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Published: November 29th 2014
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Quilotoa - 11/27/2014 - Day 4
Happy Thanksgiving!
Plan for today is to get to Quilotoa. We skipped breakfast and headed out to get a cab to the bus station. First cab quoted us $15, but we thought that was too much for a fairly short distance. Driver then went to $12, then $10. Bob then asked another cab and got a price of $8 right away. Guess which one we took? The driver did take a very roundabout route to avoid the traffic at 7:30am. (Gas is cheap here, $2 a gallon.) Traffic in Quito is unbelievable, wouldn't want to drive here. Took about half an hour to get to the Terminal Quitumbe. The terminal was very large and modern, looked quite new.
First bus took us to Latacunga, south along the Panamericana highway. Very inexpensive, $3.50 total for two. We were aiming for the 8:30 bus, but made the 8:00. Quiet, comfortable ride. Passed through big valleys, by mountains, some snow-capped. Candy and sandwich vendors boarded the bus for a few stops. One man on the bus was selling some healing salve. His speel was all in Spanish, but from his gestures, it looked
like a cure-all! It was $1 a jar for the green stuff, but not very many takers!
Walked a few blocks to the next terminal for the bus from Latacunga to Quilotoa. This fare was also inexpensive, $4 total for two. Ride was about two hours Many passengers were dressed in ethnic costume, including the Quichua hat. We followed the Quilotoa Loop, from Latacunga to Zumbahua to Quilotoa. Just outside Latacunga the bus stopped at the San Jose Panaderia (bakery). Perfect for us because we skipped breakfast! Can't beat $.35 total for three large, fresh croissants! A grill was set up in front of the shop with beef ribs, bananas and pasta. No other Gringos on either bus. The drive was magnificent, huge valleys and deep gorges. Passed several farms, and we were surprised that the land was so arable on the hillsides. Many animals--cows, sheep, horses, and a few pigs digging in the dirt with their snouts. As we went up in altitude, we saw many fir trees. Went through many s-curves, deep valleys with a patchwork of greens. Saw some white animals in the distance which may have been sheep or llamas.
The land became more arid outside Quilotoa, dry river beds. Quilotoa is a small town with a beautiful volcanic-crater lake. Altitude here is 13,000 feet. We found a great hostel right near the busstop here, Hostel Alpaka Quilotoa. Room is large, walls are brick, and the doors are arched, dark wood. We have a wood-burning stove in the room, which was lit for us to get the chill out of the air. A down comforter and a heavy blanket are on the bed. I think it gets cold here at night but we can throw another log on the fire too.
A short walk through the town takes you to the overlook for Lake Quilotoa. What a fantastic view, the water in varying shades of blue and green. About a half hour walk down to the base of the lake, a 1320 foot altitude drop. I went about 3/4 of the way down, Bob went to the base. It took Bob 20 minutes to get back to where I was, then another hour more to get us to the top. Had to stop quite often, not enough oxygen in the air! There were a lot of people
much younger than us who rented horses to get back to the top.
Before dinner we took another walk, past the lake viewpoint. Walked past a pen of sheep with little ones. Didn't smell very good, but very cute! We got a view of the lake from another spot, with the fog rolling in. Also saw the beginning of the rim trail. Blogs and Lonely Planet give the length of the walk anywhere from 3 to 6 hours.
Stopped for dinner at the pizzeria next to our hostel. It had some of the same workers, so either the same owner or a community involvement. Had Italiano pizza, thin crust, and delicious. We saw her rolling out her dough, so it was very fresh. So many dogs in Quilotoa, several came in and out of the pizzeria.
Great day in Quilotoa. We don't have Internet here, so this is going in off-line and will be entered in the blog when we get access.
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