I set out one morning and made it to base camp within three hours. I realise it now but that is a ridiculous climb in such a short space of time. Climbers spend days acclimatising to that change in altitude but I just went for it. It was an incredibly beautiful site with an iconic pyramid cone rising above me. I got caught up in the aloneness of it, the majesty of nature and duly set up camp at 4700 metres. Over the next two hours I became incredibly sick. Altitude sickness is a strange and unpleasant experience and most importantly affects people completely differently. It hit me bad. Within an hour I had a splitting headache, my mouth was drier than the Namib desert and I was so short of breath my lungs felt like they were the size of a grape. I was breathing through honey. The strangest thing was the mental decline. I found my mind drifting off like a wandering hippie, staring at a tree, or a bird for minutes. I knew I couldn't ride so settled down to try and sleep. A drum was banging in my temple and I knew I had to get down. I packed up my gear, stared at my bike gloves for five minutes and realised my riding skills were sadly diminished. I climbed on the bike in slow motion and made my way down in second gear. Within twenty minutes I felt the symptoms diminishing. What a relief. But I was angry with myself. I failed.
The Tungurahua Volcano gave me my second chance. Tungurahua comes from Quichua, ‘tungura' is ‘throat' and' rahua' is ‘fire'. It is located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador and rises to an impressive 5023 metres. It overlooks the thermal springs town of Banos de Agua Santa which is located at its foot, eight kilometres to the south. Once again this was my starting point. I made it again to 4700 metres and again I was defeated. Whilst up there I heard loud sirens and upon my return was told that the volcano had become active. It was a volatile volcano and had erupted on February 26th 2016, at 12.00 midday, shooting an ash cloud 5000 metres into the air. It still erupts regularly. Although I never made the summit I didn't get cooked. I eventually overcame the altitude problem but only with the help of acclimatisation, tablets and coca leaves. On a serious note don't underestimate it. A German traveller dropped dead on the same day I attempted Tungurahua. I am glad I experienced it because to me all new experiences are worthwhile, but I am in no hurry to climb Everest. The beauty of these two volcanoes I will never forget.