breathtaking quilatoa

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Latacunga, I arrived after another long day in a not so fresh bus with not so fresh smelling locals. Nevertheless it was only 6 hours out of yet another day doing and seeing well not all that much that I hadn't seen. I ended up catching the bus from Otavalo to Quito as the bus to Latacunga wasn't leaving until 1pm. Executive decision on my part. Good decision? I'm not so sure. You see express buses aren't what I'd call express and this bus to Quito and the buses from North Quito to South Quito and from South Quito Latacunga definitely weren't express. As I said, it was a day spent doing something I really didn't want to be doing, but so goes the story of overland travel! By 4pm I had arrived in Latacunga, booked myself a dorm bed, ever so briefly checked out the town, met some lovely fellow backpackers and found myself sitting in a nice Italian inspired resturaunt ordering canneloni and drinking a huge beer. Not too bad. After enjoying some good conversation with the backpackers, from all over really; germany, switzerland, quebec and south korea, we dropped into a cute little smokey (not so cute) bar near our hostel for some more beer of course! Tonight is one of the reasons I love to travel; being able to strike up conversation with anyone based on the fact that you too are seeing the world with a backpack and a sense of freedom. Tonight was great and it gave me a 'bring on peru' spirit boost.
Oh the hostel I stayed in was called Hostel Tiana. Whilst there are many hostels in this surprising busy little town but this has by far the best advertising and so it should, a nice old hostel with comfortable beds, albeit the lumpy pillows, not that I complained! hot showers, tv room, free wi fi and two croissants for breakfast with tea and or coffee, all for $8.50. The only thing I will say and this is for Ecuador in general; it can get a little frustrating not having access to a kitchen, as every now and then it would be nice to cook again, oh and to eat my porridge and seeds that I'm still carrying around, not that I'm complaining about the cooked breakfast either, more the fact that I would love to get rid of the food I'm lugging about.
OK now on to the good stuff. Quilatoa. My adventure on day one and a half in the Latacunga area, the gorgeous area just 4 hours south of Quito. I woke early, this is becoming habit again, a good thing after my sleepy days in Bogota! ate my breakfast and made my way to the bus terminal. I was off to Quilatoa, the gorgeous turqoise lagoon two hours away from town. I had unpacked my pack and had with me one change of clothes, just in case I decided to walk the Quilatoa Loop, a very popular hike for lots of backpackers that can take anywhere from 3 to 5 days. I didn't end up doing this, for reasons noted below however it was a good idea!
Not long after getting on the very smelly bus I met mi amigos for the next two days, Danique and Pim, another lovely dutch couple to add to the list (yes martin and katja you still top my list!) How nice it is to talk to someone else than that little someone who occupies my head space most of the day!
We arrived at Quilatoa, a tiny little mountain town and I jumped off to inspect one of the 5 or 6 hostels. Cute, just like I'd been told but I was the 'solo' occupant, not so cute or nice. There's times when I love travelling alone but being holed up in a freezing cold mud brick hostel in the middle of the mountains with no one that speaks english wasn't one of them. Maybe on a another given day but not today or tonight! I said thank you for showing me around and hot footed it up to the lagoon where P and D were waiting.
So off we went, me and my two friends (excited much?! haha) walked up to the lagoon. We were blown away by the view; absolutely magnificant. Something you'd expect to see in New Zeland or Japan. Breathtaking. And the best thing; no one was there! We were literally the only ones for at least an hour, apart from the locals of course and actually enjoyed seeing some gringo's, HOLA!!!
We met a lovely Quilatoan family who runs one of the local hostels and enjoyed quite the chat, before descending into the crater to enjoy a bite to eat.
I can't explain how amazing this part of the world was. The scenery in the bus on the way was out of this world. With COtopaxi; the world's highest active volcano, making itself known in the brightness of the morning, the rolling mountains dotted with field after field of potatoes and other agriculture, alpaca's, llma's and native women with their red blankets draped around their shoulders and huge bags of 'anything' strapped on their backs, this truly is a rich and diverse country and we were seeing the very best of it in these two hours, absolutely no doubt.
