A taste of the country, Quilotoa

My weekend in Quilotoa was, without a doubt, one of the best I've had yet. The countryside, the people, the food... everything was beautiful. The trip started with a 2 hour bus ride to Latacunga, a small city South of Quito. Sophie and I didn't stay stay long in between our buses after some horror stories I heard from a few other travelers. After finding the station (no help to the Latancungan locals who ignored all of our questions... really, straight up ignored us), we caught another 2 hour bus to Zumbahua, an indigenous peublo up the mountain. The drive was long and windy but spectacular as the sun began to set. We had planned on staying in Zumbahua that night, but after talking to a fellow American in the seat behind us, we decided to spend the night next to the lake, in Quilotoa itself.

We hired a truck to drive the five of us to Quilotoa, about a 20 minutes drive from Zumbahua. It was freezing, windy and bumby as hell, but the uncovered truck gave us a perfect view of the stars. We arrived in Quilotoa a little numb, but warmly welcome by the hostal owner. We exchanged some Kichwa and sat down to a hearty three course meal (as per usual in Ecuador).
Because there were elections on Sunday, all of Ecuador was supposed to be dry until Monday, but that didn't stop us from procuring rum and boxed wine. Sophie, the three Americans (Chris, Andy and Mike), Finn (from Ireland) and I played drinking games till the morn and probably kept the whole town up with our laughter.

The next morning, we all set out to the lake. Words can't even describe its magnificence.
Mike, Chris, Andy and Finn were set to hike the crater rim, while Sophie and I were going to brave the 23 kms to Chugchilan. We parted ways a quarter of the way through and Soph and i set off with Alfonso and Alfonso (the guide and his horse). For the first time, Soph and I were able to put out Kichwa to use with Alfonso, among others, and we realized how little we truly know how to say (beyond the typical conversation questions and names of animals). It was nice to practice and gain Alfonso's respect, but a little disheartening to realize we can say so little.

niñas lindas



view from the lake's ridge

couldn't have been more spectacular

Along the way we encountered some sweet little girls, with whom with shared our PB sandwiches (they were extremely poor), some very angry dogs (absolutely terrifying) and some overwhelming huge hills to climb. Needless to say, the hike was one of the hardest I've ever done, especially at 10,000 feet where breathing is difficult, but it was well worth it.

A sheep 19km into the hike

catching our breaths, looking at breathtaking things

When we finally arrived in the tiny town of Chugchilan 5.5 hours later, I was beyond exhausted and a little wet from some rain. But the Black Sheep Inn (the eco-lodge we stayed at) was extremely welcoming and rather luxurious compared to our previous night's stay. That night, we chatted with other travelers at a family style dinner of cauliflower soup and vegetarian sheperds pie (YUM!). Sophie and I went to sleep sore and tired, but extremely satisfied.
We awoke the next day, Sunday, the election day, so a massive pancake breakfast. I could barely move my legs but my mouth worked just fine so I was pretty content with the day's start. The view from the lodge was breathtaking (surprise, surprise) and we set off with some travelers back to the lake for one last look. The truck ride was very dusty, so much so that we all covered our faces like bandits to avoid breathing it. In fact, my hair and skin were literally a different color after the ride.

From the lake, we hitched another car to Zumbahua, climbed one last hill and waited for a bus down the moutain. Seeing as it was election day, everyone was trying to do the same thing and we ended up not having seats for the 2 hour drive to Latacunga. I fell asleep on the floor of the bus and everything thought I was drunk... just a little embarassing.

From Latacunga we had to wait another 2 hours to get on a bus because of the crowds. It required some serious pushing to finally get on, and when we did, didn't have real seats, yet again. What we did have, though, was quite an interesting conversation with an older afro-ecuadorian woman, an indigenous family (with some very graphic breastfeeding... i mean REALLY graphic), and a Colombian immigrant. We were quite a crew. The bus ride was long thanks to election day traffic and we arrived back home exhausted, wet and a little sun burnt. I could only stay awake long enough to eat some soup and change out of my dirty clothes... needless to say, I slept well that night.