One of the highlights of Ecuador is the Andes. Ecuador has many volcanoes throughout the Andes, some active (like where we are going next), and some inactive. We decided to visit the Quiltoa Loop, which Lonely Planet calls “one of the Andes’ most spectacular roads”. One of the most spectacular sights on the Quilotoa Loop is Quilotoa Lake, which sits in the crater of the Quilotoa Volcano. Say volcano hike to Sean, and he is all over it.
We arrived in the pouring rain after a bumpy four hour bus journey. My first thought was “this place is FREEZING!” It was bitter cold with the rain coming down, and heaters are not on the menu. The best you can hope for is a lot of warm blankets, and some hot water. The hostel we chose, Mama Hilda’s, had both, along with hot tea and a wood burning stove to warm your bones. That night at dinner we met a really nice couple, Barbara and Bernard, from Switzerland. We decided to all do a six hour hike to a local cheese factory the next day. This would be the warm up for our volcano hike which was 22K one way (without descending into the volcano).
We left by 8am the next day for our hike to the cheese factory. We were greeted by some of the most stunning scenery I had ever seen, scenery which was masked the day before by the rain clouds. The Andes are absolutely beautiful. Rolling green hills, steep valleys and canyons, farms making patchwork quilts out of the countryside. Around every corner the view was more and more stunning. Sheep and cows voicing their complaints echoed through the hills as we ascended higher and higher.
After our visit to the cheese factory we happened upon a school with the kids having recess. They were very interested to check out the Gringos and talk a bit. We made friends by giving them some animal crackers. We must have been a hit, because on our return back down the mountain, and past their school again, they called us into their classroom while they were having math class.
About halfway through our hike, the clouds rolled in and it began to rain. And rain. And rain. The clouds obscured all views of the countryside. But you felt as if you were walking through the clouds, not knowing what was around the next bend. This was pretty cool for like the first hour, but after three hours of hiking in the rain, we were ready for some hot tea and the wood burning stove.
The next day we were feeling a bit lazy and chilled from our hike the day before, and decided to wait on the volcano hike and do a shorter hike to a wood crafting shop. All of the furniture was handcrafted without the use of nails and was gorgeous. We spent some time watching them making the furniture and checking out the finished products.
Towards the end of this hike, more rain, more chill in the bones, more hot tea and wood burning stove needed. It rained all day, into the night, until the next morning. This was to be our volcano hike day. We were going to take the bus one way at 4am, hike into the volcano, then hike back to our hostel. Then we thought with the weather maybe we would take the bus both ways, and just hike down into the volcano. Then some of the locals started telling us how bad the road was on the way to the volcano because of the rain. The road is treacherous during the best of weather, and that was all you had to tell me. There was no way I was getting on that bus. Sean on the other hand was like the mailman. No rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail was going to stop him from visiting the volcano. Except buses that refused to run.
Yup that’s right, even the buses would not run to the volcano. And the option of walking 44K (almost 27 miles) was not happening without medical team backup and a Naprosyn infusion. And so it was that the volcano hike never happened. However, this did lead us to think….hey wait a minute, if the buses are not running, that means we are “stuck” here. So we asked the gentleman who runs the hostel. He confirmed that not only did the buses not run that morning, but the afternoon bus from the day before never came. Never came like never showed up or never ran at all? My Spanish is not that good, so I was going to assume that it never ran.
So here we were in the Andes for another day. Not such a bad place to be stranded, I guess. We decided to hike locally and check out the roads a bit while it was not raining. This was a mild landslide right outside our town. I didn’t see a bus buried in it, so I think my assumption that the afternoon bus from the day before did not run was correct.
We remained hopeful that the rain would hold off for at least a day so we could catch the 3am bus out of here (yes 3am, what were they thinking). Not that I really wanted to get up at 3am to catch the only daily bus back out to the main highway, but I was ready for a good soak in the hot springs of Banos, under the glow of Volcan Tungurahua. Sean can’t hike this one either, it is too busy erupting!!
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