Up in Carchi, Ecuador's northernmost province, a short stretch of old stone-edged road near San Gabriel is all that is left visible of something enormous. The Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road system, ran from what is now southern Colombia to central Chile and Argentina, tens of thousands of kilometres of paths, stairways and causeways that tied the empire together. The segment between Mariscal Sucre and El Tambo is one of the pieces listed by UNESCO in 2014 as part of that network. A tambo was a waystation, a place where runners and travellers could rest and resupply, so the name itself tells you what stood here.
The Inca only reached this far north late, a few decades before the Spanish arrived, and the local peoples of the region, among them the Pasto, resisted. Walking even a short bit of the path you notice how it holds a steady line across the slope, built for feet and llamas rather than wheels.
The landscape is high Andean country, roughly between two and a half and three and a half thousand metres, a patchwork of potato and pasture fields climbing into the páramo. North of El Ángel lies an ecological reserve famous for frailejones, the furry-leaved giant rosette plants that look like they were designed for another planet. Weather changes fast: bright sun, then cloud pouring over the ridges, then cold drizzle. Ride with layers and a rain suit you can reach quickly.
The main access is the Pan-American Highway, which in this section is a mix of good wide tarmac and slower winding stretches through towns, with trucks, buses and dogs to keep you alert. The side roads up to the villages can be cobbles or dirt, and they get slippery when wet. San Gabriel, about eleven kilometres away and home to some fifteen thousand people, is where you find fuel, food and a bed; Tulcán, the border city further north, is bigger and has a famously elaborate topiary cemetery that is worth an hour. Order a hot locro de papa, the potato and cheese soup, to warm up after a cold ride, and keep in mind that at this altitude you tire faster than you think.