Quilotoa

From Chugchilán, I was lucky. It was Sunday. Usually the only bus to Quilotoa runs at 4 am, but since it was market day there was a 9 am bus. As this is Latin America, the 9 am bus left at 10, after a debacle in which they decided the pigs running around on the roof of the bus might fall off as we careened around steep cliffs... In the end the pigs were evicted, lowered down by the legs rather harshly from their rooftop seats, where they had been making an ungodly racket.

I arrived at Quilotoa, a beautiful lake in a volcanic crater hours from any big towns, and a local family convinced me to give them 6 bucks for dinner, a bed, breakfast, and their company...

I hiked down to the bottom of the crater. The water is incredible, and over the rim I could see the Ilinizas and the base of Cotopaxi, as its top was obscured by clouds. Unbelievable. At the bottom, sheep look at me curiously and a llama munches on the scrubby green grass. A man tried to convince me to pay 5 dollars for a horse to take me back to the top. But I refuse. I am strong, and 5 dollars is a lot of money.

Mistake! The climb was incredibly difficult. I was put to shame by two boys hopping along with two cows up the trail, bringing them in from a day of grazing. They constantly beg me for gifts, candy, and money as we trudge together up the cliff over the next hour. I admonish them in Spanish. Stupid tourists have learned that throwing candy and money at indigenous kids is a good way to get them to pose for pictures, etc. And it disgusts me. Like the people are a pretty part of the landscape or something... Therefore, I take very few pictures of people. Only people I know, or people who ask me to take their picture because they like to see it afterwards in the little screen.

Then I take the long journey to the coast... Puerto Lopez and Montañita.