Ryan Van Duzer is my long distance cycling guru.
Here he sums up the reasons why it’s worth planning a cycling holiday.
For me, I find it very relaxing. Life is simple. It can be an inexpensive holiday, as well if you wild camp in a tent.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
On arrival Quito, the 1st recommendation I got from everyone was to travel to the Secret Garden Cotopaxi hostel.
After 5 wonderful days, I’d rank it the best hostel in the world ➙ for ME. 😀
Ecuador is fantastic for outdoor recreation. BUT logistics of getting to and from the trailheads is difficult.
Over 5 days I signed up for these easy logistics adventures:
Secret Garden Cotopaxi is at an elevation of around 3,800 metres (12,500 feet) directly facing famed Cotopaxi volcano. If arriving directly from sea level, you might suffer some altitude symptoms. Especially minor headache, stomach, or sleeping problems. I was OK having been above 2800m for over a week.
Here’s my best photo from the hostel.
A gorgeous location.
Food is fantastic. They have a stone pizza oven. Healthy ingredients, many grown on site. Excellent vegan and vegetarian alternatives.
The hostel has high speed starlink internet — but guests get only about 1 hour / day of slow wifi. They don’t want you on your phone. 😀
Without question, it’s a hippie vibe.
I considered renting a Hobbit House for one night — but $165 was too steep.
It’s fun feeding the resident llamas.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
And another video.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Baños de Agua Santa (Baños) is a small mountain town in the cloud forest, initially unimpressive.
But it’s the nation’s gateway to the Amazon. And legitimately touted the Adventure Capital of Ecuador. Activities similar to what you are offered in New Zealand, but for 20% of the cost. Or less. (MIGHT be some compromises on safety and liability, however. 😀)
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I came for the hiking and cycling. And for altitude acclimatization. It’s at 1,820 metres (5,971 feet). Next stop for me is Kilimanjaro.
Tour guides tout rafting, kayaking, canyoning, bridge jumping, and horseback riding.
BEST for me was the 25km downhill cycling “Ruta de las Cascadas” (Waterfall Route). Rent a bike for $7-10 / day. They hand you a map. And GO.
En route I stopped for a stand-up zip line over Cascada de Agoyán. $2.
And a seated zip-line.
Returned on foot by a LONG Tibetan Bridge over 170 metres high. Cost for both was $25.
On the cycling route, BEST for sure is Pailón del Diablo (Cauldron of the Devil), Ecuador’s largest waterfall.
You can access the Falls from either side of the river. The short route, originating from Río Verde, includes more views and shows nearby San Miguel Waterfall.
I took the longer, wetter route because it includes dramatic staircases, tunnel Grieta al Cielo (Crack to Heaven) where you crawl hands & knees, and a chance to get behind the Falls.
Across from the parking lot, I enjoyed an excellent enchilada. Fried trout is a popular dish here, as well.
A taxi will take you and your bike back to town for about $10. I lifted my bike on the local bus for a $1 ride back to GeoTours, which looked to be the best bike rental spot. They’ve been in business since 1991.
Of course I did a lot of steep day hiking, as well. You can climb in every direction up to more tourist attractions. Most interesting for me was a challenging, overgrown walk to pretty La Casa del Arbol.
Everywhere has installed swings that fly you over a cliff edge. I tried a few.
I was happy to find the city bus ending a route here. 😀 It got me back to town for $1,
I finally tried one of these set-ups where your phone spins around.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I stayed 3 nights at a fairly dirty hostel in town. 😀
Then moved on up to pretty Mama Tangu about 5km outside of the centre.
One disappointment was famed and popular hot-springs Termas de la Virgen. Not nearly clean enough for me. And you’re required to wear a hideous bathing cap, something I’d never seen before around the world. Not recommended.
Baños itself is must see. The #2 tourist destination in the nation after Quito.
In October 1999, all 17,000+ residents were forced to evacuate Baños for weeks. Tungurahua volcano was active.
So far — I’m planning to keep traveling in the new year.
I start Kilimanjaro on Feb. 14, 2026.
To train and gain some altitude acclimatization, I’ll be in Ecuador above 3000m for some weeks prior.
I have flights booked through to Kenya. And will be deciding my East Africa itinerary from there.
Then most likely to Dubai. And Oman for hiking and cycling.
Then back to Calgary for some spring skiing.
After that …
… living every day as if it’s my last. 😀
December in Southern California is perfect weather for me.
Sunny and dry. Not too hot. No humidity.
Here’s where a Canadian snowbird wants to spend part of the winter.
Mediterranean climates typically offer 250 to over 320 sunny days per year.
Shorts and t-shirt every day. ☀️
The main cause of Mediterranean, or dry summer, climate is the subtropical ridge, which extends towards the pole of the hemisphere in question during the summer and migrates towards the equator during the winter. …
Areas with this climate are also where the so-called “Mediterranean trinity” of major agricultural crops have traditionally been successfully grown (wheat, grapes and olives). As a result, these regions are notable for their high-quality wines, grapeseed/olive oils, and bread products.
… Because most regions with a Mediterranean climate are near large bodies of water, temperatures are generally moderate, with a comparatively small range of temperatures between the winter low and summer high.
