Following trails: both tourist and mountain
We arrived back on the mainland, having loved our time on the Galapagos Islands. The next part of our trip was our mountain section. Most of central Ecuador is at altitude, with Quito being at 2,800m, and Chimborazo, the highest mountain, at nearly 6,300m. We wanted to summit a few peaks, and to give ourselves the best chance, we wanted to increase our altitude slowly. We therefore planned to visit Baños, Quilotoa, Cotopaxi National Park and Chimborazo NP.
Of course, we were not the only ones to come up with a similar itinerary! Throughout our time in Ecuador we've met lots of great people, and our typical conversation with other travellers invariably starts with "where have you been" and "where are you going next". It's usually the same 10 towns. Travelling by bus, and guided by the Ecuador Rough Guide, everyone is on a similar path through the same towns, having broadly similar experiences. It's very difficult to get off the beaten track, and given our woeful Spanish it can be difficult to really connect with local people in a non-transactional tourist-service provider type exchange. Every "traveller" is in search of truly "authentic" experiences but in reality it's hard to not just be a "tourist".
That said, towns are on the tourist trail for a reason, and they are setup for easily accessible experiences, nicely packaged into an entertaining day's activity, without needing a great deal of planning (which suits us fine!) Doing these activities, and staying in hostels means meeting lots of like-minded travellers, though generally we have found that we are on the slightly older side of people we meet!
Facing down rapids; nothing bonds you quite as quickly as white water rafting
Horse riding was scary, but so much fun
Meeting a younger, more German version of Mary
We found Baños to be a fun, if slightly over developed, town... without bikes it's much easier to do activities, and we loved going whitewater rafting! We couldn't resist hiring bikes to explore the epic waterfalls, though were slightly disappointed by the poor air quality! The waterfalls themselves were very impressive, and didn't disappoint, though there were a few too many flashing lights and gimmicks at some.
The waterfalls lived up to the hype
Ecuador is a country truly blessed with an impressive range of natural assets from the Amazon to the Galapagos, the paramo to the high andean peaks. But it's primarily oil and tourism based economy taxes those assets heavily. Balancing the natural environment with the admittedly necessary need to generate a living for it's population is a difficult balancing act. Outside of national parks, Even the most natural of walks seem to have numerous "attractions" installed, from giant plastic King Kongs to giant swings at every viewpoint, this can feel somewhat jarring/a slight scar on the wonderful natural landscape but at the same time you can't begrudge those entrepreneuring ecuadrians in the face of a lack of other employment.
We are probably a little hypocritical - judging the swings, whilst also enjoying a quick go on them
The Quilotoa loop was next on our itinerary; it is a weirdly linear walk (despite being called a loop) of around 40km that explores Andean valleys and finishes at a stunning crater lake. We worried that this would feel very busy as it's on every blog post we'd read about Ecuador, and the bus had a lot of fellow tourists on. However, as soon we started we barely saw a soul, apart from some local farmers. There was a slightly sketchy moment when we came face to face with a cow on a narrow path! Rhys decided the best course of action was to run backwards, whilst I surprised both of us with picking up a stick and trying to embody the persona of a much larger animal. Thankfully, it didn't charge us down, and we were able to squeeze past it. The accommodation along the route was great, and we met lots of Europeans doing the route. It was nice staying somewhere do sociable.
A beautiful walk culminating in the view of Quilotoa Laguna
After the hustle and bustle of some of the larger cities along the panamericana highway. We have really enjoyed staying at Secret Garden Cotopaxi which is a backpackers version of an all-inclusive resort. Everything being taken care of, very little planning required, and not a hint of stressing about bus timetables or navigating local markets with only a handful of Spanish nouns at our disposal. The price was a little painful relative to our normal expenditure, but now we are nearing the end of our travels our approach to spending has shifted slightly and given the magnificent backdrop it probably was worth it! The shared dorm-room was the only aspect that made us feel like we were remotely "roughing" it.
Posing in ponchos at Secret Garden Cotopaxi
We enjoyed three days of guided walking combined with long afternoons chilling surrounded by European travellers and american vacationers in the jacuzzi whilst all our meals were being prepared for us. All with the magnificent backdrop of Cotopaxi staring down at us. The lack of decision making on our part was a very pleasant experience!
