After Banos some of the group went off the the Galapagos and we headed to Quilatoa, basically a big road loop with amazing scenery and a crater lake halfway round. We stayed at the Black Sheep Inn, which was as good as it sounded- the first night we got there and hopped straight in the sauna- lovely! We did it the proper way and had a freezing shower straight after- made me and Katie scream! Had the best food, all vegetarian, but really good and some Chilean red wine, was cool to relax for abit. The hostal had the best toilets complete with a flower garden- they were composting (i.e. don't flush everything rots in the bottom to use as fertilizer and stuff) and the water from the sink watered the flowers! The next day we got a ride in the back of a pickup to Laguna Quilatoa- the scenery was great- even if we did look like we'd been in the desert for days due to being covered in the dust from the roads! We got to the lake where we were planning on hiking round the rim of the lake and then back to the hostal, but decided (in a moment of madness!) to also walk down to the lakeside and back up- from 3800m altidtude down 300m! The walk down was great, sliding down sandbanks, but the walk up was a challenge- I ended sliding almost on hands and knees and Katie did some rock climbing after taking the wrong path! We then carried on around the rim and down into a valley, saw some amazing scenery along the way- although at one point I got attacked by crazy dogs and was trying so hard to fend them off even though I was really scared that I slid on some sand and ended up on my ass! Luckily they went away, as I was definetely a sitting target! The last bit of the walk was a killer, an hour up massive hills and it started raining, but was a wicked walk- supposedly one of the best in Ecuador! Was great to get back and curl up with a big mug of hot chocolate infront of the wood burniug stove! Today we've had an epic journey back to Quito- firstly we rode in the back of a cattle truck to a little village just past the lake.. where we waited for a bus. The bus came, as did 6 million other people- so to save standing for 2 hours we decided to sit on top of the bus with the rucksacks! Meant we saw some great scenery but it was freezing cold and every time we went over a bump there was a huge groan from the party!! However we made it in one piece and it seemed relative luxury on the bus back to Quito!