Our original plan was to go to Cuenca but when we found out that it was an 8 hour or more busride we changed our minds and decided to go to Baños after all. In the taxi on the way to the bus terminal the taxi driver told us that the direct buses to Baños don't stop there but that we needed to go the Panamerica Desvio instead and catch a bus there. I wasn't quite sure how we were going to flag down the right bus but when we got there we saw that there actually was a proper bus stop and all the buses heading south stopped there. There were a lot more buses to Ambato but we considered the convenience of not having to change buses there worth waiting for and within a quarter of an hour we were rewarded as a direct bus to Baños arrived.

So we eventually did make it to Isinlivi and our driver dropped us off at the Llullu Llama Hostel. The hostel is great and very environmentally aware with an ecological compost toiled etc... We put our bags down and then headed out into the garden where we had heard that there was a domestic Lama. After feeding the Lama and a little pig that was there as well it was time for dinner. The dinner was excellent as well and I highly recommend this hostel to anyone. The setting is absolutely peaceful and relaxing with a great view of the green hills and mountains. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy while we were there so we couldn't see Cotopaxi at all but I'm sure it's a spectacular sight on better days.

The people who had sold us the bus ticket to Sigchos had promised us that there would be a bus at 18h00 from Sigchos to Isinlivi. However when we got to Sigchos we were told that there was no such bus. We did however find someone with a pickup truck who offered to take us to Isinlivi for 15 USD. After we refused because we were still trying to find out about the bus he dropped his price to 10 USD. We then took him up on his offer at that price and found out later that that's the standard price for a pickup truck transfer between the towns.

We took bus from Quito to Latacunga, where we changed to a bus to Sigchos. We actually wanted to go to Isinlivi but there is only one bus a day at 13h00 which we had just missed by 10 minutes or so.

Jose from Llumu Lama drove us to Sigchos and from there we caught a bus back to Latacunga.

Two hours south of Quito by bus is Latacunga. Not a very charming town in any regard but a convenient one for visiting nearby Cotopaxi Volcano, the highest active volcano in the world. On a clear day the volcano towers over the city to its south. But the clear days are not so common. So with some reluctance I walked to the tour place in the rain and signed up for a tour to go see the volcano the next day. When I asked the guy at the tour place if it was going to be clear tomorrow he replied by saying that there is an expression in spanish which translates literaly to, "the weather is like a woman." 

On the morning of the tour the weather looked decent, it wasn´t raining and it seemed to be starting to clear up. Our first stop was at a weekly market in a nearby town, which had the usual collection of animals, foods, and junk. After that we proceeded to the national park via a somewhat rough dirt road. It was still impossible to see the volcano as it was totally shrouded in clouds. As we rounded the volcano and approached it from the north side, the clouds began to clear and we finally got a view of the peak and the rest of the mountain. It was really a nice view as the volcano has a near perfect conical shape with an interesting snow line. After taking some photos we drove up to the parking area which is at 4500 meters and then hiked up to the refuge at 4800 meters. It was quite steep and pretty tiring because of the altitude. We passed many people carrying their climbing gear up to the refuge. It is pretty popular to climb to the top but you need to use crampons and ice axe and other gear to make the ascent. I decided against climbing to the top because they didn´t have boots in my size, only up to size 12, and I would have had to leave at 1am with 50 other people in a single file line for the 5-6 hour climb up with a chance of it being totally shrouded in clouds. I thought it would be better to just hike up to the refuge. Even though it was up at over 15,000 feet, when the sun was out and the wind wasn´t blowing, you could have laid out like you were at the beach in southern California. But when the clouds blocked the sun and wind picked up it was probably only a few degrees above freezing with the wind chill. Up around the snow line there were three wolves scavenging for food. They weren´t bothered by the Ecuadorean military taking photos with their camera phones only 10 feet away. Before we started to descend the clouds started to come back in and soon the peak was covered in clouds, talking to some other people who had gone a few days before we were actually quite fortunate to have seen anything.

