AKT shop service
 

The local shop serviced the bike. I told them the idle was too high. They took the tank and carb off and found dirt in the system. They installed a new fuel filter, changed the oil, replaced the rear brake pads. They were toast after only 7700 km? They worked on it at least 3 hours at no labor charge due to the warranty was good.
The technician took me to the bank on his bike because they wanted cash. Two up ride to the bank and free labor priceless.

Gringos never have to park on the street!

New a new set of front shoes
 

Can anyone tell me the part number for the front pad set?
The last AKT shop did not have them in stock.
I need to have them shipped to Ecuador.

Ride from Nueva Loja to Puyo Ecuador
 

I left Nueva Loja in a sprinkling rain that steadily got worse. I got soaked and a tad chilled. Around noon I pulled into a nice thatched roof restaurant for a break and a cup of coffee. Soon a young couple on a bike that turned out to be just like mine pulled in. Theirs had fuel injection and he had farkled it up pretty good.
I was amazed at how they had it loaded up, carrying gear for two people ( returning from their honeymoon). They had a small carrier with two Pincher pups stowed between them. They invited me to their table and it was good to join them. They asked if I wanted to follow them to Puyo and stay with an Ecuadorian family that belonged to a network of motorcyclists. The young wife was pretty good with English and I said sure, I'll go. We ended up sleeping in the same room as the house was full with 7 people needing a bed. We rode into town and bought some fresh tilapia and the young man made cerviche. We also had a boiled vegetable called "camote" which I really liked.

Puyo to Santiago de Mendez
 

We loaded up the bikes a bid farewell to the generous Ecuadorian family who took care of us the night before ( The Garcias )
The young couple (Edher and Lourder) were headed home to Piura ,Peru and were riding to Loja, Ecuador. I wanted to go to Cuenca so we said goodbye and I headed for the nearest hotel I could find as I was very tired. I made a 200km day and found a nice place to dry out from the previous days rain. This hotel was nice , even had a pool and hot showers! $20/ night.

Oleg...Looks like your getting along well!

Man, look at that jungle!

Rough ride from Santiago de Mendez to Cuenca
 

It's light rain again as I head for Cuenca. I had to find the turn off from Route 45 about 35 km from the hotel. I followed google maps which said 130km in 3 hours. It started out good until I came upon a mudslide and the mud was just deep enough to slow me down and I nearly dropped the bike when I let it stall.
It continued to rain, the road went up in elevation and it turned cold and windy. Road construction and gravel kept things slow. Alternating patches of gravel and asphalt seems to be mostly gravel. The water was running hard down the steep slopes. There was plenty of vegetation but it's no match for the force of the runoff. The 3 hour ride took 5+ hours.. It was one of the worst riding conditions I've ever dealt with. Things got better when I got to Gualceo. The rain stopped and I had dry hardtop the remainder of the day.

The Cuenca road from E45
 

Sorry about the sygoggle pitchers 😩 If I do this enough I hope to learn how to rotate em !
I stopped for gas ⛽️ and saw some young boys torturing a big Beatle. I wanted a pic of it and they began negotiating for payment. First one said $10. I protested as it was my camera and they came down to $1/kid. I offered them $1 to be split equally amongst the four of them. They accepted my offer and rushed off to spend the money.

Unless the pool was heated, I wouldn't have paid more than $15! Just kidding--great photos and stories!! Keep them coming. I would kill to visit that hotel whether the pool was heated or cold, LOL

Cuenca cathedral
 

Very impressive as was the central square in front where a military band was playing.

Awesome adventure!

Cool, olegeezer! I plan on making the same trip in August. Medellin to Machu Pichu and back with the wife on two used bikes we plan on buying in Medellin just for the trip. Looking forward to your Ride Report and more pics. Perhaps you could post your route(?)

Cool FMore! I'm headed to Cusco myself hopefully.
I got across the border at Macara. It went smoothly. Just make sure to guard all your paper documents and it will be fine. The only cost so far to cross two borders was that I had to buy one month of insurance to get into Peru. This cost $35 per month. Once I got to Piura, I had a case of Montezuma's revenge going on. I've spent the last three nights in a hotel trying to get over it. I'm hoping to leave today for Olmos? I'll have to see how breakfast sets on my stomach and make a decision from there.
I reconnected with the Peruvian newlyweds that I met in Puyo. They have been helping me as best they can and I appreciate that. Great people they are. I will try to post a Google map of the route for you. It's pretty simple, I basically followed Google maps routing from Medellin to here.. I'm navigating with Google maps and my iPhone.

Route Medellin to border
 

https://goo.gl/maps/KGvytW4j2Yv


FMore2. This was my route thru Colombia if you cut and paste you should see it.
If you haven't booked flights yet and want another option send me a PM.

Hotel Cuenca
 

I found it strange that most all the hotels supply not one, but two motorcycle boot dryers!!

The road from Piura to Jaen
 

I like this fence woven out of sticks.
Rice paddies were plentiful in this valley.