When we were close to Quilotoa the family who we were sat next to told us that we should get off, but the bus driver insisted that we were not there yet. Thinking the driver would know the best place to drop tourists we stayed aboard. When we finally got off the bus we were met by 2 local who we asked (along the driver) which direction our hostel was.The local proceeded to take us there and after 15 mins of walking up a hill to nowhere we began to get suspicious and asked more insistently where our hostel was. We then found out that it was 2hrs away and that they were actually taking us to another hostel in another village.We insisted that we wanted to go to Quilotoa and were told that we could get a jeep to take us there for $5. So the scam was revealed. Obviously the driver gets a dollar (or so) for every time he drops helpless tourists at this bogus stop.As a result the locals get the business of taking you to where you should have been dropped originally. Yeah great!

By the time we arrived in Quilotoa the clouds had begun to roll in and it´s advised not to go walking then as you can easily get lost. So we hung out in the communalarea of the guesthouse (which is the owners sitting room come dining room for the guests).That night we had a communal dinner and went to bed early. In our rooms they had lit a wood burner to take away the chill, a nice touch as it was the first time I had been seriously cold in a long while.

The next morning we hired a guide with a couple from Belgium. We walked 7.5km to the next village of Chugchilan.It was a lovely walk passing round a small part of the crater hich has a blue/green lake at the bottom and locals believe it to be bottomless. The walk offered stunning views of mountains, tiny Andean villages, through a canyon and up and down a rather steep valley. We arrived just as it started to rain and the clouds began to block of views. You really couldn`t see past 20meters and it then rained for pretty much the rest of the afternoon and night.

The next morning we had to catch the 4am bus back to Quilotoa.The poor driver and his helper sleep over night in the bus and then has to drive in the pitch black through tight windy roads. We were dropped (in the right place this time) on the main road and walked in the complete dark towards the lights of our hostel.Along the way we were chased by viciously barking dogs and were relieved to be let in to our hostel where we sat on a hard wood sofa waiting for day light. At 1st we were worried that no-one slept in that part and that we would have to stay outside in the cold and dark, but luckily the daughter sleeps down in the communal area so was able to let us in.

After breakfast we went for a walk round a bit of the crater. It was more demanding that it looked, with small paths leading up and down at an altitude of 3,800m.After not a lot of sleep were not up to dealing with a long walk so we spent most of the time just sitting in the sun and looking out at the vast crater.There was no-one else in sight and it was really tranquill.