We stayed around Alausi for some time this morning doing some business on the internet. Then in bright sunshine we headed South along the main road to Cuenca. For many miles the road was in great condition with newly laid smooth pavement. And I was thinking how nice it was to be back on a major road rather than some of the rough routes we had followed in recent days.
But of course that thought was a mistake. The first sign of our changing driving fortunes was cloud, or fog. We entered an area where the cloud had descended over us and visibility was reduced; reduced to about 2 of those yellow center line segments. The only problem was that generally the road did not have center lines!! So we navigated by watching the edge of the road, hoping that the local drivers would curb there enthusiasm for overtaking in these circumstances.
The fog continued until we arrived in a small (to us unnamed town) to find a line of south bound traffic stopped in the town square. We eventually realized that a policeman was holding up the traffic, and when released we understood why as the road ahead was under construction. In places the road was only one lane, and in places you could argue no lanes, just gravel. We continued for a couple of hours driving with some combination of no visibility and little of no permanent roads until above the town of Biblian when we burst into sunshine. But the road only improved a little. The descent into Biblian was only single lane as the new concrete second lane was not yet open.
Now you might wonder why we did not simply pull off the road and wait when visibility was bad? Well, Ecuadorian roads do not provide for drivers that want to pull off. Along both sides of the road are 2 ft deep open topped concrete drains. That is when the road is finished, when its under construction the edge is usually just a pile of gravel.
We had no trouble finding our way to the northern edge of Cuenca, and eventually to our intended camping spot as described below. There were a Swiss couple already there, in a Toyota Troopie, who have been on the road in South America for 4 years. We met and talked to the owner of the campground, Humberto, who was kind enough to set us up with a long power cord.
Camping
We camped tonight at Cabanas Yanuncay at S02° 54.307' W79° 01.693', address Calle Canton Guataceo 21-49.
We had a little trouble finding the place from the directions in the tortugas website as we did not get onto Ave De Las Americas when entering town from the north but instead got onto the Eastern by pass. Once we hit the junction with Ave De las Americas we turned north and took the second turn to the right north of the river at the Continental Tire sign. The name Cabanas Yabuncayis written above a gate on the left hand side of the road at a Y intersection. By accident this turned out to be a good route as there is no turning at the Continental Tire sign for south bound traffic.
On arrival we noticed with some disappointment that the gate has a clearance of only 2.47m - too low for our vehicle. BUT - there is a second entrance with no high restriction.
The place has good hot showers, water, electricity both 110v and 220v (we had to use the owners long cord), dumping, and parking on a grass area. Lots of animals. Its very convenient to town and shopping.
We used this place on our return north and discovered that the owner Humberto is a wonderful resource for getting things fixed. One of the families living on the property complex actually managers the workshop next to the entrance.
