The World's Biggest Mountains

We went with Jens towards Peru as far south as Cuenca, which is a beautiful, old, and interesting Ecuadorian city that I’ve been waiting over 20 years to visit. We spent 2 days there and all four of us really liked it. We enjoyed exploring not only the different parts of the city, but also a spectacular valley nearby that led up into a high-altitude lake region where Cajas National Park is. It was one of the most gorgeous spots I’ve ever been. See Natalie's blog at http://nat-travels.blogspot.com/ for pictures.

While on the drive from Quito south to Cuenca (8-1/2 hours), we had seen no mountains at all, but on the way back north (alas, without Jens), we had the most incredible views. This was surprising given that we’re in the rainy season and clear days are rare. Caleb was thrilled at his luck! Along the way, we saw 7 snow-capped mountains ranging from 5,000 (16,400 feet) to 6,300 meters (20,660 feet) in height, including a view of every inch of huge, magnificent Chimborazo Mountain.


From about the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s, Chimborazo was thought to be the tallest mountain in the world. Indeed, Ecuadorians will remind you that this mountain is still the tallest in the world if you measure from the middle of the earth, because of the earth's bulge around the equator. We had absolutely spectacular views of it mile after mile.

Another one we saw quite up close was Cotopaxi Mountain, famous for its classic volcano shape. Caleb is waiting for the day when we can go into the Cotopaxi National Park, get even closer, explore, and maybe even climb it.

Also during this ride, we stopped and visited Ecuador's best Incan ruins, called Ingapirca. Since we weren't coming from Peru's Machu Picchu, we didn't suffer from being "underwhelmed," as some tourists are. We had seen smaller Incan ruins in two places in Cuenca, so this larger former Incan settlement - also a former settlement of the Canari Indians, who were fierce fighters against the Incan empire - was just great. We especially liked the shape of the Incan windows and doors.


The main roads in Ecuador are really quite impressive, although some are currently under renovation and reconstruction. At one point, we waited half an hour at a place where asphalt was being laid. The workers were permitting no traffic to pass either way. Soon tempers rose and people began yelling out their windows and honking their horns. Then a bunch of them got out of their cars and marched down to speak to the construction workers. Natalie, Caleb, and I watched with amusement, wondering if a full riot would break out.

The people were told they would be let through and sent back to their cars. But nothing happened and they began honking again. Then they began coming down the left-hand side of the road, demanding passage, using their cars and trucks to pressure the workers. Still we waited, but eventually we were allowed to pass on through. Generally, I think of Ecuadorians as quite calm, but we saw tempers in this instance!

Let me close with a view of another huge Ecuadorian mountain. This is El Altar, one of the few Ecuadorian mountains that lost its Indian name to a Spanish one. What you see are 9 craggy peaks around a crater that is 3 kilometers across. The tallest of the peaks, El Obispo (the bishop), gives the mountain its current altitude of 5,300 meters (17,400 feet). Can you imagine how huge this mountain was before it blew its top??!!


If you STILL don't want to visit Ecuador, I give up.

-Spee