Highland markets, hiking above 4000 metres and spectacular Andean scenery

Wow, what an amazing week!

The last time I posted, we were in Quito and we were going to head out into the rural highlands of Ecuador. We took a bus two hours south of Quito to a small city at 11,000 feet called Latacunga. When we got to Latacunga, it was market day and the city was filled with traditional Andean people that come down from the mountains to buy supplies for the week. These people dress in traditional dress that is characterized by bright coloured shawls, and small black hats. They are also very small people, where the men aren´t normally taller than 5´4". They are very shy and saying hello is normally met with a nod or a very quiet ´Buenos dias´.

After spending a full day in Latacunga, we left on Thursday morning to a small village 20 minutes away from Latacunga by bus, called Saquisili, to visit one of the biggest markets in Ecuador. It is amazing how a small village of less than 5000 people can explode in population and chaos. There were somewhere around 8 different plazas around the village selling different things. We saw everything from traditional clothing to everyday goods, giant wooden spoons (I´m talking 4 feet), piles of rosemary (dirt cheap and must be in season), fresh fish, bundles of live chickens tied together, guinea pigs in burlap bags, full bed sets for sale and everything in between. It was chaotic as vehicles jostled for position in the streets and horns going off everywhere. Just as powerful as the sights, the smells wafted through the plazas mixing with eachother. Stray dogs stayed close to the food stalls where animal bones were tossed on the ground after the people were done eating. After having a quick breakfast, grabbing a lunch we looked for the bus heading further into the mountains to a village called Chugchilan. The bus heading the other way had sheep on top of the bus with bundles of rosemary, chickens and other goods that passengers bought from the market and were taking to their homes in the highlands.

The ride from Saquisili to Chugchilan was an amazing journey. We wound our way higher and higher. The higher we went, the worse the road got. Going over high mountain passes between a patchwork of fields, that ranged from green to brown. The fields stretched up to the highest points until they disappeared into the clouds. After two hours, and a steep descent into the Toachi Canyon (1500 feet deep) we passed through the town of Sigchos. After that, it was only 23 km of driving to our village, almost there.........but, not really. The road turned into a muddy, steep trail that wound around the mountainsides. This section of the ride took 2 hours.....for 23 km of driving. There were points where it was obvious that mudslides had recently occurred and as the bus driver dodged potholes the bus come too close to the edge numerous times. We finally got into Chugchilan by around 3. We decided to stay at a place called the Cloud Forest Hostel and for 10/night including a wonderful breakfast and dinner, you can´t go wrong. It is cold up here. Nights drop into the single digits and with no heat, it is difficult to stay warm.

The next day, we got a ride to Laguna Quilatoa in the back of a truck...well two trucks. We hiked with our friend Adam, who we met at La Hesperia and three other people from San Fransisco that we met at the hostel the night before. The road between Chugchilan and Quilatoa was worse than the road from the previous day. The scenery was amazing. The higher we climbed, we ascended into pine/ eucalyptus forest. This is the only place where I have seen orchids and bromeliads growing in pine trees. The views were amazing, looking down onto traditional sod houses in the hills where Llamas and Alpacas roamed. After and hour and a half, we got to a point where the vehicle couldn´t go any further because of mudslides. So, we got out and walked a few hundred metres to the other side where we hopped in the back of a pickup truck to finish the rest of the ride to Quilatoa. We got there around 10:30 and grabbed some food for the hike and then headed off to Laguna Quilatoa. The lake is in an extinct volcano crater lake that last erupted in 1797. There is a road that leads up the crater edge and as we reached the top we were treated to our first vistas of the lake, 600 feet below us. Standing on the rim of the crater, staring at the aqua blue lake surrounded by alpine flowers at 14,000 feet is something that I won´t forget anytime soon.

We still had 5 hours of hiking back to the village that took us two hours by truck to get here. We hiked for about an hour on the crater rim, scrambling up and down sandy patches. For the last half an hour as we walked along the crater rim, with views of the lake on one side and views of the valley far below us on the other side we hiked in silence, except for the sounds of someone playing a traditional Andean flute somewhere in the valley below us. The fog was starting to roll in and there was a faint smell of rain. It was surreal. After one last picture of the lake, we hiked off the crater rim and headed towards a small town of Guayama. We didn´t have a guide and had some very rough instructions of where to go but we figured it out after wandering around the hillsides for a bit. We descended the volcano quickly and after an hour were in the little village eating some lunch. By now, the rain had started and we were all pretty cold and wet but the sights, sounds and smells more than made up for the cold.

Now, finally, the last leg of our journey back to our hostel. We hiked past Guayama and descended further towards the gigantic, steep Toachi canyon. We could look across the canyon and as the crow flies, it was probably 1 km but it was over two hours of hiking. After a short detour because of a washed out bridge over a small gorge, we foud our way to the rim of the canyon. We sat there in awe as we stared at the trail leading down into the canyon.......literally down a cliff. There were a few sections where recent mudslides had wiped out the trail and it was kind of reestablished a little bit further down the hill. The first part of the descent, we dropped into a small path that was cut into the cliff where there were walls on both sides of us 30 feet up and our shoulders scraping the walls of the path. After a few minutes of descending through this, the view opened up and we were hiking 45 degree swithbacks down the cliffside. The descent into the canyon only took half an hour but was one of the craziest things I have done. We shuffled precariously along the edge of the cliffs clinging to the little trail that villagers and farmers hike daily. Looking back at what we came down was an amazing feeling but unfortunately we still had to go up ther other side.

Fortunately, the other side wasn´t a cliff but rather a combination of swithbacks through rolling hills winding up the valley. We wandered through eucalyptus forests, past farmsteads and then finally into Chugchilan to huddle by the fire and relax after a great hike. It was great hiking in a group and making group decisions on directions and where to go when winding our way towards Chugchilan on the maze of trails that lead into the mountains.

The next day, we decided to finish the loop, heading to Zumbahua to see the saturday market. So, again we hopped in the back of a truck and rode the two hours to Quilatoa. This time, we made it through with one truck but there were some parts where we were too close to the edge. To peer over the edge of the truck and see tires that are only half a foot from a washout point and the road is only sand. We also drove through spots where there were slides and cave-ins soemtime yesterday. It was a crazy experience and all you could do was laugh nervously and hope that the driver keeps us on the road. He did and after Quilatoa, the road is paved and is was smooth sailing to Zumbahua. On this side of the crater, everything was more dry and there were cacti growing everywhere, including some in bloom. We got to the market and this was one of my favorite markets. It was small and unassuming and occupied the entire centre of this small town. We wandered around for a bit, bought an alpaca wool toque and mitts for 5 dollars and took a bus to Latacunga. So, we finished the loop, counterclockwise. I would recommend going this way, it was definitely more of an adventure and in the rainy season the easiest way to do the complete loop.

We are now in Banos, beneath an active volcano. Riding into Banos we could see the peak of the volcano tossing up ash and steam into the sky. This town is pretty amazing and we are looking forward to spending at least a few days exploring this area, hiking, biking and riding cables across large valleys.

That is all for now.

Cheers,

Lee

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