Northern Ecuador is where the Andes narrow and the country almost touches Colombia, and this stretch between Juan Montalvo and Cabuyal lies in the highland province of Carchi, not far from the little town of El Ángel. The area sits in the shadow of the páramo, the cold, treeless grassland above the forest line, where frailejones, the tall, silvery, furry-leaved plants, stand like crowds of strange sentinels. The El Ángel Ecological Reserve, a short way off, protects a large stretch of this habitat, and on a cloudy day it feels like another planet.
The riding is rewarding and demanding. Mountain roads here climb steeply from the warm, dry Mira valley to cold plateaux above three thousand metres, with hairpin bends, patches of broken surface and the occasional cow on the carriageway. Mornings are usually clear, and by afternoon cloud rolls in and temperatures drop quickly, so pack waterproofs and a warm layer. Altitude can affect both rider and engine, and fuel stations get scarcer as you climb, so fill up before you leave Ibarra.
Ibarra, about twenty-six kilometres away, is the city to know, with more than a hundred thousand people. Called the White City for its colonial buildings, it lies beside Lake Yahuarcocha and below the great cones of Imbabura and Cotacachi, and it is the place for fuel, food and a bed. Try the local ice cream made in copper pans, called helado de paila, a speciality of the region. El Ángel is much smaller, so check your tank before leaving the main road.
North of here the highway runs on to Tulcán and the border at Rumichaca, and the whole region is a corridor of old trade between the Inca heartland and the north. People speak of the wind in the páramo as a living thing, and standing among the frailejones on a bright morning you can hear what they mean. Go slowly, and pause often to look.