Ecuador: the Highlands

Our wish for Ecuador was to get to the summit of a volcano, since this is the country for volcanos. Therefore we had picked the Cotopaxi – the most well-known volcano of the country and near to Quito. However, the Cotopaxi had been erupting for about a week and was therefore not accessible. We had already found a very nice and special hostel near the Cotopaxi (the Secret Garden hostel), and decided to go there anyway. Not only offered this place an amazing view of an erupting volcano, the rooms were built in the shape of Hobbit houses and the total setting of the Hostel was unique and beautiful. Since we were unable to get closer to the volcano – let alone climb it – we used our time to relax. We went for a short hike to a waterfall, where Sven earned a beer by jumping in an ice-cold pool. Furthermore we enjoyed the stunning scenery, the delicious food (which was all included) and the Jacuzzi with a glass of wine. Nice detail: all rooms, including the toilet and the Jacuzzi had direct views to the Cotopaxi.

The next day we continued to the Quilotoa Crater, formed by an extinct volcano. It took us halve a day traveling, with three bus-transits of which the last bus almost left with just our luggage while we were at the toilets. It took a sprint of about 200 meters to catch up with the bus!
We had a very cold night in a basic lodge near the Crater Lake. Since it was almost full moon, we took a quick walk to the lake at night time. The view was amazing but unfortunately it was very stormy and therefore we wanted to get into bed as soon as possible. We got up early in the morning and hiked the Quilotoa-loop around the lake in about 5-6 hours with the highest point of 3.900 meters, of course accompanied by several dogs (our buddies during hikes at most times!). It was a beautiful turquoise lake surrounded by a very dry landscape. We completed the loop just in time to jump on the bus to our next destination Baños.

Baños is known among backpackers for outdoor activities and for the Tungurahua Volcano. An active volcano with small daily eruptions since years. The village of Baños itself was nice and cozy and our first day was just a relax day and preparing our activities. The second day we went mountain biking: a route with mostly downhill biking along the main road with the huge “Pailon del Diablo” waterfall as our end-goal. After the biking, we took a local bus to “Casa de Arbol” at the foot of the Tungurahua Volcano. At the moment of arrival it was cloudy and even a bit wet, but within minutes, it cleared up and the snowcapped summit of the volcano revealed itself, spitting out ash and smoke. What a view!

The next day we decided to go rock climbing. It was Pam’s first time and a new hobby was developed right away! The walls were steep and various climbing routes were set for us. However, it was not only just fun, joy and a big work-out, while another girl that joined us, luxated her shoulder during climbing. Unfortunately, we had to end our session early and joined her to the hospital. Although, without happy ending, we both were thrilled to do some outdoor activities like rock climbing soon again!

There is a train track running through the central highlands of Ecuador and although most parts are recently unused, the parts where trains are running are apparently among the most beautiful tracks in the world. In particular the part from Riobamba to Alausi and further to Simbambe, containing the Devil’s Nose (a steep mountain with the shape of a nose), is known among tourists. It’s supposed to be a “breath-taking, hair raising train ride” along some of the steepest cliffs in the world where passengers in the past could sit on the rooftop. However nowadays, they changed it into a pure tourist attraction: the ride was shortened a lot and sitting on the rooftop was not allowed anymore. A very nice ride for senior American all-inclusive-tourists, but a small disappointment for us and other backpackers.

After moving to next destinations every other day, we had the urge to spend a few nights at the same place again. We would therefore skip one of our planned destinations, which would give us a little more time in Cuenca, our last destination in Ecuador.

The main thing to do around Cuenca was to visit the Cajas National Park. Since day-trips were the best option, it was ideal for us. The park was just out of town, offering many different routes between 3100m to 4450m in altitude. We chose for the 6h loop, while the other routes would have been quite short only. Cajas is mainly known for its many Lagunas spread out through the whole park. The scenery of the park really reminded us a lot of the movie ‘Lord of the Rings’ and we could basically see Frodo, Sam & Gandalf hunting the Orks down the mountains! It was very beautiful and totally different again to what we have seen so far in other National Parks.
That evening, after having Erwtensoep (the traditional Dutch soup) for dinner in a very cozy Dutch restaurant, we decided to spoil ourselves a little and went to the movies to watch “TED 2”.

The next day we could finally sleep in again, and decided to check out the surroundings of Cuenca a little more. The owner of the Dutch restaurant told us about two little villages (Gualaceo & Chordeleg), just an hour away by bus. So we decided to have an easy day, exploring the handicraft of southern Ecuador. The villages were small and were walking distance from each other. The main church and a food market in the center made up the little towns. Just enough to walk through the cute little streets and taste the atmosphere there for an afternoon.
The last day we spent walking around town in Cuenca and checking out the Pumapungo museum and the Archeological Park right behind it. The museum hosts Cuenca’s most extensive and impressive artistic, historical, cultural, and ethnological exhibits. Since it was raining a little that day, it was the perfect change to what we have been doing lately. In the Archeological Park, we even found a small Belgium restaurant selling delicious waffles – so much ‘home-feeling’ in the last couple of days in Ecuador!

Since our planned 3-weeks trip through Ecuador was coming to an end, it was time to get ready for the next country... PERU. The last couple of weeks have been a blast, exciting and busy, but mainly structured around hiking tours and outdoor activities. Therefore we decided for our first stop in Peru to head back to the beach for a couple of days again – Mancora, here we come.