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Published: July 26th 2014
The view from the hostal balcony, Hostal Runa PachaOur bus from Ibarra dropped us at the bus terminal in Otavalo town at 1pm. You can easily walk into the town centre from the terminal.
Where We Stayed Hostal Runa Pacha - $14 for a double room with TV and shared bathroom. Internet worked well in the room even though we were on the 3rd floor. Hot water shower and our room was right next to a balcony. On Roca street near Quiroga street.
Hostal Colon - $10 for a double room with shared bathroom. The room was large and had a TV although it didn't work in our room (it was working in other rooms). Rooms were set around a courtyard and had good internet. On Calle Colon near 31 de Octubre
. Hot water shower although it took a while to heat up.
What We Did Went shopping in Otavalo market. Although we weren't there on a Saturday there were still plenty of stalls which changed daily. We bought a kntitted hat for $5, an alpacha hat for $4 and an alpacha scarf for $5. We didn't buy any but it seemed the price of alpaca socks
and cuddly llamas were both $4.
HIKED AROUND LAKE CUICOCHA
To get there catch a bus from the terminal to Quirgoa. Cost is 25 cents and we caught it at 7:25am. The bus stops in Quirgoa by the park with a church. Unfortunately the early start must have got to our heads as we didn't get off the bus here and ended up in Cotacachi at 7:50am. From there we caught a taxi truck for $5 back through Quirgoa to the Laguna Cuicocha.
Once we arrived at the national park you sign in at the ranger station. Further down the road is the information centre and further down is a restaurant and the lake.
To walk around the lake the path starts where you sign in and goes in an anti-clockwise direction. You can also start the walk from behind the information centre which provides a short walk past several lunar/solar clocks etc before meeting the trail. The first part of the path is all uphill for a quite a while. The path ends at a sign stating the trail is finished. Here you walk down a small path between private properties to the
Lake Cuicocha
The view from the edge of the lake, near the restaurant, before the start of the hike road. Follow the road down and you will end up just past the ranger station where you signed in.
Above is the way you are supposed to walk it with maps etc at the start and finishing with a road section. However in line with our disastrous start we ended up starting the hike in a clockwise direction. Walking clockwise means the trail starts by walking along the road for a long time and cutting up a small path to reach the trail again where there is a sign saying "this is the end of the trail". We didn't know the path started with a walk along the road. We began by turning up a gravel trail just before the car park of the restaurant by the lake on the left hand side. The path soon ended and we found ourselves scrambling up banks, climbing over foliage and ducking under barbed wire fences through private property. We kept pressing on but it became more and more private so we cut through a field to go to the road. We walked along the road until we reached a school. We asked a passer by who said we could reach the
Hiking the lake
This is the wrong way to go if you are going clockwise. It starts with a road section and then a clear pathway. trail by going behind the school. We made it to a path and started walking. A few more fences later we reached the 'end of the trail' sign. We were so happy that we had finally found the trail after over an hour of walking! On the plus side walking this way means you avoid the long uphill start although about halfway around there is a steep section with lots of steps and after that lots of benches to rest on.
The hike around the lake was very scenic and took about 4 hours. You can see a snow topped mountain in the South. The weather was warm and sunny however there was a strong wind in some sections. Most of the time we were wearing tshirts, shorts and trainers although I put my jumper on when it was windy. You will need sunscreen and water. We caught a leaving taxi back to Quirgoa for $1 each. It dropped us at the square and a few mins later a bus left. We caught the bus at 12:50pm for 25 cents and got back to Otavalo bus terminal at 1:15pm.
VISITED THE EQUATOR AT QUITSATO
Just
Hiking the Lake
This is the correct way to go if you are going clockwise walking along the road until the start of the trail. South of a town called Cayambe is a sundial monument at Quitsato. Here is a monument marking the real equator and you can see a snowy mountain in the background, the highest point on the equator and where the equator passes through snow.
To get there catch a Caymabe bus from the end of line at the bus terminal in Otavalo. The bus left at 10am and cost 75 cents each. We arrived at the terminal in Cayambe at 11am. From there we took a truck taxi for $3 to Quitsato sundial. It is about 6/7kms out of town and took 10mins in the taxi. There is a town about 1km further on from the sundial and buses run there from Cayambe. It begins with a C and I think it was Cangahua or something similar.
When we were at the monument we were the only people there. We took lots of pictures as there is a flat ledge on a rock, perfect for cameras. At about 40mins a guide showed up and explained how the sundial calendar worked and talked to us about the equator. It was very interesting and a $1 donation per person is recommend.