To the west of Latacunga is the town of Zumbahua, famous for, what else, its market; and the nearby town of Quilotoa perched on the rim of a spectacular crater lake. I took the bus to Quilotoa and the scenery was great once the bus left Latacunga and got out into the countryside. There were llamas grazing on the slopes of mountains with cell phone towers on top and I saw a bridge made from a single tree trunk with hand ropes next to the well paved road. After two hours of winding through these mountain roads and dropping off indigenous people in the middle of nowhere so they could get to their farming plots the bus reached Zumbahua. The town had about 8 streets and I was very glad that I had decided to go straight to Quilotoa rather than spend the night in Zumbahua; I have no idea what I would have done the rest of the day. It was only 12km more to Quilotoa, and it was pretty much straight up. When the bus arrived at the town, being the lone tourist on the bus I had to pay for the $1 tourist ticket to enter the town. The town consisted of about 4 hotels, all including breakfast and dinner because there were no restaurants in town save for two houses advertising that they served lunch. There was a basketball court for some reason, and a few houses scattered here and there and that was about it. I walked around the rim of the crater for a little ways and then hiked down to the lake, which was down over a thousand feet on a really steep path. After some time on the bottom I made the climb back up which was much more tiring than the climb down. As the sun started to set it began to get pretty cold as the wind picked up as well. Most of the people that lived up there wrapped scarves over their faces when they walked around outside to keep the dust and wind off their faces. Dinner consisted of a piece of chicken and rice, they were nice enough to cut up the chicken so that I got the piece of the spine right behind the neck so that there was exactly one piece of edible meat on it. Because they didn´t have any kindling left for the wood stove in my room and the bigger damp wood wouldn´t light I had to sleep under the thick blankets to ward off the 40 degree night-time temperatures.

In the morning they drove four of us back to Zimbahua in the back of a pickup truck that had wooden benches installed. On a bus leaving the market I had the privilege of seeing what must have been at least a 200 pound pig on the roof of a bus struggling to stay upright as its hooves skidded on the metal roof while the bus navigated the windy mountain road. How said pig made its way to the roof of the bus I am not sure. On the bus that I took from Zimbahua back to Latacunga I saw them haul a lamb up to the roof by its leg and then down again later along the route. I guess the livestock are not permitted to ride inside the buses in Ecuador, lucky for me and the other passengers.  

The Rough Guide says give the Quilotoa Loop 3 days, the locals in Latacunga say just do the day trip to the Quilotoa Laguna crater and come back on the same day.  We decided to try and do the full loop in 2 days.

To get to Quilotoa, we needed to get a bus from Latacunga to Zumbahua and then get a truck to drive us to the crater.  We hadn´t expected such an amazing bus journey.  On a gorgeous clear morning the route gave us clear views of Cotopaxi, our 1st view of the even bigger Volcan Chimborazo and the ever smoking Volcan Tumguruhua not to mention some stunning local hills with sheer cliff peaks including one that looked like a mini Macchu Pichu. On arrival at Zumbahua we bartered a better than book price to jump in the back of a truck to drive to Quilotoa.  Unfortunately, this meant that the 6 indigenous people already in the truck got kicked out in our favour - I guess not the best way to endear yourselves to the locals but it wasn´t our call.

Quilotoa Laguna didnt disappoint with the crater towering 400m above an bright green lake.  The lake itself is self contained with no outlet.  Unlike Cuicocha, the walk allowed you to walk down to the lake which was a nice 40 minute walk.  Chilled out lakeside for 45 minutes with some friendly llamas and mules.  The walk back up was an entirely different prospect and was equivalent to clambering up a 400m sand dune.  I ran ahead and ordered lunch but still not in time to get only bus to overnight stop in Chugchilan.  Tried to haggle with truck driver for lift but neither parties would budge until a rival truck driver turned up and we got our price.   

Cloud desceds pretty predictably in this area and as we left Quilotoa, we were surrounded by cloud, which is probably a good thing given the speed the truck driver drove around the hairpin bends with steep drops off the side of the road. 

The Cloud Forest Inn could not be challenged on trade description as on arrival we could not see a thing ! However hostel was lovely and had a communal room where everyone could share travel stories and advise on future destinations.  We had finally hit the gringo trail as the hostel was really busy (with Germans equalling the Canadians and Brits).  Its a small world as one traveller (Rachel) had lived on Thompson Road 11 years ago before moving to London !!

