It's a bit like another day, another volcano in Ecuador! We were headed to the Volcano Quilotoa in order to see the lake inside the crater. After having done some research on the small town of Quilotoa that sits right near the crater edge we decided to avoid the low rated accommodation options and freezing nights, and instead stayed at the nearby town of Chugchilán.

When we arrived at the Cloud Forest Hostel we ran into Jo and Colin, who we had previously met on a bus from Popayan in Colombia. They had been there a couple of days and were able to give us some good advice for walking in the area.

That afternoon we wandered around town admiring the striking views and snacking on cheese empanadas purchased from a street vendor. We were on a hillside looking over green mountains and plateaus covered in farmland and forest, with a huge canyon below. Not a bad place to spend a few days!

Breakfast and dinner were included at the hostel which was great given the only other food options in town were the cheese empanadas or some interesting looking parts of a pig, fried in a big pan by another street vendor. After dinner the owner came around and asked what activities everyone wanted to do the next day. We informed him we wanted to do nothing the following day, "tranquilo".

And we did just that. We spent some time attempting to use the internet though the connection was terrible. We also took a short walk Colin had shown us, providing even better views of the mountains and canyon around us. The rest of the afternoon included about as much activity as the morning, and while we felt a little guilty for not seeing some of the sights, we also felt we really needed the rest to prepare for our Quilotoa walk.

We arose the next day at 4am to catch the 4.30am bus. The bus was slow going so we didn't arrive and start walking until around 5.30.

The crater rim walk starts near the town from a viewing platform over the lake. When we arrived there it was still mostly dark but you could make out the huge lake filling the almost perfectly formed crater. We wouldn't make the full loop. In order to take the trail back to Chugchilán we had an option to walk 1/4 or 3/4 of the loop. We chose the latter.

The trail for the most part followed the very top of the rim. It was freezing cold and we were rugged up in quite a few layers with gloves and beanies. As we made our way around, the sun started to come up which was a lovely pink. In the distance we could see two snow covered peaks and clouds in the valleys and canyons around us.

Below us was the crater lake of Quilotoa. We could see a pathway leading into the crater, from the bottom of which you can hire a kayak. We chose a spot to have some of our packed breakfast and enjoyed the silence and the view before continuing on. The walk itself was quite up and down, proving to be a fair task at the altitude of 3,800m.

The highest point around the crater was quite deceptive, as each time you thought you were near the top, the view would open up to reveal an even higher point. When we did actually reach it we were treated to phenomenal views. On the outside of the crater, the mountain sloped down and flattened out until it abruptly reached the edge of the canyon, filled with cloud as if you could have jumped off the cliff into soft pillows.

We were lucky to get quite a nice day with otherwise little cloud and wind, especially since parts of the trail were quite close to the very steep sides. When we reached the turnoff point to take the trail back to Chugchilán we admired our last glimpse of the crater while finishing off our packed breakfast, then started on our way down the hill.

The first part of the walk was down a sandy road that zigzagged until we reached the town of Guayama. There was farmland up the steep slopes just about up to the edge of the crater.

The town was only small and we passed through waving and saying hi to some of the local kids. Before long we were at the edge of the canyon where we met a couple of dogs and a really cute but flea ridden little kitten. We checked out two lookout points then descended into the canyon.

In some parts this pathway cut through cracks in the rock or was cut out into the earth barely wide enough for us to squeeze through, and it was so steep it was difficult not to slip. This pathway lead all the way to the small river at the bottom, which we were able to cross on a bridge made from a few logs.

Then came the climb back up the other side of the canyon, though we were now at only around 2,800m so it was a bit easier on the lungs. We made it back to Chugchilán about 7 hours and 18km after we started, tired and hungry.

LAPFWT