After the illness related disappointment of the day before, we decided we would stay for another day to try and crack the crater. Shuffled and slid our way down to the lake's edge, meeting a couple of amusing woolly alpacas on the way. Took a kayak out in to the middle of the lake, a brilliant experience, even better due to being the only people on the lake (and indeed in the whole crater as far as we could see). Struggled back to the top of the crater - steep gradient, sand and altitude make for an exhausting combination. After a spot of handicraft shopping, we set off to conquer the trail around the top of the crater. Setting off at 1 we had a maximum of 5 hours before it got dark. The trail was pretty tricky with lots of steep ups and downs, and a fair bit of clambering involved. After an hour and a half, met a group going the opposite way round who said it had taken them 4 and a half hours to that point - we only had 3 and a half until it got dark, a rather scary thought given some of the drops off the path. So we upped the pace as much as our breathing allowed, continuously trying to work out how far around the crater we had gone. With time on our hands our rests would no doubt have been much longer - the views of the lake, the countryside, farmlands, and snow capped volcanoes were spectacular. Along the final section, we took a 'path' (sometimes involving a spot of rock traversing) which descended part way in to the crater. Unfortunately this obviously meant we had to ascend again, and the last 30 mins were an absolute killer, worsened by the fact we didn't have enough water, and we were both getting dizzy, our legs threatening to give up. Motivated by the threat of darkness, we ploughed on and were relieved to reach Quilotoa and a shop selling drinks. Only then did we see the sign saying the walk takes 4-6 hours. Fortunately we managed it in 4 hours 20, but it was later to take it's toll. A brilliant walk, but not one to do in a rush, or after you have already walked down and out of the crater, or kayaked for an hour, or when you have been in bed ill the day before, or when you don't have enough water. Soon getting really cold after we stopped walking, dressed in as many layers as we could, including our alpaca jumpers, hats and gloves, and huddled around the chimenea with hot drinks in the common area of the hostel, chatting to some Danes, Belgians, and English.
When I couldn't eat my dinner, we knew the days activities may have been a bit much. A very sleepless, fluey night followed for both of us. We were quite happy when we had to get up at 4.30am, as it meant we would be heading to somewhere warmer at lower elevation. That said, Quilotoa is one of the highlights of our trip!