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Ecuador: Quito to Cuenca / Vilcamamba / Peru border by Motorcycle

  • 2 days ago
  • 3 min read

Mar 2026 |



Here's info on 4 rides from Quito to the Peru border.


Ride 1: Quito > Chimborazo

This was a freeway ride from Quito to Ambato. My goal was to ride a major chunk of the "Avenue of Volcanoes", starting with Cotopaxi. Prior to leaving Quito I learned that Cotopaxi is not accessible by motorcycle, so my plans to visit were seriously diminished. But, to make matters worse, the peak was cloud-covered when I rode in the vicinity, so I didn't see anything anyways. I rode by on the freeway, fingers crossed that I would get a glimpse of equally spectacular Chimborazo further down the road. The freeway between Quito and Ambato was a snappy ride, as expected.


At Ambato, I diverted onto a 2-lane rural road to Chimborazo. And luckily, it was mostly clear skies around Chimborazo, so I got some great views of the maassive glacier covered peak. Interestingly, Chimborazo is technically the highest point on Earth, as the elongated shape of the planet at the Equator pushes the volcano higher than Everest, closer to the heavens. It's a truly spectacular sight.


From there I rode a short distance to Finca Castillo de Altura, a family-run hobby farm resort. This is a fun place to stay, with a menagerie of beasts, including a very social mini donkey I had fun hanging out with -- there's just something about donkeys that makes them so unique. From the farm, I rode 30 mins up to Chimborazo park entrance - a moonscape scene - to scope out if I could ride my T7 into the park the next morning -- and I was told that it's not possible to take hyour own vehicle into the park, I would need to get a ride in a truck, or to hike. The temperature was about 13c when I arrived at 5 pm, so the notion of going to 5000m the next day was not realistic -- I didn't have the right clothes to hike like that, nor was I acclimatised and therefore risked altitude sickness at that elevation.


Ride: 220 km / 6 hrs

Short video on Instagram



R2: Chimborazo > Cuenca

The next day I rode on to Cuenca. Honestly, I remember little about this ride, other than it was raining in Cuenca when I arrived.


I stayed 2 nights at Del Parque Hotel, a decent heritage hotel next to the town square. It's a nice city, but didn't spark much wow-factor for me (perhaps due to the crappy weather).

Ride: 250 km / 6 hrs



Cuenca > Villacamba

This was a nice ride through a twisty river valley, into the Inca's"summer residence" zone due to the favorable climate. I didn't really know anything about Vilacamba before I got there, was pleasantly surprised to learn it's an expat mecca and home to some great F&B. There is even a ball-hockey scene there -- totally unexpected.


I stayed a couple of nights at the excellent Avalon B&B, run by a friendly and helpful German lady with a hippy, new-ager vibe. I did get bitten by the house dog, but it was my own fault. Anyways, I could see spending more time in Vilacamba; it's a cool little town.


Ride: 250 km / 6 hrs

Stay: Avalon B&B ****



Villacamba > Peru border at Huiqulas


My initial perogative in visiting Vilacamaba was to ride 4 hours south and cross into Peru at La Balsa. But the morning of my departure, I learned online that the border was closed due to issues between Ecuador and Peru. I had a chat with the landlady about this. She called the police to inquire if the border was open, and we visited the police station, where we were told the border was open, or perhaps more specifically, that I would have no issue for me to cross into Peru there. I posted a question in the South America Riders WhatsApp group, and the consensus was the border was closed. So rather than taking the 4-hour ride south and risk getting turned back, I decided to ride to the only open border at Huiquilas.


This was a decent, though kind of long ride. Once in Huiquilas, I booked a room at Hotel del Sur, nothing fancy. Huiquilas is a typical border town, a bit dodgy. I spent the evening reading up on the border crossing, which I still somehow managed to screw up the next day (read on in my next post).


Ride: 275 km / 7 hrs




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