Thursday, November 23, 2006

Quilotoa

Ok, so I know it's been a while.... Things have been moving along really quickly (or I've just been partying too much).

There's a lot to update you all on, so this might take a while.

The last entry only covered Otavalo, which was 2 countries ago! Wow, I need to do a better job of keeping you all informed. Lets see if I can even remember it all. I think I'll break it up over a couple entries so as not to bore you all at once.

After Otavalo, Jesse and I returned to Quito for a night, because Jesse had decided a few days before to walk off with all the keys to the hostel we had been staying in. Oops. The next day we left for a town south called Latacunga, where we would begin our trip around the Quilotoa loop.

Latacunga was a larger town, about 50,000 people I think, but still retained a pretty small town feel. The hostel we stayed in was right on this plaza that has a big daily market. We were there for only a night, and spent it basically cruising around the town sightseeing. We also ate at this set lunch place called Jimmy's, where we were served chicken with a soup that had chicken feet floating in it.... Interesting.

The bus ride from Latacunga to Quilotoa was really interesting, mainly because you're flying around turns in the Andes passing trucks at ridiculous speads with insane drop offs. It's hard not to be scared for your life.

We decided on that bus ride that instead of going all the way to this town Chugchilan that night, we would stay in Quilotoa itself, a town of about 200 people right on the edge of a huge volcanic crater lake. Turned out to be a fantastic decision, as the place we stayed turned out to be a highlight of the trip so far.

The hostel was called Pacha Mama, and it was basically this families house with a converted second floor to house about 10-12 people. While it was freezing outside, we would relax in their kitchen and play with their kids. It felt really good to be a part of that.

The next morning we woke up early to go climb down the crater rim and get down to the lake. It was a cool walk, and at the bottom you could find little fissures where gases would be bubbling up. Afterwards, we decided that instead of waiting for a bus to take us to the next town, we'd hike there with all our stuff instead. It turned out to be a 5 hour trek, not bad with 60 lbs of crap strapped to your back. The views though were fantastic, and it was really cool to be doing some serious hiking after all the buses. In Chugchilan, we relaxed and played guitar in the hostel area for some of the locals.

We woke up at 3 am to catch a bus back to Latacunga, and then from there we returned to Quito for one last night before heading off to Peru. We took some salsa lessons and tried them out that night at one of the local bars, I guess with relative success. I met a group of Quitoans (sp?) who took me to this other bar where all they were playing was Rage Against the Machine and Offspring, and then started moshing! It was pretty weird to see, hard to believe I was in Ecuador.

Ok, that's it for now, I'll put more up about our crazy times in Cusco and of course, Machu Picchu, soon.

1 comment:

nwasserm said...

yes, someone other than your mom is reading your posts. Sounds like the right kind of adventure thus far. Keep your posts coming!