Quilotoa Loop (E)

I continued my trip north by heading out of Baños on a two hour bus journey to Latacunga, starting point for what is known as the “Quilotoa Loop”. Quilotoa is the name of one of the many volcanoes in this area and travelling around the mountain by public transport is a good way to spend a few days off the main tourist routes, seeing stunning landscape and indigenous communities.

Whilst riding a local bus from Latacunga to Chugchilán, my first destination of the loop, the scenery was breathtaking. We were climbing to approx 3,900 meters, seeing the rugged Andean mountains, snow capped volcanoes and deep valleys in the distance. I found a very cozy hostel in the small settlement of Chugchilán, my base for the next day’s hike from the Quilotoa crater. Luckily I met an English couple who wanted to do the same trek so we could team up and split the cost.



We set off on a pick-up truck after a good breakfast. The one hour ride brought us to the rim of the volcano where our driver found us a guide to accompany us for the five hour hike. After gazing at the emerald green crater lake we made our way down the volcano into lush green valleys and through a deep canyon before ascending back into Chugchilán.



The next morning I started the long journey to Colombia. The only possibility to leave Chugchilán (other than the 3am or 4am bus) was jumping on the milk truck to Sigchos. The truck stops at many houses along the way -buying and selling milk from/to local farmers. The milk is stored in simple plastic containers together with dirt & dust from the road. The tour turned out to be really good fun and we were able to experience a part of the local way of living.

I continued my journey by bus through Quito to Ibarra, where I spent the night and arrived at the border town of Tulcán the next morning.


Pick-up ride up to the volcano


Fancy more volcanoes? Here is Cotopaxi