We've used this time to gain progressively more altitude. We were initially worried about the effects of altitude but given our lack of pressing time commitments we've been able to acclimatized slowly. First with Pasochoa at 4200m, then Sinchilahua at 4900m. We feel a little more ready to explore the higher peaks of the Ecuadorian Andes. Let's see how it goes!
Getting up to the Sinchilagua summit
Of course, we were not the only ones to come up with a similar itinerary! Throughout our time in Ecuador we've met lots of great people, and our typical conversation with other travellers invariably starts with "where have you been" and "where are you going next". It's usually the same 10 towns. Travelling by bus, and guided by the Ecuador Rough Guide, everyone is on a similar path through the same towns, having broadly similar experiences. It's very difficult to get off the beaten track, and given our woeful Spanish it can be difficult to really connect with local people in a non-transactional tourist-service provider type exchange. Every "traveller" is in search of truly "authentic" experiences but in reality it's hard to not just be a "tourist".
That said, towns are on the tourist trail for a reason, and they are setup for easily accessible experiences, nicely packaged into an entertaining day's activity, without needing a great deal of planning (which suits us fine!) Doing these activities, and staying in hostels means meeting lots of like-minded travellers, though generally we have found that we are on the slightly older side of people we meet!
Meeting a younger, more German version of Mary
We found Baños to be a fun, if slightly over developed, town... without bikes it's much easier to do activities, and we loved going whitewater rafting! We couldn't resist hiring bikes to explore the epic waterfalls, though were slightly disappointed by the poor air quality! The waterfalls themselves were very impressive, and didn't disappoint, though there were a few too many flashing lights and gimmicks at some.
Ecuador is a country truly blessed with an impressive range of natural assets from the Amazon to the Galapagos, the paramo to the high andean peaks. But it's primarily oil and tourism based economy taxes those assets heavily. Balancing the natural environment with the admittedly necessary need to generate a living for it's population is a difficult balancing act. Outside of national parks, Even the most natural of walks seem to have numerous "attractions" installed, from giant plastic King Kongs to giant swings at every viewpoint, this can feel somewhat jarring/a slight scar on the wonderful natural landscape but at the same time you can't begrudge those entrepreneuring ecuadrians in the face of a lack of other employment.
The Quilotoa loop was next on our itinerary; it is a weirdly linear walk (despite being called a loop) of around 40km that explores Andean valleys and finishes at a stunning crater lake. We worried that this would feel very busy as it's on every blog post we'd read about Ecuador, and the bus had a lot of fellow tourists on. However, as soon we started we barely saw a soul, apart from some local farmers. There was a slightly sketchy moment when we came face to face with a cow on a narrow path! Rhys decided the best course of action was to run backwards, whilst I surprised both of us with picking up a stick and trying to embody the persona of a much larger animal. Thankfully, it didn't charge us down, and we were able to squeeze past it. The accommodation along the route was great, and we met lots of Europeans doing the route. It was nice staying somewhere do sociable.
After the hustle and bustle of some of the larger cities along the panamericana highway. We have really enjoyed staying at Secret Garden Cotopaxi which is a backpackers version of an all-inclusive resort. Everything being taken care of, very little planning required, and not a hint of stressing about bus timetables or navigating local markets with only a handful of Spanish nouns at our disposal. The price was a little painful relative to our normal expenditure, but now we are nearing the end of our travels our approach to spending has shifted slightly and given the magnificent backdrop it probably was worth it! The shared dorm-room was the only aspect that made us feel like we were remotely "roughing" it.
Posing in ponchos at Secret Garden Cotopaxi
We enjoyed three days of guided walking combined with long afternoons chilling surrounded by European travellers and american vacationers in the jacuzzi whilst all our meals were being prepared for us. All with the magnificent backdrop of Cotopaxi staring down at us. The lack of decision making on our part was a very pleasant experience!
We've used this time to gain progressively more altitude. We were initially worried about the effects of altitude but given our lack of pressing time commitments we've been able to acclimatized slowly. First with Pasochoa at 4200m, then Sinchilahua at 4900m. We feel a little more ready to explore the higher peaks of the Ecuadorian Andes. Let's see how it goes!
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