On our 2nd day of the loop, we got up for breakfast to a deserted hostel.  Everyone else had got 3, 4 or 5 am buses to other destinations.  However we opted for the lie in but then the 23km walk to Sigchos. With a 8am start the cloud was still encompassing but it had pretty much burnt off by 9.30 providing great views of the surrounding hills and gorge.  The walk was a nice meandering stroll without much climbing.  However the fun wore off after about 3 hours and the last 2hr 30 mins were a bit of a slog.  Reached Sigchos in time for the bus back to Latacunga.  By evening we were all suffering the muscle strains and Dave and Marie were laughing at my cowboy walking !  With friends like these.....

Yet ANOTHER early start!!!  Had to be at Sigchos for the 2.30pm bus so had to set off on our 25km walk at 7.30am!!  5.5hrs later, we arrived!!!  The scenerey was stunning once again, but my feet were telling me to forget the scenery & enjoy the pain of walking!

Back in Latacunga, but only for the evening ... another early start for Riobamba tomorrow ...!

Yet another early start!!  Caught the 8am bus to Chugchilan ($2 for 1.5hrs).  The scenery was breath taking.  It was a clear day so you could see for miles & miles & all the volcanoes around.  Its a pitty we couldnt get any photos.

We then got on the back of a truck to Laguna Quilatoa, a volcanic crater lake which was amazing.  We walked down to the rim (easy) & then back up again (bloody hard!!).  At one point I wanted to jump off the edge for an easy life!!  Note for next time - hire a mule!

We missed the 2pm bus (only one!).  But we hung around & bartered for another truck to take us to Chugchilan.  We arrived at Hostal Cloud Forest, which is exactly as it says on the packet ... it was very cloudy looking out to the forest!

The shower was HEAVEN!  The best one to date.

I bumped into Veronica (the lady I shared my cabin with at the Galapagos).  This was the first time we'd actually met "English" speaking people along our route.

Caught my first bus today!  $1.50 for a 1.5hr journey ... bargain!!  At every stop vendors would get on to try & sell this, that & the other! 

We found a nice hostel (Hotel Rosim) where I think we were the only guests! 

We set off for some lunch (in the rain!!) & the place was like a ghost town!  Im not sure if it was because it was siesta time or Sunday.  We came across a very friendly place to eat, where Dave & Andy got to practice their Spanish, whilst I sat in silence as I was suffering from the meal!!  I think its pizza for me all the way!! ;-)

When we got back to the room we found that there was Spiderman 2 on (in English!!) - yaaaay!  Luxury ...!

After a couple of rain lashed days back in Quito, we´ve shifted South to the town of Latacunga. This place is a decent base to get out to a few different places in the central highlands. (One tip though - try not to arrive on a Sunday, very little is open. Having said that we did manage to find a place to serve us the local cuisine, I forget the Spanish name but it´s basically pig, corn, pig, cheese pasty thingies and more pig). 

We didn´t think we would get to see much of the much-vaunted Volcan Cotopaxi as, after a filthy grey Sunday, thick clouds were still dominating the horizons on Monday morning. Eventually we decided to give it a go and hired a guide (the very pleasant Hernando) and mountain bikes to make our way up to the national park and hope for the best.

In the end the best is pretty much what we got. After getting to the car park by 4WD and then panting our way up another 300 metres we got to Cotopaxi basecamp (4,800 metres). As we finished our lunch, the clouds that had been draped around the summit began to part and we got a full stunning view of Cotopaxi´s frozen cone summit. It was a great moment and I won´t forget it in a hurry. It genuinely felt like luck was on our side and, without wishing to sound like a new age hippy toss piece, I was on a natural high for the next couple of hours.

After the euphoria had diminished a little, we biked down the bone-rattling roads away from the summit and back into the flatter territory of the national park. This was great fun (although a little scary to start with) until Andy and I took a wrong turning and ended up trying to pedal our way uphill to where we had gone wrong. Hernando found us and, knackered by the breathless climb to base camp, we gave up and climbed aboard the 4WD to follow Marie (who had taken the right turning) to the park entrance.                      

Time to leave the jungle and start the journey south.  However rather than heading back the way we came, Dave and I decided to try and complete the loop by staying overnight in Esmeraldes on the NW coast before getting back to Quito.

David kindly offered to give us a lift back to Borbon to catch a bus to Esmeraldes saving us a few hours, but in return for his favour, the road to Borborn was so bad that the suspension gave way on his 4 wheel drive hire car en route.  We continued and got dropped off but I only hope David managed to make it back to Quito (and had no problems returning the rental).

