Quilotoa

ihana.com - big trip - diary - ecuador - july 2003

Wednesday 9 - Thursday 10 July

It wasn't long until the tarmac became severly potholed then disappeared all together. However, the scenery more than made up for it with great vistas of rolling hills patchworked with different coloured fields (previous page). Stopping to take a photo a guy at the back of his house a good distance away shouted out to ask where are we from and then if we like Ecuador, of course we do.

It was lunchtime when we arrived in the village of Zumbahua. The usual super cheap restaurant was chosen and we sat beside a table of locals who did the usual quiet staring. While we were eating an old bloke came by selling clothes from a big bundle on his back. The restaurant owner seemed quite taken with some sweaters and we gave our best advice for the sexiest one.

Only 14kms along the road is the Quilotoa crater and its not until the last 14 metres that you realise its there. Theres a collection of houses and a barrier across the road where we paid a dollar each to get in. We parked the landy and rushed up the path to the wooden railing to take in the view. Its definitely worth it, worth even staying overnight until the morning to wait for better light.

The wind is strong here and we had to find shelter for the roof tent. A two storey house still being finished off looked like a good place, so with the permission of a neighbour, we manoevered the landy behind the house. The afternoons entertainment was provided by some kids playing about for the camera and a small group of tourists chatting about travely stuff.

After getting some better pictures in the morning we headed off towards Saquisili where there is a big market every Thursday according to the people we met last night. The road was extremely winding and combined with lots of stops for pictures meant we took a good while to arrive. The market was still reasonably bustling and we had a good look round at some of the more interesting things on display.

We left the market and made the last few kilometres north, past the now visible Cotopaxi volcano, to Quito.

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