The descend down into the lagoon was easy, the hike back up not so! We weren't even all that high but it definitely took affect; maybe the heavy panting and the need to take off my jumper in the not so hot weather were an indication. Speaking of weather, the sun was shining and the clouds were few, it really was the perfect day to look at such a perfect view. (haha I've just re-read this, nice little bit of rhyming there I think I'll leave it for your enjoyment!)
At two thirty we had organised a ride into town with the local hostel man and his family, or so we thought. Turns out we were going with his amigo's to the next town Zumbawa and from there to Latacunga with his 'hermano' sure! We were rather surprised when a nice toyota hilux pulled up and we were told to get inside. I didn't feel all that bad until I saw the elderly couple; easily in their 80's, sitting in the back! And so we arrive in Zumbawa to see our next vehicle; not so nice, we were now the ones to be sitting in the back, for $5 for at least an hour and a half, uh I don't think so. Luckily the bus into town pulled up and for an easy $1.50 we jumped on. Soon after I decided I was in fact I was hungry; this was due to the smell of bbq and the longing I so often feel for a good Sunday barby at home accompanied by mum's potato salad. AFter thinking about it for at least thirty seconds I jumped off the bus and ordered one of what 'she was having'; chicken, or so I thought, potatoes and salad, for $1, score! Pollo I ask? No pollo she replies with a big grin....hmmm if it's not chicken what could it be?! It's meat I guess and i am hungry so who cares....yeah I didn't care until she started cutting up this rather rubbery looking non chicken meat and I saw it was hollow, yep hollow as in it's either the wind pipe or the stomach of some animal. Uh yeh No I don't want it anymore, thanks!
Vamanos, we were back on the bus and from Zumbawa to Latacunga I talked absolutely everything with Danique. In Otavalo I discovered I could shop, nothing new. In Quilatoa I discovered I could talk, also nothing new, rather something that had been forgotten. Nothing better than a good chin wag involving topics of religion and fellow travellers. BIEN!
So Quilatoa, the reason for this blog. An absolutely fantastic day trip and or three/four day hiking trip, one which was strongly recommended by other travellers at the hostel and one I would have loved to do if a. I had a rainjacket b. I had a friend/friends c. the weather wasn't so cold! You'll just have to look at the photos to get a glimpse of what i'm talking about, a true gem in a very quiet community minus the tourists, perfection! Hmm this brings me to the opposite of perfection; what could have been had Pim not been so amazingly observant.
Now for those of you who don't know me or those who do, I think I'm a pretty organised person, mum on the other hand things otherwise. She's always telling me to do this, do that, have you done this, have you done that, and the answer is always 'yes mum'. I can't remember the number of times she said to me growing up "Hannah, you'd forget your head if it wasn't screwed on!" and on this particular day mum I believe yes I could have forgotten my head. I pretty much did. You see Danique and Pim had just their day packs with them, me I had my shoulder bag and my big pack, but as mentioned before, I was in fairly deep conversation about five dollar hair cuts in south america and well I got off the bus after D and P with just my shoulder bag, no pack. Walking along talking about how sunburnt we just realised we were and hair, as already mentioned, and Pim looks at me and says "Hannah, your pack" *^&%&#&@&@ this and other explitives were used as I started running in search of the bus. I'd left my pack on the bus, nothing major, its only my entire life. So here I am looking and searching for this bus, D and P not far behind me....."can we remember what the bus looked like?!" haha it must have been quite the sight, this crazy white girl running around screaming things in English....when finally I found the ticket guy for my bus and consequently, my bus and thus my pack "Loco" he says to me as he hands me my pack. Loco indeed my friend. This is the perfect place to admit that I had done something very similar if not exactly the same when in Otavalo, but I won't admit that because then i would definitely be crazy!!
So once arriving back at the hostel we ordered a bottle of wine to share, mmm how I've missed white wine and then met another lovely Dutch couple, man I can't wait for Queen's Day 2012!
Another night in Hostel Tiana, another meal at a local Chifa, life is good!

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Photos

me and the magnificant lagoon, huge!
yes i had friends to take a photo of me!

so friendly!
local hostel owner who organised a ride with his 'hermano' into town

mother & daughter
they owned the hostel just down the hill