After a good 10 day break making some videos in Ibarra, it seemed like the best way to warm up for biking again is to do a relaxing few day hike to the Quilotoa crater lake. Nothing too fancy and with hostels every night it will be an easy hike. I also invited a friend who has never hiked before to join me, so that would be fun. We arrived at Toazcao to catch the bus to Sigchos but had an hour to spare so why not try hitchhiking. An architect from Quito pulled over and was going all the way to the start of the hike.
Sigchos wasnt much of a town just some stores and a lively saturday market. I bought some fried mashed potatoes, normally a part of a Fritada meal (with pork and corn).
Trail alternated between a road and a trail. Pretty easy going for the most part but some turns were easy to miss if you dont keep an eye on the gps track.
Nataly decided it would be easier to cut across a pasture instead of following the road
but it was all good, the road was nice, the animals were friendly and the weather cooperated too.
Hostal Lulu Llama turned out to be quite nice, great views, big fluffy dog (Baloo), hot tub and a game room. In a hostel full of gringos, I somehow managed to hangout with all the latinos, go figure!
the silent guardian, the watchful protector. BALOOOOOOOOOO....
Soon enough a hiking party was formed with the Taiwaneese, the germans, venezuelan, french, spanish and bulgarian.
Not everyone was happy with the trail condition but I was so, so happy that I did not have the bike with me!
After some time we made it to Chugchilan, it felt super touristy meeting other hikers, talking english and staying at modern hostels with wifi, game rooms and dinner and breakfast included ($15).
I had plenty of time to play with the new camera, try timelapses and swing in the hammock but eventually we had to pack up and head to the Quilotoa crater.
We stuck to the main route but sent our Taiwaneese friend, Vincent to explore some of the shortcuts.
After the third and final valley crossing we were on the final climb to the top. Whenever we stopped it seemed that dogs were gathering to take advantage of the gringos but it was also kids coming by and getting apples, candies and scraps from us. Even a kid stood by the road asking us to take a photo which stuck me as unusual, until I remembered the $1 a photo rule that some of the natives in San Blas islands had.
For some reason, it felt wrong to be giving food to the kids and paying for photos. The older kids did not even open the chips or cookies but just walked away with their catch.
Few hours later we were gaining altitude toward the rim, below the clouds engulfind the endless fields.
It was another hour alongside the crater to Quilotoa townsite. Perhaps the darker side of the tourist impact was kids and natives just sitting around the trail and sometimes going near you hoping that you may want to take a photo of them or give them food. A kid walked behind me asking me, demanding to give him food. For some reason it just felt wrong.
Maybe I am not cut out to do the touristy stuff but the 3 day hike with the gang was awesome! From here it´s time to drop off the map again on the Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route... until next time!
(few more photos of the lake below)
