(Paul Theroux)
There were three of us and our first mistake was renting the small, low-to-the-ground, electric blue Daihatsu auto.
That became very clear when we made a fateful decision to take a guidebook-recommended, "scenic" road from Patate, to Baños. It soon turned from cobblestones to rutted and rocky and climbed along cliff edges with a dizzying view of the valley below, including the ominous, looming, ACTIVE volcano, Tungurahua! It was nerve-wracking and, at a fork in the road, we were unsure which way to turn. A lone woman advised us to take the road heading upwards.
At the next fork, there was no one to ask. We opted for right. This road was even tougher. We passed cows and chickens, donkeys and barking dogs but no people until another woman confirmed that we were going in the right direction. Yay!
A short distance later, we came to a small stream where some logs and rocks had been haphazardly arranged for crossing. It looked dicey but it was a long way back so we went forward. The low bottom of the car got stuck. It soon began to pour and then hail. It was getting dark and we were still high on a mountain above an active volcano.
Eventually the rain stopped. We put on our rain gear, jacked up the car and gathered flat rocks and wood to fill in the gaps of the "bridge." Using a huge tree limb as a lever and pushing, we moved the car slowly across to the opposite side.
Then the car wouldn't start. We checked under the hood, but couldn't find the problem. Jiggling the battery terminal eventually worked and we all hopped in.
The car lurched forward, only to get stuck again in a precarious position at the edge of the road where it dropped off. It was steep and the left front wheel was in danger of slipping down the mountainside. Very carefully, we built that side up with rocks and then used our hands and rocks and sticks to dig out the right front that was stuck in deep mud. When it seemed relatively secure, we used a tree limb lever again to push the car sideways toward the center of the road. When it was in a safe position to move forward, my husband got in, stepped on the gas and we inched forward.
We met a truck coming from the opposite direction and the driver told us that we wouldn't be able to get to Baños the way we were going. We would have to turn around.
We explained our problem with the "bridge" and asked for help getting back across. The driver agreed. My husband made a U-turn in a very narrow spot and followed the truck. My daughter and I went on foot in case the car needed a push again through the mud. It did.
When we got to the "bridge", the car made it right across but the battery went dead again. The truck driver got his tools out, looked under the hood, took the plastic cap off of one of the battery terminals, saw that it was loose, and tapped it w/ a hammer. It worked!
We followed the truck until we hit a bump and heard a thud. I looked out the window, saw that some sort of protective cover had fallen from underneath the wheel well, got out, picked it up, stashed it in the back seat and we moved forward again. The Good Samaritan truck driver was waiting for us down the road.
At the intersection where we had earlier made the right turn, the driver told us to head the opposite way, go one kilometer, take a right where there was a small lake and then, a short distance past, we would see a sign for Baños.
We thanked him and followed his directions, but when we got to the signpost, the sign was missing and there was another fork in the road.
With fingers crossed, we chose the right fork, and just when we were convinced that we were wrong, we came to a house where a woman assured us we were on the way to Baños. This road climbed and had a scary drop-off on the side and it was dark but we eventually saw a sign for Baños and then we could see the city lights way below.
The downhill was full of hairpin curves and seemed to take forever. Then, just as we were beginning to feel out of danger, the brakes on the car stopped working. We drove very slowly using the handbrake to stop often. At the bottom, we coasted across the San Francisco Bridge over the River Pastago into Baños and lurched to a stop in front of some market stands and a small crowd of people.
My husband stayed with the car while my daughter and I went in search of a mechanic (with directions provided by the group that had gathered around the car). We walked for blocks, asked several people for information but had no luck. It was Saturday night and no mechanics were open.
We returned to the car, called AAA in Quito, the Hertz emergency line and the Quito airport office but had no luck.
Meanwhile, one of the men standing around checked the brake fluid and found that it was almost empty. He told me where a gas station was located and I ran a few blocks and bought "liquidi por frenos."
Upon my return, someone poured in the brake fluid, worked on getting the air out of the system, and got the brakes functioning.
Then the subject of a hotel came up and the group recommended one and gave us directions. The hotel had a room and we moved in, exhausted and relieved. We shared some beers and then turned on the TV to find the U.S. World Series playing! Best of all, Las Medias Rojas were winning! Go Red Sox!
We still had more than 2 weeks, 400 kilometers, 2 visits to mechanics and 2 stops at vulcanizadore (tire places) in our future but that night we were just proud that we hadn't panicked (freaked a bit but not panicked). We also had help from some great Ecuadorans.