The Quilotoa Circuit

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Well we made it to Ecuador. We left Chiclayo on the 6th at 10pm on an overnight bus to Tumbes near the border with Ecuador. We arrived in far northern Perú at 5:30 am (before dawn). As soon as we left the bus agency, they closed the doors. We were the only gringos on board and the other passengers quickly dispersed. This meant that we were besieged by a dozen taxis, moto-taxis, and minibuses all offering to take us towards the border. No me gusta. We tried to fend them off, but they were very persistent. We knew we had to just get out of there, so we chose one and got across the border an hour or two later. From Huayquillas, the Ecuadorian border town, we took a bus to Machala, the next city inland. From Machala it was another bus to Guayaquil. From Guayaquil, another bus to Riobamba. From Riobamba, one last bus to Latacunga. We finally arrived in our first Ecuadorian destination 5 buses, 1 taxi, and 22.5 hours after we started.

Latacunga is located in the central highlands of Ecuador. We originally planned to spend a day there to recover from the previous day´s adventure, but we felt surprisingly good the next morning and decided to push on. The main reason for going to Latacunga is that it is the starting point for the Quilotoa Circuit, a 200 km loop through various small, mountain towns. We set off on Friday for Zumbahua, so we could go to the Saturday market.

Zumbahua was very quiet on Friday afternoon and evening. It took us a while to find a restaurant that was serving lunch at 1pm. The square that would be the setting for the market the next day was completely empty. We stayed at Hostal Condor Matzi, which had a wonderful balcony overlooking the main plaza. That night, the power went out, making it even quieter. We ate by candlelight and ended up heading to bed at the seemingly late hour of 9:30 pm. At around 3:30 am, construction sounds could be heard from the plaza where people had started putting their stalls together and setting up for the day. At around 5:30 am, someone in the plaza started blasting music to let everyone know that the market was underway. We could hear all the commotion from our room since we had a window that faced directly onto the plaza. At 7:30am, we decided that it was finally a decent enough hour and got ready for the day and headed down to breakfast.

We wandered the market for an hour. This market was for locals to exchange goods and did not have many "tourist" items. There were stalls selling typical clothing (pleated floral velour skirts, embroidered shalls, stockings, narrow brimmed hats, costume jewelry, etc), blankets, woolen items, freshly sheared wool, meals, grains, pigs heads, meat, live chickens, chicken parts (some specialized in feet and heads), fruit, and other items. We tried achotillo, a spiky lichee-like fruit. It looked and tasted very much like rambutan, leading us to believe that it could be rambutan called by another name.

The middle section of the Quilotoa loop is characterized by sparse transportation. Fortunately, with it being market day, we were able to catch a van to Quilotoa quickly and for $2 per person (the gringo rate). Quilotoa is a windy town set near the crater lake of the same name. We hiked below the rim a short distance in order to escape from the wind. From our new vantage point, we enjoyed the view of the lake while watching other tourists and the occasional flock of sheep hike down to the lake. We would have gone down to the bottom, but we had all our luggage with us. With the altitude (3800m), the ascent would have been a butt kicker. Since we had an hour to kill until the 2pm bus, we had lunch at the cafeteria comunitaria. At a quarter to two we headed to the road to wait.

At around 2:15, a camionero (pick-up truck driver) tried to convince us that we´d missed the bus. He told us that it had filled up in Latacunga and passed by at 1:30 (note: we could see the road from the cafeteria and hadn´t seen any buses pass by). He said the only way now to get to the next town would be to hire his truck for $20 for the three of us (we´d met a young Scot, Jonathan, the day before and were traveling together that day). We told him that $20 was too much and we prefered to wait (keep in mind all the townspeople we passed after lunch assured us that the 2 o´clock bus was on its way). He replied that there was only one bus a day to the next town. He then offered us the remarkable bargain of $15 for a ride to a point about halfway from which we´d need to walk only 45 mins to an hour to reach our destination. We declined his kind offer, again. He insisted for a while, but we would not budge. We offered him $9 for the whole drive seeing as he seemed intent on transporting us somewhere. He finally became frustrated and drove off in the opposite direction. Two minutes later, at around 2:25, the bus came by. It was a bit delayed because everyone that had been to the market had stuff to load and unload from the bus. 2:25 is virtually on time considering the roads that the bus travels on (very twisty). The bus cost $1 per person. (note: It truly is US$1. Ecuador has been dollarized since 2000)

