We made our way out of Quito on a day-tour that would take us to the refuge at Volcano Cotopaxi (Quechua indigenous name for neck of the moon) and allow us to mountain bike down the road up to the volcano about 11 kilometers. The tour began on the Pan American highway south out of Quito, also known as the Avenue de Volcanoes! While bumping along the road, we saw incredible landscapes that were devastated about 100 years ago, when the volcano erupted last. We reached the parking lot about 1 kilometer from the refugio at Cotopaxi and began our hike up. Cotopaxi sits at over 19,000 feet (5,897 meters) and we hiked up from the parking lot at 15,000 feet up one more kilometer to make it 16,000 feet, the highest point we have ever reached in our lives! We made the hike up in about one hour. This was not easy and required lots of breaks to slow the panting, but it was incredibly beautiful because it was snowing and the contrast of the pure white snow and the black lava rocks on the ground was breathtaking (literally haha!). We did not get any great views of the surrounding area from the Refugio because of the snow, but we had a very nice warm lunch, prepared by our guide, Luis. After quickly hiking down from the refugio to the parking lot, we got on mountain bikes and zoomed down the road! The way was bumpy and wet, but it was quite a thrill going down from 15,000 feet to about 12,000 feet in around 11 kilometers. We rode all the way to the Laguna Cotopaxi, along the road, and then got back in the bus. We were dropped off soon after to make our way to Latacunga, where we would begin the Quilatoa Loop a few days later.
In Latacunga, we stayed at Hostal Tiana, a really nice place with big rooms and a nice breakfast. We explored Latacunga for a bit, read, I watched some You Tube videos, bought some yarn, and learned how to knit (which I have not been very productive at, but still potentially exciting!). Two days later, we left with some Londoners we met at the hostal, James and Samantha, to Laguna Quilatoa. The bus ride to Laguna Quilatoa was out of this world, the steep volcanic hillsides we covered in gorgeous farms and the whole scene truly resembled a real-life green patchwork quilt. We also got a clear view of Cotopaxi and Volcano Iliniza along the way.
When the bus stopped at Zumbahua, we took a pick up truck the rest of the beautiful way to the Laguna Quilatoa. When we arrived at Laguna Quilatoa, we quickly made our way to edge of the crater lake, which I had been looking at in pictures for quite some time. Well, I guess pictures never really do something out of this world justice. The crater lake sparkled from below. We hiked along it for about a half an hour, and then make our descent along a very sandy path (which was definitely the right path JJ and James assured us – ha!), along a dry creek (where?), and pretty much through very friendly people’s farm lands. We arrived at the town of Guayama and wandered around a cemetery trying to decipher the directions we had. We decided to ask everyone who walked by us for about 20 minutes and debated on how to say a “wooden suspension bridge” in Spanish, since that’s what we were looking for (now I know it is Puente Mueble de Madera!). After finally taking the advice of the friendly indigenous, we were on our way just as it started to pour down. We made our way through a narrow, steep, and stunning slot canyon that led us down to a river where we crossed over a wood plank. Next, we climbed up a very steep and wet path all the way to Chuchilan, where we spent the night at the Cloud Forest Hostal. James, Sam, JJ, and I spent the rest of the rainy afternoon getting warm by the chimenea and learning a new card game called “Shit Head”, which apparently is the British version of “Asshole”. I still don’t really get the name, but the game was really fun and I was happy when I only lost 2 out of 3 games (yes!).
The next day, we began our hike from Chuchilan to Inslivi. We made our first minor descent along a dirt road, where an exciting cheese factory was mentioned in our short list of directions, but actually about one kilometer above us and down the road, so we skipped it. We continued hiking down a steep set of switchbacks and eventually made our way to a small town where school was in session and all the little kids at the playground said a big “hola!” as we passed through. We followed a river for about an hour and a half as it winded through the canyon between Chuchilan and Inslivi. There were many bromeliads and gigantic agaves along the way. This was some of the prettiest section of the hike. We all paused as we watched a brown horse with a pretty mane cross the river in front of us. I am sure it was not wild, but it seemed so! After crossing our bridge, we had lunch (almuerzo) we brought with us in a small meadow overlooking the river (where the lunch items were cookies, peanuts, banana chips, and James had his very own onion and bread sandwich without the cheese from the factory (sad face)!). We continued hiking upstream after JJ had to convince a burro to let him pass. Wandering down through trees and bushes with masses of red bromeliads, we ran into a very confused British man without a map (yes, we gave him our spare) and then quickly put on our rain gear for the approaching storm. The four of us hiked up a steep path, that was quickly eroding with the amount of rain from the previous day and maneuvered a tiny stream until we met up with two calves let us follow them into the canyon below Inslivi. We got a bit confused and did some backtracking before we finished hiking up the steep path to Inslivi village. Hostal Llullu Llama, was where we enjoyed a warm fire, indoor hammock time, guitar playing, and incredible meals, not to mention the massive outdoor shower and composting toilet. This mountain hostal has a beautiful garden a pet pig, dog, and Llama! We met another traveling couple there and enjoyed everyone’s company. Dinner was fantastic and I even got my very own pan of vegetarian shepard’s pie. Even though we were all tired, we talked for a long time comparing yucky school lunches with the other 3 country representatives present.
After breakfast in the morning, we hopped in the bag of a milk truck and made the two hour journey to Toacazo, where we switched to a bus back for Latacunga. The milk truck was a ride of a life-time! We made our way above Inslivi and got unbelievable views of the entire area while riding with a tight grip on the truck sides. As we zoomed along the narrow road with a constant honking of the horn to let the entire area know we were coming through, locals were waiting beside the row with their fresh milk to get paid. The operation only took a few seconds, but consisted of the driver opening one of four very large vats of milk, pouring in the new milk from a pail, and paying the person a few cents. As we continued along the road, we picked up indigenous passengers and waved to passerbies. The entire journey took about two and a half hours, but the amazing views were worth every second we bumped along standing in the back of the truck. We arrived back in Latacunga, quickly picked up our stuff back at the hostal and then caught a bus to Banos.
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