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Published: June 25th 2008
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In Chugchilan I finally met some other backpackers, and I had a blast exchanging stories and finally speaking English. A few of us went on a day trip (searching for a Cloud Forest and a cheese factory, neither of which we found), and were surrounded by a pack of fierce, angry dogs at one point, but overall it was a peaceful two days at the wonderful Cloud Forest Hotel.
Chugchilan is a lovely little town, and anyone looking for somewhere to stay before or after Quilotoa should absolutely consider staying there. It has excellent views of the Rio Toachi Canyon, and the choices of accommodations are top notch. Lonely Planet speaks of The Black Sheep Inn as if it sits just beyond the gates of heaven. And this may be accurate for all I know - I didn´t stay there. The story of its origin is pretty amazing, though, and it is apparently responsible for much of the tourism in the town, as well as for the ´organico´and ´no organico´ barrels in the streets. But I had a terrific experience during my two nights at Hostal Cloud Forest. It was five USD a night for a dorm and ten for
Farms
View from the hill above Chugchilan (and Rio Toachi canyon of course) a private room, including breakfast and dinner. I went for the comfort of the private room. The rooms are small, but who cares? It has a couple of minutes of hot water in the showers, and the beds have plenty of warm blankets. The building is solid and well constructed, with a comfortable common room with a warm stove. The breakfasts and dinners are pretty tasty, albeit the only choice in town. In the evening, a local dance group of girls enter as if was their first performance, and dance along with their ghetto blaster (and so do you - even I couldn´t say no). The donations go to their school. Best of all, Jose, his wife, and all of his staff genuinely want you to be comfortable and go out of their way to help. I didn't have any money because I thought there would be an ATM somewhere, and they allowed me to deposit the $34.00 - for two days, including all meals, laundry, internet, beer - I owed them at their bank in Latacunga.
Getting away from Chugchilan can be very difficult, however, aside from it being a nice place to spend a few days. The
Peaks
The taller of the two peaks is Volcan Cotopaxi. buses for Quilotoa and Sighos leave ridiculously early in the morning (3 or 4 AM). To avoid this, on the 25th I left at 8:30 AM on the back of a milk truck, bound for Sighos, Latacunga, and eventually Banos. At first I was white knuckled on the frame of the truck (everyone had to stand in order to fit), packed in with townspeople and a honking tub of milk. We stopped every few minutes to pick up buckets of milk to add to the barrel, or to pour buckets out of the barrels for families waiting on the side of the road. After about a half an hour, I began to trust the driver and was able to enjoy the scenery as the peaks of Inisliv and Cotopaxi came into view.
Nearby Sigchos is an impressive town, as they seem to be investing a good deal of cash in the infrastructure. My guess is that many use it as a base to attempt Inisliv or Cotopaxi. It seemed to be much wealthier than other towns in the loop. When I was there (briefly, while waiting for a bus), construction workers all over town were repaving the streets with
colorful brickwork. Also, a major building (possibly a larger bus station?) was under construction. There were three Internet cafes, and plenty of tiendas and restaurants, but like everywhere else in the loop, no bank or ATM. The town seemed eerily empty, but it must get a fair number of visitors in order to sustain itself.
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