Lake Cuicocha
View from the hike around the top of the lake If you visit early in the morning or late afternoon the shadow is longer or if you aim for around midday the shadow hits a rock in the middle. During the equinoxes the sun shines straight down the sundial.
I haven't visited the other equator monument however I would definately recommend a visit to this one. We received an informative talk for a cheap price and we had it all to ourselves. It is also amazing that you can see the snowy mountain in the background. It is a very special place for us as well as we got engaged here!
To get back we caught a bus back from the road to Cayambe for 30 cents at 12:30pm. 15 mins later we arrived at the terminal in town. From there we walked to the main road and caught a bus back to Otavalo. We caught it at 1:05pm, it cost 75 cents and arrived at Otavalo terminal at 1:55pm.
WENT TO PARQUE CONDOR
We decided to walk to this park instead of getting a taxi. We started at 9:40am from the bus station and got to the park at 10:40am. The hike is
Lake Cuicocha
This is the end of the trail if you are heading anti clockwise and you need to walk the rest on the road. If going clockwise this is the start of the trail after the road section. uphill all the way and we fumbled our way there by generally walking up the hill and left until we saw a few taxis driving along a road and headed that way to find signs to the park. Below is a more direct route which we headed back into town:
1. Walk to the end of Quito street, go over the train tracks and up the few steps.
2. Head up the steep cobble stone street Curnon.
3. When you reach the big yellow house Hostal Curnon turn right up the dirt road (still called Calle Curnon).
4. Follow this road around to the left, it gets pretty dusty and then curves to the right (up the hill). After the house with the scarecrows it curves left.
5. After a small house and 2 lone trees turn right up a path. Up and to the right you can see a bunch of trees (this is where you will be heading).
6. Go up the path by the 2 lone trees, cross a track and follow the path up through a hedge.
7. At the hedge go right about 30m towards the trees.
Quitsato Sundial
This is the sign on the road indicating you have reached the Quitsato sundial equator monument 8 Turn left and go up a steep path keeping the trees on your right.
9. Follow the grass road up to the cobble road and go left for a few mins. There you will see a sign for the park so follow it left along the road for about 10mins.
Entrance to the park is $4.50 for foreigners. There are bird shows at 11:30am and 3:30pm. When we were there the talk was in done in English and a few of the birds fly around in the mountains and you can ask questions. There are lots of birds around the park including 2 massive condors which are pretty good.
If you are walking up take plenty of water. You will also need sunscreen and bug spray at the park. The temperature varied widly from very hot to chilly when the sun went behind a cloud and the wind started so bring a jumper.
The bird show lasted for 40mins and we left the park at 12:20pm. We were back in town after the walk 50mins later. On the walk are nice views of the lake and the mountains.
Where We Ate The Equator
Quitsato sundial equator monument At the bus terminal you can get bags of fried rice, veg and sausage for 75 cents.
Also at the bus station we had a meal of chicken, rice and salad for $1.50.
In the food market Mercado 24 De Mayo we had a set lunch with soup and a drink for $1.75. There are also stalls where you can sit and have a large beer for $1.50 and watch the people. The market food area closes at about 5pm.
We ate at a restaurant La Fonda del Pollo which is on 31 de Octubre near Montalvo. We got a set lunch for $2. The soup was really nice with a spicy chickpea type taste as well as the usual chicken and veg bits and potato. The main dish was nice too.
About Otavalo Otavalo is a pleasant small town with lovely mountain views. The people all wear traditional dress and are all really small.
The weather was sunny and dry when we were there but got cold at night.
There are lots of small supermarkets around including one on the Plaza De Ponchos and one on Atahualpa near Calle Calderon.
Parque Condor
A condor at the park. If you need to make an international call the internet cafe below the bank on Calle Colon and Bolivar seemed to have the cheapest rates to call the UK.
We got laundry done on calle Morales near calle Sucre. It cost 50 cents a pound however it was slow. We handed it in on Wed morning and were told it would be ready for the next morning. We were hoping to leave the next day so went back about 8pm to see if it was ready so we could pack. It wasn't and they said they opened at 9am on Thurs. In the end we decided to stay another day so went back to the laundry at about 12pm on Thurs but it still wasn't ready. We picked it up on Thurs afternoon.
Where We Went Next From Otavalo we went to Quito. It took about 15mins to walk to the bus station from our hostel. There we were met by a guy shouting Quito. We got on the bus and it left 5 mins later at 9:20am. It cost $2 payable to the conductor as he came around. We arrived in Quito at
the Carcelen terminal at 11:20am.
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Ana
non-member comment
Hostel in Otavalo
Hi! do you have any contact information of the Runa Pacha hostel in Otavalo? I tried to find some e-mail adress in internet, so I can contact them, but I didn´t find anything. Thank you!