The coast road to Esmeraldes was pleasant and different to what we had seen before.  However on arrival to the as Lonely Planet calls it "notoriously dodgy" Esmeraldes, we immediately hit a police cordoned off area which convinced Dave and I that seeing and staying were 2 different things and quickly jumped onto a connecting bus to Quito.

So back to where I started.  The following day we met up with Marie on her return from the Galapagos (making us envious of her week) to head south. However as we had arrived back in Quito a day early, we gave ourselves a day in Quito before setting off which was lucky as it was a complete wash out.  To get something out of the day and to say farewell to Quito (especially being a Saturday) we hit the backpackers district. Having spotted it previously we had to start at the Victoria Reina (Queen Vic) where Dave had a pint of bitter (surprisingly good) and I had a pint of stout (not so good) complements of Sean Wells US$10 note.  However the place was deserted and overpriced so moved on.  The night was good but amazingly no other gringos but the place was still rammed with locals.  Even got to see a Depeche Mode tribute band amongst all the local music!

Sunday brought a 2 hour journey south to Latacunga to use as our next base for trips to Volcan Cotopaxi and Quilatoa Loop. Latacunga is a nice town with another pretty plaza and really friendly locals. A place that you can really feel at ease without the hustle and bustle of bigger towns.  What we didnt bargain for was that arriving at 2pm on a Sunday in a provincial town would not result in being able to book trips.  In fact every street was deathly quiet and really struggled to find anywhere to eat.  However the cafe we finally sat down in had very hospitable owners (Marcos and Cecilia) who laid down pretty much a banquet for the three of us including the local speciality crackling, sliced pork, boiled corn, popcorn (very common in savoury dishes especially to put in soup), banana and proper chips.  Marcos called me a "latin lover" ! and promptly started rhapsodising about his 27 year old daughter who had just returned from a Danish exchange and got a degree on Vikings !  I saw her and decided it was too early in the trip ;-)   The weather was rubbish so Dave and I spent the next few hours talking to Marcos and Cecilia practising our Spanish.  By the time we left the town was starting to come to life but had a quiet evening watching Spiderman 2 in Spanish.

What an amazing 3 days!!

It all started in Latagunga, a town that really didnt do it for me but was the gateway for great things to come. The Quilitoa loop (as its called in Lonely Planet) is basically a series of towns to the West of Latacunga and the Panamericana which are all connected by one road in a loop kind of fashion. At the halfway point is supposed to be one of the most amazing sights in Ecuador - Laguna Quilotoa, a massive lake in the middle of a volcanic crater.

Anna and I planned to base ourselves in the tiny town of Chugchilan (three great hostels there) and do some day trips from there. The trip to chugchilan proved to be at once the most gut wrenchingly horrible and stunningly beautiful bus rides I have ever been on. The first half of the journey was on sealed roads and ascended over 1000m allowing the bus driver to prove that Ecuadorian bus drivers have as much "balls" as anyone. Overtaking buses going up hills on blind corners was the norm, a simple toot of the horn the only thing deemed necessary to avoid an accident.

As the road plateaued out, the land became a patchwork quilt of crops and paddocks and we were able to see for kms all around. The road continued to twist and turn for another 20 or so kms until it reached the tiny town of Quilitoa which is where the real fun started. From there it was 23km along an unpaved potholed track, along cliff faces that you would seriously think twice about riding with a mountain bike. Nevertheless, our fearless bus driver tore along it like it was a main highway, I think I was thrown from my seat 5 times along the way...and have no idea how the chicken and the lamb strapped to the roof managed to survive.

Somehow we made it. I have never been so thankful to leave a bus ever! Chugchilan is a tiny tiny town made famous by the Black Sheep Inn (an ecolodge of apparently world class standards). Our budget could only afford another hostel though, The Cloudforest Hostel - the rooms are a quite cramped but it is very cheap, the food is good and best of all there were hot showers.

That night over dinner, we engaged in some international conversation with a Czech couple (Vlad and Yanna) and a couple of Serbian guys, and we all hooked up a horse trip to a cheese factory and into a cloud forest for the next day.