Southern California is a great place to visit …
It finally dawned on me that I can no longer easily hike and cycle on Vancouver Island. We’ve sold my parents former home on Vancouver Island.
In the past, I’ve cycled large sections of this challenging route. Looks ideal for an experienced bikepacker who wants to find out what coastal rainforest wilderness is like.
Unpaved about 70% of a 450-kilometer loop. It starts and ends in Nanaimo, British Columbia, for those coming from the mainland. You don’t need a motor vehicle.
It links gravel roads, rough doubletrack, and a four-hour boat ride up the Alberni Inlet, featuring numerous swim spots, old-growth forests, quirky communities, and so much more.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
California in December is amazing.
Trump welcomed me into the USA — then had me attacked by wild horses. 😀
California is a great place to visit in winter. I’ll be doing plenty of cycling and hiking.
For 2025, it’s Christmas here with my brother Rob and his wife Yvonne. And their dog Charlie.
We’ll have our official Christmas dinner in Calgary on January 11th. The Great White North.
Ho. Ho. Ho.
I did make the best of the past 4 months in Asia — but not likely to return.
I traveled Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, and Taiwan (which is actually in Asia, not S.E. Asia).
S.E. Asia is ideal for young party animals without much money — who want to ride a crappy rented motorcycle in a thong bikini while drinking cheap beer on the way to the beach.
It’s not great for me as multi-day hiking and cycling cultures are near non-existent.
MOST of the outdoor activities are water related. 🐟
I believe the ocean should be avoided due to box jellyfish and sea monsters.
I’d only gone to S.E. Asia because two Gymnastics competitions were scheduled there. Both excellent. I was happy to be at both with a media credential.
If offered a private jet to fly back to just one destination ➙ perhaps the Gili Islands, Indonesia.
Click PLAY or watch Vietnam highlights on YouTube.
I hate personal motor vehicles. But it’s literally the only way to get around.
S.E. Asian cities are polluted, littered, and mostly should be avoided.
Even in Manila, public transit is too lined-up to be time efficient.
Super keen to finally get to Taiwan, ultimately I was disappointed as a tourist.
I got used to the heat and humidity of S.E. Asia. NOT my favourite climate, however.
On the upside, I saw very few mosquitoes. Only one cockroach. Second hand smoke is not nearly as bad as Europe.
MANY rats. Most in public parks eating garbage litter and around outdoor street food kiosks.
Many would list food as a highlight of S.E. Asia. Personally, I quickly tired of rice based meals. Most of my cravings were for western comfort foods. Toast, in particular. I ended up in McDonalds often as it’s clean, fast, and you can pay by credit card in a machine.
One pet peeve is trying to check-out of any grocery or convenience store. I can’t recall Canada EVER being so slow. Philippines has dozens of people in a grocery store doing something, but still makes customers. spend 20 minutes in a check-out line.
Cash based economies seem so backwards to me now.
S.E. Asia, in general is super inefficient. I do love Singapore, however, exactly the opposite. Everything is fast and well organized.
Many things are closed. Nobody knows why. Nobody knows if and when they will ever reopen.
What Asian nations will I likely visit in coming years?
Mongolia. I’m planning an adventure there in the next year or two.
Pakistan too.
Oman.
Nepal, of course.
I’ve only been to South Korea once. Would love to get back.
The only reason I flew to Clark was for a joiner hiking tour to Mt. Pinatubo.
I’d booked a month in advance. Sent in my passport. Sent in a doctor’s confirmation of health. AND still wasn’t allowed to join the group.
Nobody can tell me why.
It’s yet one more example of inefficiency in most of the S.E. Asian nations. (Singapore a HUGE exception.)
On the upside, the Facebook only group who couldn’t get me on Pinatubo, offered an alternative next day. And I did enjoy my hike to the Aw Sen waterfall with Filipino young people.
Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone serves as a hub for business, industry, aviation, education, and tourism in the Philippines, as well as a center for leisure, fitness, entertainment, and gaming.
You know the name because Clark Air Base grew into the largest U.S. military installation outside America.
Controversial with citizens, the U.S. returned the base to the Philippines after the terrible 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
I did a recommended walking tour around the Clark Parade Grounds.
Nice — but short.
Clark Museum was interesting. Tourist Information and the 4D Video attraction both inexplicably closed, as are so many things in the Philippines.
Rented a mountain bike and did about 30km of touring green spaces.
This no nonsense character was selling used golf balls.
Cycles and Brew had an all day breakfast deal with good coffee.
One thing that is very impressive in the Philippines is shopping malls.
I hung out quite a bit at SM Clark Mall.
They LOVE celebrating Christmas in the Philippines, starting in September !
Sun Moon Lake is a highlight for everyone visiting Taiwan.
748 m (2,454 ft) above sea level, temperatures are more moderate than the coastline.
In 2020, the number of annual tourist visits was 4.65 million people. Yet it didn’t feel crowded to me.
Surrounding the lake are biking and hiking trails for visitors.
I did both.
Cycling around is about 30 km + side trips. I stopped at most of the side trip attractions. Several temples.
The highlight was seeing indigenous Formosan macaques at play. They are much shyer than the macaques I’d seen in S.E. Asia.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Highly recommended.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 