RUNNING WITH RICHARD AND THE LOST INCA TREASURES.
After a couple of decent days averaging around 40km I stopped at a small roadside shop near the village of Llagos.
I had been expecting my Ecuadorian contact Richard Evans to join me on the road that afternoon but there was no sign of him. It was around 6pm. He told me he would be leaving his home in the big southern city of Guayanquil at around noon for the 3 hour drive and meet me on the road.
Richard has run a marathon recently and has done a lot of cycling. He crashed his bike while on a recent visit to Florida, so he wasn’t fully fit. No worries with me, I don´t run fast.
The nice lady in the shop called Amba offered to phone Richard for me. I assumed Richard would be finding a hotel in somewhere like Cuenca, park his car and then jump on a bus and meet me on the road. When it became very late I just assumed he would drive out , meet me on the road and I would finish up, go back to the hotel and we would return to my finishing spot next morning by bus.
It was a bad phone line but Amba told him where I was and I got the impression he knew exactly, so I said I would meet him on the road, expecting to knock out another few kilometres as he was on his way from Cuenca, about an hour away.
Amba and another man standing in the grocery store phoned Richards mobile phone several times but the signal was bad and only made a connection a couple of times. It seemed Richard had passed by the shop a couple of times. I left my pack and hi-viz top outside for him to see. Perhaps he was looking out for me running on the road as I had said I would.It was now 9pm! Need less to say, I was very tired and frustrated, not to mention cold. I couldn’t understand how long it was taking him.
Then around 9.30 Richard pulls up in a taxi! He had gotten the taxi in Chunchi about 20km away!
” Where´is your car Richard? ” I greeted him with.
” Hi Tony. I don´t have one, I wouldn’t drive here in Ecuador! ”
I guess I dont´t blame him. So that explains it Richard was trying to track me down on the road in buses, going back and forward, what a man!
ALBA AND RICHARD
Alba had already told me if there was a problem that I could sleep in her house. Just as well I didn’t go out and run the few extra kilometres as we would both have been stuck in the middle of nowhere!
Instead Alba very kindly offered to let the two of us stay in the house that night on a couple of sofas with more blankets than could cover an army!
There were about six children, all girls there in the living room, Alba and an older women in a black bowler hat who I took to be her mother. We sat there chatting for about an hour before settling down to sleep.
It was a glorious Sunday morning. We ran for about 20km before finding a restaurant for brunch and a much longed for couple of cups of coffee. Yes more chicken, beef is hard to get here. Richard says there used to be a huge amount of Argentine beef here in Ecuador till the government put a cap on it, now beef is expensive, so hard to get.
RUNNING WITH RICHARD
We ran on, Richard has his hands in many pots. He is a professional photographer, travel writer, an ex US military man who is also a master chef and currently employed by the Inter American Academy in Guayaquil as an historian., He also has a background in teaching business techniques.
Suddenly Richard pointed to our left and ask if I wanted to go for a treasure hunt for the lost Inca Gold!
Here is an extract from a website called The Life Of Adventure.com
” In the remote mountains of central Ecuador, the largest undiscovered treasure in Latin America waits to be found.
WHERE IS THE LOST TREASURE?
This ancient horde of Inca gold comes complete with a vengeful curse, multiple treasure maps and a trail of dead adventurers. With an estimated value of over two billion dollars, this stash of Inca Gold tops my list of lost treasures.
The Backstory – Conquest of the Incan Empire
In 1532 the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco Pizarro led 183 cold and hungry soldiers up the spine of the Andes and began his conquest of the Inca Empire. The empire was in a state of turmoil caused by a civil war between two brothers, Atahualpa and Huascar. Victory had recently gone to Atahualpa, the brother who controlled the northern half of the empire. Lucky for Pizarro, the long civil war had weakened the Inca’s army allowing the Spaniards to easily captured the newly appointed Emperor at his capitol city of Cajamarca.
INCA MASK
With Atahualpa as their hostage, the Spaniards began sacking the city, stripping sacred religious objects from the temples of the sun and moon.
Atahualpa, seeing that the Spaniards’ valued gold and silver so highly, made Pizarro an offer he couldn’t refuse. In exchange for his freedom, The Emperor promised to fill his massive prison cell with gold – as high as Pizarro could reach his hand – and the two adjoining rooms with silver.