The next day proved to be a memorable one. First of all the horse tour - my horse farted an obscene amount, bit other horses and constantly decided that the best route was always the one a couple of cms from the cliff edge....having only ridden a horse once I was a little worried to say the least. Annas horse we think was an outcast (maybe had a little bit of donkey in it), it didnt like to go near the other horses, if it did it was bitten or kicked. Still, the country side we rode through was breathtaking and walking through a cloudforest seeing (and smelling) all the different varietys of plants was awesome. Apparently, 40 years ago, the entire area was covered in cloud forest, then humans came and managed to stuff it all up by undertaking slash and burn techniques for crops and grazing paddocks. The remaining cloud forest is now in a protected zone so hopefully it remains for many years to come. 

It was incredible to see the way that people make a living in this area, primarily agricultural and primarily corn and potatoe crops. It was the way the crops were planted though, literally on slopes that could almost be considered as cliffs, farmers tend there crops 365 days a year, sometimes walking half a day into the nearest town just to sell them for like $10 and then walking half a day back again....the people here a very poor.

After 5 hours or so I was glad to get off my horse....give me a snowboard any day!! Not ones to sit still for any length of time, the Czechs suggested a walk into the canyon below was in order. Never trust Czechs!! After 2 hours of walking, I was 200m up the side of the canyon, in my sandals, holding onto the serb girls hand as she came periously close to falling...it was the second ridiculous situation I found myself in since arriving in Ecuador. Awesome awesome views and I am so glad I did it but never trust a Czech when they say they have found a path. Top walk though Vlad!!

The next day we were up early and catching a ride in the back of a bus up to the town of Quilotoa to begin our walk around Quilotoa crater and back down to Chugchilan, 12km in total or about 3-5 hrs depending on hour fast you want to walk (The track is quite well described in the Lonely Planet so finding the way is pretty easy). The trip up in the truck cost $5 but was well worth the cash...standing up above the cabin as we tore round the crazy roads was definitely a highlight of the trip so far. Another highlight coming moments after jumping off when we walked the 50m to the top of the crater for the view down onto the lake.....it was absolutely stunning, I cant really describe it. Luckily for us, the first hour of walking took us one third of the way around the craters rim (there is actually a 5 hour walk that goes all the way around) so time spent gazing down to the lake was plentiful, unluckily for us the clouds rolled in after about 20mins (The weather to date has been down right mean). To counter the clouds, we dropped to about half way down the crater and the views returned, but it made for a tough hike back up. Definitely worth it though.

We dropped off the other side of the crater soon after reaching the top again and made our way down the other side towards Chugchilan, along the way passing through small remote towns, locals tending their crops and sheep (we even got to see a 1 hr old baby lamb) and even attracting a flock of school children. The last hour or so provided more stunning views as we descended to the bottom of a major canyon (using well trodden paths this time though so no repeats of yesterday) and rose again up the other side. Extremely tired by the end of it we couldnt wait for a big feed....ahhh, chicken and rice for the umpteenth night in a row but oooo, a little bit of avocado this time...you beauty!!

That night we were treated to some local school girls performing traditional dances in the dining area at our hostel. It was magic.....until they all grabbed a tourist (6 of us in all) by the hand and got us up dancing. Having had no beers I was a little worried about my dancing skills but it was all good in the end!!

Yep it was an amazing three days....but as the saying goes "a rolling stone gathers no moss" and my clothes were starting to gather some sort of odourous fungi which meant it was time to move on. Up next was Banos and hopefully a laundry!!

On the way back from Quilotoa we stopped at a village called Chugchilan where a small trek led us to a series of steep canyons.  The walk down one side and up the other to get to the largest canyon was extremely difficult in the heat of the midday sun.  But it was worth it to peer down the hundreds of metres of sheer cliff face!

At the weekend we travelled to the beautiful lake Quilotoa south of Quito (more of that in a minute) and passed through the small town of Pujili.  We hadn´t intended to stop but suddenly came across a queue of traffic in the road and further information followed that there was a rally (of sorts) taking place on the road ahead that nobody had known about.  It involved rally cars, motorbikes and quadbikes in no obvious order!  We were told that it would take 40-50 minutes to clear.  We watched for a bit, went and had some lunch, looked around the picturesque town and lively market and it was still going on when we got back!!  Suddenly the crowd of people which had been watching - and had been encroaching more and more onto the race course itself (a little dangerous, especially as the drivers were not very good!) - rushed to their vehicles and the real race to get on with all our long-delayed journeys began.  I´m still not quite sure what the indication that the race has finished was - no car had passed for at least 10 minutes but a shout must have gone out and pandimonium resulted.  Below are some photos!!