I arrived in Quilotoa around 5:30pm before the sunset (thank God!) because it was absolutely freezing! The bus ride into the laguna was abslutely stunning...surrounded by beautiful moutains and farms with cattle such as sheep, goats, cows, etc. wondering around. The biggest difference I noticed with the locals coming on and off the bus and even on the sidewalks were the indigenous men and women wearing arstisanal clothing with bright red/purple cheeks (by the intense sun). Ecuador in general has been hard to know what to wear because the sun is so strong and the wind is so intense that you can be really hot one minute and then wind chill cold another. I only had to walk 5 minutes to my hostel and was greated by this Ecuadorian man and there was a family sitting playing cards by the fireplace. I was in the moutain cabin vibe at last!

I checked in and got to my room and wanted to go to see the lake but it was already starting to get dark and the man told me it wasn't a good idea so I decided to just chill out and settle in. Dinner was at 7pm and I sat at a table with a French man who was really sweet. He had come to Ecuador with his bike and his girlfriend was coming to meet him (he is turning 40 this year). We discussed a lot about Ecuador and my travels from Costa Rica so far and where we are in life and jobs and countries (the normal solo traveler linguo). It was a nice meal that started out with soup and then rice, lentils and chicken (I think because I'm writing this a week later and can't completely remember). After the meal they gave us my first try of canelazo drink (an Ecuadorian hot alcoholic drink) which I saw in Quito but hadn't tried. It was really yummy and tasted like tea but with fruit but somewhat like cinnamon. On top of that they gave us this liquor shot which I tried and we both put in our teas. It was a lovely conversation, his name was Nicolas and very sweet French man.

The next day I went to the lake and was completely taken back by my first site of it. It was completley breathtaking from the size, color of water, and just scene. It was super windy so it was pretty cold since the sun wasn't as bright at first but started to warm up as I started to walk down the path. There were Ecuadorians walking their donkeys/horses down so that people later on could ride them back up. It took me about 30 minutes to walk down and I sat and meditated a while and enjoyed the peace and quiet. I actually ran into a couple who was hiding making out and was taken back but that's life right? It was very nice to feel the water and enjoy the scenery for a bit and then I headed back up because I needed to catch the afternoon bus and check out by noon. It was a very intense hike back up because of the elevation (3000m above sea level) and steepness, as well as the weather in general. I kept having to remove layers and take breaks. There were more and more people coming down because it was late morning at this point and a weekend so getting crowded which was annoying to have to pass as I was out of breah the whole time. I arrived at the top and saw an alpaca and had fun petting it for a while! On the walk back to the hostel I saw this corn on the grill and warm drink being offered so I got a corn and another canelzo and sat in this indigenous woman's house while her kids were running around. It was a nice post-hike snack and warm local experience with the cheese and white corn on the cob.

I showered packed up and thankfully the hostel mom was able to pack a to-go lunch for me which was this hamburger (without a bun) basically. Arrived to the bus on time and it was about a 4 hour ride to Banos.