We stayed the next 2 nights in Chugchilán, a very, very small town surrounded by beautiful scenery. We opted not to stay at the expensive American-run Black Sheep Inn. Instead, we tried the other two hostels in town. We stayed the first night at Mamá Hilda, which was very nice, but the only other guests were a French family of five and a another French foursome. The French family were friendly enough, but they pretty much kept to themselves and had their own table at dinner. We shared a table with the French foursome and were pretty much ignored during dinner as they chatted away in French. Since we knew people staying at the Cloud Forest, we transferred over there the next morning. Both places include dinner and breakfast and have welcoming owners. The only difference is that Mamá Hilda´s costs a few more dollars, has slightly larger rooms with no funky smell (some of the rooms at Cloud Forest smelled odd), and is slightly cleaner.

On our second day in Chugchilán, we went hiking with 2 Aussies we met at Cloud Forest, Rick and Cate. We set out to see the Cloud Forest, the Cheese Factory, the waterfall, and the phenomenon. We hiked about 7.5 hours through spectacular countryside past family farms, along a ridge overlooking the beautiful valley below. We did not, however, see any of the sights we´d set out to see. We arrived back at the hostal very tired and still didn´t have any idea what the phenomenon is.

Chugchilán has a plethora of transportation options for leaving. There is the 3 am bus in the direction of Zumbahua, the 4 am bus to Latacunga via Sigchos, or the sometime between 9 to 10:30 am milk truck to Sigchos. Yes, milk truck. Guess which one we chose?

We weren´t sure what to expect from the milk truck. All we knew was that there would be room for us in the truck, somehow. The milk truck turned out to be a small Toyota pick-up truck that drives between Chugchilán and Sigchos collecting milk from the family farms along the way. The driver notes how many liters each family gives each day. The milk is used to make cheese that is later sold in Quito. As an added service, the milk truck provides transportation for locals and gringos alike. It didn´t seem possible, but somehow 20 people (including 8 gringos with luggage), several empty propane tanks, and the huge tank of milk all fit in the bed of the truck. It was a bumpy, dusty and unique ride. Still, despite the beautiful scenery, we were glad it only lasted two hours. Ryan is still reminded of the journey due to the bruises he has on his bum from sitting on the 1 inch diameter railing.

Once in Sigchos, we found out that the bus to Latacunga didn´t leave for another three hours. We found a restaurant to sit and play Grass (a drug-dealing card game) with Rick and Cate. After about a half hour, someone from the restaurant finally asked if we wanted to order anything. We asked if there were any beverages (tea, coffee, soda, anything), but were told there weren´t any. We asked if there was food and were told that it wasn´t ready. So, we said to please let us know when it was. We eventually did have lunch (chicken feet soup, chicken and rice, and juice).

Two buses and five hours later, we made it to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. This is apparently the most dangerous city we´ve been in so far. Our guidebook, the hostal staff, other travellers, everyone says to take a taxi at night, even for a few blocks. It´s so strange after spending a few days in the countryside.

3 more weeks, people!

Ryan & Ana

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Photos

Banana plantation
We saw many of these along the way from the border to the Central Highlands. Who knew there´d be so many bananas in Ecuador?

Flat tire on the way to Latacunga
We felt a jolt and heard a bang as the outside covering of the tire came off. The bus driver told us not to worry and kept driving at the same speed (fast) until reaching the next town (a few minutes). There he finally pulled over and changed the tire (inside rear driver´s side).

Power outage in Zumbahua
Jonathan, Ana

Zumbahua Market
Same plaza as before, only now it´s packed.

Our hostal and the lone pineapple
We watched as all but this one pineapple were sold. The vendor kept trying to get us to buy it, but we did not want it.

Lunch break
Rick, Ryan, Ana

Trying to figure out which way to go
Cate, Ana, Rick

Llama up close
Thank goodness it didn´t spit.

Our feet after the hike
It was very windy and dusty.

The milk truck
3 people in the cab + 20 people in the back = fun!

Comments

[jacqueline]

I like your pictures and description of the Quilotoa Loop. I will going there in about 2 months. Greeetings from Switzerland Jacqueline