” It is impossible for me to describe the wealth that now lays in that cave marked on my map, but I could not remove it alone, nor could thousands of men….There are thousands of gold and silver pieces of Inca and pre-Inca handicraft, the most beautiful goldsmith works you are not able to imagine, life-size human figures made out of beaten gold and silver, birds, animals, cornstalks, gold and silver flowers. Pots full of the most incredible jewelry. Golden vases full of emeralds. ”
INCA JAGUAR. JUST PART OF THE LOST TREASURE
MORE INFO CLICK >> HERE
Then Richard explained another mystery to me about another ´lost treasure. ´
” Richard if Ecuador is so rich in Cocoa beans how come there is very little chocolate to be found in the stores, all I can find is crumbly crappy tasting stuff? ” I said it in all seriousness!
” How much do you think they get for chocolate here on the local market? ”
” Not much, the minimum wage is only about 250 dollars a month, so the cost of living is reflective.”
” Exactly. And how much do you think they can get, say in Belgium? ”
” I take your point, Ecuadorian chocolate is also popular in Ireland. ”
We ran another 13km that afternoon to a location north Tambo before calling it a day. It is always nice running with other runners. Richard as I mentioned has the Heavy Bag in Guayaquil and I have an invite to stay and chill out for a couple of days. So we took a bus there. I will return to my finishing spot which I photographed in a couple of days time.
At their lovely spacious apartment I met his wife, Lisa. Lisa is also employed by the academy as an English language teacher. She travelled extensively when younger but always had a special place in her heart for South America, Ecuador in particular.
RICHARD AND LISA
Fed up with the rat race in the States she sat Richard down one day for what Richard describes as
” The Talk ”
” Tony have you ever been married? ”
” No, but I lived with a nutter for a while! ”
” Well you know the way they go all silent and start by saying..
” We need to talk, It´s not that I don´t love you but….”
” Can we sell everything up and move to Ecuador! ”
” Three months later everything was sold and we were on our way to Quito and soon found jobs. ”
” We are happy here, despite the difficulties of living in a no service Latino culture. ”
Next day I had a talk in the academy with about 60 students whose ages ranged from about 12 to 17.
I emphasised the importance of good sportsmanship and honesty, not only in life but in sports, how dedication, honesty and respect were so important and to learn from other peoples mistakes, not your own!
How important it was not to take friendships for granted, that all friendships of meaning have to be worked on.
Keeping sport clean and as much as possible a clean and health life.
MY KIND OF " THE TALK " AT THE INTER AMERICAN ACADEMY
It was the very first day of the new track and field season, so my timing was perfect as many of the students from a wide range of countries around the world were on the team.
Then I went on to talk about the run, had a questions and answers session. It lasted about 20 minutes. I really enjoyed it.
I feel it is important to pass on positive messages to impressionable kids. It worked for me.
I remember when I was about 12 years old. I was with my family on a summer holiday in the Isle Of Man.
We were on the beach in Ramsey. My mam sat my brother, sister and me down on the sand and told us that if we didn’t smoke till we were 21 years of age that she would give each of us twenty Irish pounds on our 21st birthday! That was a lot of money then.
It was also my very first competitive challenge in life.
My brother and sister failed miserably.. Heavy smokers!
However I took to the challenge for a couple of years. Then around 14,15 and 16 I did smoke occasionally, just to be ´cool in school. ´ I even smoked a tobacco pipe! In all I probably only had about 200 cigarettes till I straightened myself out at around 18 or 19. Even though I had ´lost the challenge ´I decided I didn’t want to smoke, it was a dirty stupid habit. I remembered my mams words and how she was a heavy smoker. (she is off them 27 years now)
At my 21st birthday party my mam handed me a 50 pound note, perhaps it was 100 pounds, I can´t remember but it was a lot more than the promise.
” I shook my head and handed it back.
” No mam I didn’t keep the promise! ”
” I know son but look at you now, you are not a smoker and that´s all I wanted! “
March 30th, 2012 at 1:08 am
You were right not to smoke tony. Dirty habit!!!