Tourist traps and less beaten tracks

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Tahlei

It's worth remembering that popularity does not necessarily equal quality. In the past week we've had both end of the spectrum - Ecuador's major tourist town of Baños, and the much less visited Quilotoa Loop. While we found Baños to be underwhelming and not as good as expected, the Quilotoa Loop was one of the most rewarding experiences of our trip - but boy did we work for it.

After drying ourselves off and Kyle licking his wounds in Tena we hopped on a bus to the tourist hot-spot of Baños. One of Ecuador's most visited towns thanks to its thermal baths (hence the name) and the array of adventure activities you can partake in, it's reputation precedes it. Our first impressions were not so good, with the streets lined with travel agencies, spilling their rental mountain bikes and quad bikes onto the street. It had a Khao San Road kind of feel to it. It made us feel dirty; it just doesn't feel like travelling. We thought we would spend three nights there, but ended up gladly departing after two.

One good thing about really touristy towns is the wider selection of accommodation options. We stayed at Hostal Santa Cruz which was pretty nice. It had an open fire in the common area to keep us warm at night, even though the smoke escaped the chimney and made us a bit stinky. It also had a kitchen and free internet, so at least we can't complain about the place we stayed.

On our one full day in Baños we mountain biked the popular Ruta de Las Cascadas. Baños is set above a gorge with a river into which many other rivers flow - by biking the road to Puyo you pass at least five waterfalls. We lost count after a while. Kyle has a distinct hatred of trips to waterfalls because I always drag him up hundreds of steps to see what is often not worth the effort. I on the other hand, am a very big fan of waterfalls, however I've now learnt that one a day is sufficient. The pick of them was the Pabilón del Diablo (devil's cauldron), which unfortunately for Kyle did indeed involve a whole heap of stairs. This waterfall was quite amazing with a huge amount of water gushing out of the rock. I climbed up the grieta al cielo - an incredibly skinny crack in the rock that I had to tackle on my hands and feet - to emerge right behind the thundering cascade. I got soaked.

After completing the Ruta de las Cascadas and arriving back safe and sound in Baños (no thanks to the crappy bikes - that's what you get when you pay $5 a day) we tried another of Baños's signature attractions - toffee. Walking the streets of the town you see many men standing in doorways swinging thick ropes of colourful toffee around a hook on the wall, pulling and stretching and eventually creating little sticks and bars of a very chewy sweet. I hope they wash their hands before they begin - if they don't it may be the reason Kyle was sick on the bus the next day, vomiting into a plastic bag and doing like the locals by tossing it out the window of the moving bus. Gross.

Said bus ride was to the town of Latacunga, which would be our base for beginning the Quilotoa Loop - a circuit around several villages in the Andes, with the centrepiece being the crater lake in the still-active Quilotoa volcano. First though, we spent a day visiting the famous Thursday market at nearby Saquisilí. It was interesting to compare it with Otovalo, the country's most famous market town. Saquisilí is much less about the foreigners and is more a functional market for the indigenous people of the surrounding areas. There was a vast array of fruits and vegetables, intensely scrutinised guinea pigs, giant rabbits and only a few handicraft stalls. Naturally the people selling alpaca jumpers and llama wool beanies were a bit pushier than their Otovalo counterparts, what with much less tourist traffic. This is where we started a love affair with tortitas de maíz, little deep fried corn pancakes stuffed with cheese and shallots - four for only fifty centavitos, yes please!

I was happy to see a row of sewing machines for while-you-wait alterations and repairs, operated by men. Good to see them doing something for once. The machista culture is really evident in this part of the world - the women are always weighed down by enourmous bundles and bags, while the men seem to do nothing. It may not be the case of course, but it certainly seems that way.

The next day we began our much anticipated excursion into the central highlands. Our guidebook talks up the Quilotoa Loop as one of the best things to do in Ecuador, but at the same time has hardly any information. Searching the internet also failed to provide any conclusive details on how to go about doing it. There are barely any buses between the towns which makes logistics an issue, and there are only a limited number of places to stay along the way. Our take of the loop was based on advice from Hostel Tiana in Latacunga - they own another hostel on the loop and were happy to give us information even though we weren´t staying there. I appreciated their advice but in hindsight I might have done it in the opposite direction than was suggested - you'll soon find out why!

