Heya!
I am still cruising in Ecuador. I left Quito after two days to visit the equator, Mitad del Mundo as it is called here. Actually, I did not want to visit the equator as it is just a very special point on a geografic map, and not many other things to see. So I spent about an hour there, was walking on the 0'0'0'' line; one leg on the northern hemisphere, the other one on the south side of our planet. Amazing, isn't it!
Soon I left Mitat del Mundo. Next stopover was Latacunga, with the bus about one hour and a half south of Quito, located in the Andes. From here I booked a tour to the worlds tallest active volcano, Cotopaxi (ca. 5.900m). We did not climb up to the summit, as I am not that experienced, infact I am not experienced at all. We, that was Jan (another german guy), Ivan (our ecuadorian guide) and me, hiked up to 4.350m. There we decided not to climb any higher as the Cotopaxi was surrounded by clouds only and we would not see so much. We continued our trip by walking along the hillside of the volcano, down to a valley which was once the lava stream, formed by the volcanos last erruption in 1877.
Next day I took the bus to Zumbahua to visit the saturday market. After a short while an ecuadorian teenager came to me and asked me "Quilotoa?" pointing his finger on a small bus. I answered "Claro, que si" and hopped on. To go by bus is always an adventure in south america. Small prices, big value. Sometimes a bit dangerous, but: No risk - No fun! (a special bus story will follow soon) Another hour later we arrived at the Laguna Quilotoa. Today it is some kind of a lake in a crater which was the former collossal volcano Quilotoa. I walked along the crater rim, elevation about 3.800m. Amazing views over the whole crater and the bordering fascinating Andes lamdscape.
After one and a half hour I walked half way of the crater rim. From there a path leads down to another place called Chugchilan. In Chugchilan I want to sleep tonight. But to get there I have firstly to walk all the way down from the top of the volcano to the valley. Afterwards to climb down a deep canyon and to go all the way up again on the other side of the canyon.
From Laguna Quilotoa to Chugchilan it took me about 6 hours of hiking, walking and climbing. Not to forget I had to carry my backpack and another small bag. Also, I was quite stoned from the day before, when we did that Cotopaxi tour. Finally, I arrived at the village of Chugchilan. Jan, the german guy from the day before, told me to look for "Mama Hilda", which is a hostal. I got to "Mama Hilda" at 6pm in the evening. Now, nothing was more important than a hot shower. Oh, yes. But, surprise, when I asked Mama Hilda where is the hot shower, she had to admit that there is only cold water left. Hhmmm, O.K., I thought, we are in south america, somewhere like 3.200m high. I hiked and climbed all day, some situation were a little bit dangerous, why in heavens name a cold shower shouldn't have the same effect than the hot one. After that shower, the temperature outside was about 13 degree, I went to the bar and ordered a bottle of "Cerveza Pilsener". Now, I felt like a king.