Zumahua

Also on the way to Quilotoa we passed through an even smaller market town called Zumahua.  Unfortunately the market as just packing up as we got there - probably because we had been delayed by the rally - but it was a very picturesque town so I´ve attached some photos! 

So eventually we arrived at the lake Quilotoa!  It is a large lake filling the crater of an extinct volcano, and is beautiful.  In particular, it was so quiet (no other tourists there) and hidden from view such that I had to go right up to the view point at the edge to discover what we had been travelling most of the day for.  It was breath-taking.

The passage down 300 meters to the shore of the lake was a difficult and steep path cut between the surrounding rock.  When we got there down we kayaked on the lake and stayed in some pretty basic accommodation (the ´toilet´was a hole in the ground - plenty of chances for ´squatting´ John but I didn´t take full advantage this time!).  It was very cold at night so we lit a camp fire and drank an Ecuadorian spirit whilst listening to Carlos (tour leader, Spanish teacher and host family father) play on the guitar.