From their recommendation we started out at their other hostel; Llullu Llama in the tiny town of Isinliví. There are only two buses a day from Latacunga and of course we chose the slow one which went through Sigchos, but the scenery made up for the length and the bumpiness. We wound through narrow valleys and over mountain passes, deep into the "heartland of Ecuador". Isinliví is so tiny that there is nothing else there for the traveller, so the rate at Llullu Llama ($21pp in a private room) includes breakfast and dinner. This is the norm along the loop.

The hostel is in a magical setting, with views out over the surrounding mountains, even from the eco-friendly composting toilet. There is a resident llama to keep the grass short and a pig to eat the scraps from the kitchen and the lollies that Kyle was feeding it on the sly. The living room was full of hammocks and there was a combustion fireplace that unfortunately wasn't working while we were there. It felt very cosy anyway. We were the only ones there that night, aside from the young aussie chick from Adelaide who was volunteering there for six weeks. I couldn't do that - it's a beautiful spot and everything but with no internet or TV and being alone for most of the day I would go a little crazy XXX Jack Nicholson in The Shining. For Kyle it would be the composting toilet that would turn him off. He reckons he couldn't live in a country where you can't put the toilet paper down the toilet.

After a great sleep and an even better breakfast (the food was really good) we began our proper tour of the loop. Following typed instructions that we were given at the hostel we walked between Isinliví and the next town of Chugchilán. The instructions were helpful but definitely not perfect - we went the wrong way a couple of times, and if it wasn't for a friendly farmer we might still be roaming around a hill we should never have gone up. It was a really lovely walk, for the first three hours at least. We walked down to the Toachi river and along the valley, past cliffs and farms and small stands of Eucalypt forest that reminded us of home. It was only when we had to climb out of the gorge that we felt the effect of the altitude and things got tough. It didn´t help that we were climbing in sand. Kyle powered on ahead of me while I had to stop every four or five steps in an attempt to catch my breath. I was barely able to greet the group that passed, bounding down the path. Kyle was waiting for me for about ten minutes at the top, chatting with Miguel, a local carpenter who had a daughter with an extremely runny nose. He was a nice guy who makes little wooden souveneirs. He showed us his workshop but didn't even put the hard sell on us. He did sell us some water and gave us the welcome news that it was flat the rest of the way to Chugchilán. Miguel was a liar. We've experienced this phenomenon before - locals are always grossly conservative when it comes to information about walks and hikes. It was actually all uphill into Chugchilán. Fair enough it was a slight inclination - nothing like the sand cliff we just climbed - but it was more than enough to have us stopping for breaks every couple of hundred metres. Keep in mind we were now at 3,400 metres.

We stumbled into the Cloud Forest hotel and were lucky to get a room as there was a cultural festival in town. The owner showed us our room and I gratefully put down my backpack, scaring the poor woman with my sweaty back. A hot shower never felt so good. Despite our aching limbs we went into the town to check out the cultural festivities. We were lucky enough to catch the mud brick making demonstration and also saw some sullen dancing. I don't know why they were dancing at all as they all seemed to be hating it. Meanwhile we were loving the 50 cent ceviche.

Again, dinner was included in the price of the room (this time $12pp). It was nice enough, and a bit of entertainment was provided by the young waiters who seemed to be having some sort of competition to see who could serve us the fastest. We ate with the other gringo guests - an older couple and two young friends, all American. In typical American fashion it was hard to get a word in, but this was due to the older woman who wouldn't stop repeating the same stories. The others were very nice.

