Ecuador - Cuenca and the Quilotoa Loop

After Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, we wanted to skip over Peru and head to Ecuador. We have plans to do some big hikes in Peru, but wanted to leave them until later after the worst of the rainy season. In-country flights in South America are relatively cheap, but as soon as you start crossing borders the price rises quickly. So to save some money, we bussed just across the border to Juliaca Peru, caught a flight to Lima, then another flight the next morning to Tumbes in northern Peru before walking across the border into Ecuador. We then jumped on two more busses to make our way to Cuenca Ecuador. We had lunch in Copacabana Bolivia and three bus trips, three taxi rides, two flights, two border crossings and thirty six hours later we had a late night drink in Cuenca.

We had signed up for another week of Spanish lessons in Cuenca. Unfortunately, unlike our teacher in Chile, our Cuenca instructor left a lot to be desired, and the lessons were a waste of time and money. On the other hand, we had a great homestay arranged through the language school and really enjoyed staying with Elena in her lovely home overlooking the city. She pampered us during our time there and was very good at engaging us in conversations in clear and slowly spoken Spanish.

View over Cuenca from our homestay at Elena's.

Cuenca is a popular retirement destination for North Americans and Europeans and it's easy to see why. It's another beautiful Latin American colonial city with old churches and cobblestone streets. It's also the cleanest Latin American city we've ever visited, and felt the safest. Surrounded by mountains at 2530 metres, the weather is never too hot or too cold, and although it's one of the more expensive places in Ecuador due to it's popularity with ex-pats, it is still very affordable. There are four rivers that run through the city, and with a population of about 400,000 people, it has all the amenities you could want without being too big. If the football team was a little bit better, it would be just about perfect.

One of many beautiful churches in Cuenca.

Despite the language lessons being a waste, we had a great week in the city. We explored the old section of town in the afternoons after classes, visited the Canari and Inca ruins at Ingapirca a few hours away on the weekend, and had a relaxing afternoon at the local hot springs. In the hills just on the edge of the city, Piedras de Agua has three pools of varying temperatures, two different mud baths, a steam room, a number of steam bath boxes and hot and cold plunge pools in an underground cavern. We felt very pampered as we finished up our visit sipping icy cold fruit drinks in the lounge chairs around the largest pool.

The ruins at Ingapirca.

Spinning wool at Ingapirca.

From Cuenca we headed north to Latacunga and then west off the Panamerican highway into rural Ecuador to walk part of the Quilotoa Loop. The Quilotoa Loop is a group of  villages in the Andes mountains connected by rough roads and trails and surrounded by small farms and rivers. It can be traveled by car and local bus, but can also be done on foot - mostly off road on the many trails connecting the villages and individual farms. The loop is named after the town of Quilotoa and the volcanic crater lake found there.

We planned to bus from Latacunga to Sigchos and then spend the afternoon hiking from Sigchos to Isinlivi. Unfortunately Cyd was a little under the weather the night before our departure from Latacunga, so we quickly changed plans and got a bus the next morning all the way to Isinlivi where we had a hostel reservation for one night. Cyd felt better the next day, but Isinlivi was so idyllic and the Llullu Llama Hostal (www.llullullama.com) was so wonderful that we quickly changed plans again and booked two more nights at Llullu Llama and started researching day hiking opportunities.

The hills and farms around Isinlivi.

Looking over the new cabins at Llullu Llama.

Isinlivi is a small village perched high in the hills above the Rio Toachi. While there is road access, outside of the rough and dusty daily bus, there is little traffic as most people move around on foot on the network of trails connecting Isinlivi, the even smaller surrounding villages, and the farms in the area. We spent two days hiking through the mountains and farms around Isinlivi, and enjoying the wonderful views, food, and hospitality at Llullu Llama. The next day we hiked about 15 kilometres down to the river, and back up the other side through Itualo and Chinalo to the village of Chugchilan.

The trail from Isinlivi to Chugchilan.

After spending the night there, we hiked about 20 kilometres back down to the river, up the other side, and eventually to the top of the rim of the Quilotoa volcano at almost 4000 metres. The top of the volcano collapsed in an eruption about 800 years ago and the volcano filled with water. Locals claim the three kilometre wide lake has no bottom, while scientists say it is 250 metres deep. Regardless of the depth, the lake is a beautiful greenish blue and the views from the volcano rim are incredible.

Looking back across the valley at Chugchilan.

Laguna Quilotoa from the volcano rim.

After spending the night in Quilotoa we caught the bus back to Latacunga to continue our journey north to Quito. It was nice to get well off the beaten path and get some exercise on the Quilotoa Loop. The scenery, people and slow pace of life in the rural villages was very attractive and I couldn't resist asking about the price of land. At only $2000/hectare it's very tempting!