Saturday 3 March 2012

Packing up after a shower, I discovered that my shoulder bag (yet another item bought in Quito, Monika saying that my slashproof rucksack, bought specially for Quito, made me more of a target. As if I could look less like a tourist) had been slashed in two places! This is the first malicious incident of any sort to occur to me in Quito so far. Luckily, nothing was missing, partly due to the fact I kept trying to move my admittledly large handbag from the side to the front. I think, however, that it was mostly due to the fact that I also keep my purse in another smaller shoulder/pouch bag. Anya found that hers had also been slashed but again nothing was missing (this time!) even though her iPod had been loose in her shoulder bag. The only time I think this could have happened was the return trip from the mall visit to get ice cream. I guess Quito has lived up to its reputation; you definitely have to be careful of your belongings, especially on crowded public transport!

After breakfast, we made our way to Quitumbe bus terminal (approximately 10:30 am?) and then onto a bus for Aloag, where we would change onto another bus to Latacunga.

We got to Latacunga around 12:45 and decided to get food from the supermarket near the bus terminal for lunch as we still needed to get to Zumbahua and then to Quilotoa, another 2 or so hours further.

Lunch consisted of cheese sandwiches (which we made on the bus with slices of wholemeal bread, squeezable mayonnaise and cheese slices). Having bought supplies, we found that we couldn't get a direct bus to Quilotoa but had to settle for Zumbahua and get a camioneta to Quilotoa once there.

Camionetas are a form of unofficial transportation, in areas where there are no or irregular buses, and are basically pickup trucks where you sit in the back, or if you're very lucky, in the cab. When we got to Zambahua, we were immediately hustled for a hostel and camioneta, with the result that we ended up being directed to the hustler's hostel, and not to the one that Ian had recommended to Anya. That one was actually in an indigenous person's family home and had wood burning stoves and lots of blankets. As we didn't end up there I was really glad that I had brought my sleeping bag, fleece liner and silk liner.

The trip in the back of the camioneta was cold (Quilotoa is 3850 metres) and I think we made it to the hostel in Quilotoa around 5:00 pm ($10 including breakfast and dinner); we also had to pay a $2 entrance fee. The promised agua caliente (hot water) didn't materialise: Gabriel said it was lukewarm. Certainly the water from basin was extremely cold!

We found, to our delight, that we were virtually right at the edge of the volcano crater and the view of the lake was fantastic, although a little windy at that time of day. You can apparently walk down to the Laguna Quilotoa in about 30 to 40 minutes, and back up in about an hour, due to the steepness and altitude. There is also a 5- 6 hour walk (which can be treacherous) around the perimeter of the lake for those fit enough to undertake it. I was only aiming to hike to the bottom and back again, myself but Anya had ambitions to do the perimeter. However, her intermittent stomach cramps were making themselves felt again and she needed to reassess what she would do the next day.

We made a good dinner: soup (sopa) and as the girls had asked for vegetarian, had a nice soft fried egg, chips and rice main meal, whilst some bizarre (indigenous) programme was on the telly.