The next day was a definite test of our willpower, not to mention our fitness. Even though we only hiked 12km to Quilotoa, it was definitely the hardest hike we have ever done. With very vague instructions we set off in the direction of Guayama, which wasn't that far away but was seperated from Chugchilán by a deep canyon. The first 1km took us to the bottom of this canyon, the rest of the hike to the Quilotoa crater was uphill. The river at the bottom of the canyon was at 2,800 metres, while the crater is at 3,800. That meant we climbed 1000 metres in about 11kms - a fricken steep gradient! Even climbing out of that first canyon was a huge struggle and had us questioning our reasons for attempting this hike, but this paled in insignificance with the climb to the crater itself. Again, we were climbing in sand which sometimes enveloped your whole foot. If you think walking in soft sand is difficult, try doing it at over 3,500 metres. We huffed and puffed and gasped for breath, no joke stopping every 15 metres or less. The top just never seemed to get closer.

When we FINALLY made it to the rim of the crater and looked down onto the steely blue surface of the lake below we thought all the hardship was behind us, but we still had another hour of ups and downs around the crater itself to the town of Quilotoa, taking even more breaks along the way. Granted, the views of the crater lake and indeed the whole way up there were spectacular, but we just didn't have the energy to appreciate them, maybe because we felt as though we were about to black out. The little girls who begged us for un regalito, un dolarcito were lucky to even get a response out of us when we collapsed to catch our breath for the umpteenth time. We had been recommended not to give to begging children to avoid encouraging them.

When we finally, finally straggled into the cold, windy town of Quilotoa it had taken us just about right on 6 hours to walk 12kms. That is half our normal walking speed but still a damn good effort considering. We've never felt such a sense of achievement after a hike. Doing what we did but in the opposite direction would make for much more comfortable, easier walks, but you wouldn't have that sense of achievement or the centrepiece of Quilotoa lake as your final goal.

We stayed in the Cabañas Quilotoa because we had been told it's the only place in town with hot water - a much needed amenity. Once we were fresh and clean we relaxed in front of the fireplace and chatted with the other guests - an American guy and another Australian couple. Again, dinner was included and we couldn't fault the food.

The next morning we went back up to the crater to enjoy the view with fresh eyes. It was much better when we weren't on the verge of collapsing. We were lucky enough to have a fairly clear day and to catch glimpses of Cotopaxi and the Illiniza volcanos in the background. It was an amazing view that we could hardly tear ourselves away from. Many day trippers who haven't busted their arse to get there walk down to the water's edge and back up, but we were done for walking for a while. We made our way back to Latacunga via Zumbahua which was another lovely town in a beautiful setting. It has a Saturday market that is very popular and we wish we could have visited. Back in Latacunga we checked back into Residencia Santiago where we had left our big packs a few days before. We were physically exhausted and the prospect of spending eight hours on buses to Cuenca the next day was not as disagreeable as it would otherwise have been.

Overall the Quilotoa Loop was a really rewarding and authentic experience which we think everyone who visits Ecuador should do. Maybe the logistical difficulties put people off - we only came across a dozen or so people along the way - but it really is impresionante.

Our next blog will be our last in Ecuador! In a matter of days we'll be making our second border crossing, this time into Peru where more adventures will be waiting for us!

ps - finally our hard drive works again so check back to the Medellín blog - No Wonder Pablo Stayed Put - for photos!

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Photos

Manta de la Novia waterfall
on the ruta de las cascadas

Guinea pigs at the Saquisilí market
ready for barbecuing

Walk from Isinliví to Chugchilán
rural landscapes

One of our better break spots
If you look halfway down the photo on the left side you can see the little white dot that is Chugchilán, where we started our epic day.

Comments

[MONTSE]

GUAUUUUU!!!!!
Queridos Tahlei y Kyle, vuestro viaje y aventuras me parecen AMAZING y superinteresantes. Lo que es seguro es que después de tantas excursiones, escaladas por la montaña y caminatas, estaréis completamente en forma. Creo que es un viaje que no olvidaréis nunca, aparte de ser un reto por las dificultades, por la experiencia que supone conocer tantos y tan variados sitios y culturas. ¡¡¡Qué envidia me dáis!!!!. DIFRUTAD MUCHO DEL VIAJE!!!!. Las fotos son preciosas. Un besazo