http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Ecuador , Centre , Chugchilan en-us Sun, 06 Dec 09 20:06:29 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 09 20:06:29 +0000 We left Quito after only one day when we checked out the Mitad del Mundo the middle of the world monument that marks where the equator crosses through Ecuador wash some laundry and catch up on some internet time.We were heading to the Black Sheep Inn an ecolodge that we had read about that had great reviews with regards to its sustainable living recycling and permaculture setup. The lodge is http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-444758.html EcuadorQuito Spent nine days in Quito to learn Spanish It is the capital of Ecuador and is just a big South American city. Polluted a bit dangerous and at 2900 metres extremely high. It's the second higest capital city in the world and lies between a volcano and a set of smaller hills forcing it outwards to 50km in length. The Andean City is located in a valley at the foot of the active volcano http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-440810.html After the weather in Tena turned bad we decided against hanging around or heading deeper into the jungle so instead we headed for the decidedly drier though somewhat cooler highlands and the Quilatoa Loop. The Loop is effectively the route that covers all the villagestowns that surround the crater lake of a dormant volcano. The loop itself is very long needing a number of buses to manage to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-406668.html Ecuador is SO beautiful. I really canrsquot even describe it itrsquos simply breathtaking. For my last part of vacation before school starts up again I went to a place about 6 hours away to basically hike in the middle of nowhere. We left early Friday morning to take a 2 hour bus in order to take a 4 hour bus. We caught our buses no problem walked 2 minutes through this tiny town put http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-364739.html Day 30 Tuesday 29th July A close escape from a landslideAs part of my acclimitisation programme for climbing Cotapaxi I've been recomended to travel the Quilotoa loop as its between 30004000m above sea level. The ride around the loop is supposed to be through spectacular scenery. My destination today is Chugchilan which is half way around the loop. Getting there is half the problem there is o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-307988.html WOW. It seems to me when you stay in a place long enough to absorb some of its rhythm the people then become the adventure. As many of you know I will graduate from college this upcoming May GULP and in order to delay finally becoming a big kid a little bit longer I am looking for ways to get paid to have further adventures in South America focusing on women's health and medical anthropology http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-300044.html After barely sleeping in my leaky room in Quilotoa I simply wanted to get out of that town despite feeling tired and a bit ill. Atahualpa and Maria left with a guide at around 830 AM and I stayed behind curled up in my bed leaving periodically to stand outside when the sun peeked through the clouds. It was still in the high forties at around 930 so I decided to pack up and leave instead http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-291653.html So the trip is almost over and unfortunately I have been out of touch for the last 8 days or so so instead of trying to put it all into one blog I am going to break down where I left off last time up until Chugchilan which was 4 days ago and then I will do a different entry for Cotopaxi.I feel like so much has happened since the last time I blogged from Cuenca so I will try my best to put t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-279137.html Quilotoa Loop Central EquadorYou can reach Chugchilan by milk truck or by catching the twice daily bus from Latacunga. Fours hours bouncing around next to cartons of yoghurt seemed like a bit much and so we opted for the comfortof the bus. Its a few cents extra but we have the pleasure of a ride that confirms every stereotype there is of rural South American public transport. Its bumpy an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-245916.html The next day was sunny again and everything went fine on the hike to Isinlivi. I had to hike down into the Toachi Canyon again a bit further north this time. Beautiful green landscape again and the river glittering int he sun. On the way down I passed a carpentercumpainter and I purchased a rather crude painting of a local village scene from him. High up o the other side I chatted a bit wi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-232347.html The next morning I hiked down to the lake. I seemd to be the first one down there and it was beautiful to just sit there by the beach and enjoy the quietness. I regretted not having taken my bathing suit as the water did not seem to be that cold well maybe 16C.I then made my way on to the next village Chugchilan. I first had to hike around about a third of the crater rim. While on the rim fog http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-232345.html The last week has been a good week of travelling around Ecuador and also some partying in the city due to the Quito day which means festivities all week not just one day.I headed to a free concert on Saturday last weekend that I read about in the paper. Getting to the queue at the park entrance I realised this would not be the normal pop concert in the park this was the alternative Death M http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-226115.html We spent four days in the mountains of the Quilotoa Loop a cluster of indigenous villages that surround Quilotoa a dormant volcano with a caldera 2.5 kilometers wide and filled with turquoise water. The Loop has awesome hiking trails and a landscape of pastures and farming fields so it looks like a patchwork quilt was thrown over the rolling hills. The place is teeming with exotic wildlife. We http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-210466.html Having made the only bus of the day by seconds it took over 4 hours to get to the small village we were planning on staying in. The small bus had over 50 people on it and due to being late I had to stand up most of the way which was interesting on some of the roughest roads we have seen since weve been here. The scenery was stunning with the highlights of the journey being 3 brothers getting http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-197826.html My next stop was Quilitoa a remote mountainous region and some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen so far. It was a 4hour journey over unpaved roads with a bus driver who was a certified NUTTER Generally if a road has potholes the bus slows down and gently weaves around them. This guy continued at full pelt and wrenched the steering wheel hard to avoid them. This caused the bus to lea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-190272.html We left Cotopaxi yesterday and hired a 4 x 4 for the trip to Chugchilan. The day was clear sunny and good for photos and the views were stunning We traveled to an elevation of over 10000 ' which is what we are currently at. The narrow road was paved most of the way and wound through the mountains past breathtaking scenes of valleys fields of wooly sheep llamas and Ecuadorians in their cl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-179718.html I'm afraid to say that this may be my last blog in a good long time unless I decide to write one in the next few days just for fun. I now have three days left at work because there are no classes on Friday as per usual before I set off on the longawaited and muchdelayed Galapagos trip in firstclass luxuryliner style. Wahey http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-170848.html After exchanging numerous emails with Andres and Michelle we finally arrived in Ecuador and checked our messages to find an email saying the sooner you get here the better in our inbox along with some bus directions to find our way to the Black Sheep Inn. The bus trip was about 6 hours half on a normal road and the other half on something that could only be called a road because cars attempted http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-139641.html Morci the pickup truck has been getting a LOT of use First a Sunday at Pappallacta Hot Springs with Doa Fannys extended family. When I first went there in 1988 it was just a small rustic volcanic spring alongside a rushing icy cold river. In the intervening years they have built a hotel and developed a series of pool of decreasing temperature the further away from the source. It has becom http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-103296.html Im actually in Machachi about an hour and a half south of Quito at the moment but that wasnt on the list.Got back a few hours ago from a successful summit of Iliniza Norte a new high at 5126 m 16817 ft.No probs which bodes well for Cotopaxi on Sunday morning.The hut had a gas heater and stoves and about 12 people so it wasnt too cold at night. The windows didnt open though so there http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Chugchilan/blog-72186.html