Taraza to Puerto Valdivia – and a Taxi Ride to Yarumal

I got a good start out of Taraza. Again, I continued to handle the hills well. I was feeling pretty good when I reached Puerto Valdivia. There is some confusion here, since there is a Puerto Valdivia and a Valdivia. Google Maps calls Puerto Valdivia as Valdivia and does not actually have Valdivia on the map. Since, I was feeling good, I decided to proceed from Puerto Valdivia onto Valdivia. This is where I learned that I would not be able to get through this stretch on pedal power.

The incline out of Puerto Valdivia was much steeper. I found that I could go, but would quickly wear down. I would walk while catching my breath, then restart pedaling. There were some areas that I simply could not pedal and some that I had a hard time walking up due to the steepness. I made it about 6 or 8 km. I stopped at a roadside store and rested. Talking with a local, I learned that I had another 20km of similar terrain to go. I simply could not do this. Possibly, I could do it with either a lower gear or less cargo, but as it was, I was not going to be able to get through this.

I also learned another important lesson here: locals will often give you information that is not correct. This is not because they want to mislead you, but because they may not understand. When asking how far it was to Valdivia in kilometers, the local told me he thought it was about 3. This did not seem possible. So I rephrased the question: how long does it take to get to Valdivia by car? The answer: about 30 minutes. So the lesson is that when asking a question, make sure to phrase it in a manner that the person will know how to answer it with some accuracy.

Given the distance, I decided to return to Puerto Valdivia and get a taxi from there to Yarumal. The ride back down was difficult. I actually had to stop several times to rest my hands from the braking. This was a pretty serious incline.

The taxi from Puerto Valdivia to Yarumal had some spectacular scenery. I am a little disappointed that I could not do this via bike. It is amazing how you rise up to a pass where the area becomes dense with clouds and then you reach the other side of the pass and it is clear skies.