. Not very accurate but the best we had. Road numbers did not match those on the few signs we saw.