The Quilotoa Loop
This is a beautiful hike around the Quilotoa crater and then into the country side in the Andean Mountains. We, like many others, just did this hike but found the instructions and maps lacking in detail. As mentioned in many guide books and other sources online, Hostel Tiana is the best place to stay in Latacunga before starting off on your journey. What we hope to accomplish with this blog is additional directions and steps to what the hostel gives you.
Day One:
There are two buses from Latacunga to Quilotoa; 9:30 and 11:30. If you are going to do the full hike on the first day it's recommended taking the earlier bus, or you can spend the night in Quilotoa and start off early the next morning. The pro with this is you can hike down to the lake and/or do the hike around the crater that afternoon and the next morning set off after a beautiful sunrise.
Starting the hike:
When you get off the bus you will have to pay a small entrance fee to get in; $2 pp at time of writing. From here you walk through the small town and all the way to the end you will see where the trail starts. Follow the trail around the left of the crater (going right will take you around the lake adding about an extra 2 hrs to your hike) for about 45min where you will reach a sandy area where you can see a small town and a building with a large blue roof down to the left of the crater. You do see the roof before you get to the sandy area. There are also a couple sandy areas. When we did this hike there were some stones piled up to mark where you start to head down from the lake (to the left). Follow this trail and when you come to a picnic bench take the trail to the left. When you see a sign there will be a small path off to the right. Taking this will be slightly shorter and will be a more entertaining hike to the first town of Guyana. Staying on the main path/road will get you there too. This is a small quite town with not much open so don't count on getting a full lunch here! As the directions state, take the main road to the end where it will curve to the left; keep following. The trail for the rest of the first day is pretty straight forward. When you finally finish your uphill assent you will see a sign for the first hostel in Chugchillen. You can either walk up to the road and follow it into the town or go towards the hostel. There is a little road that will eventually link up to the main road in town. We stayed at the Cloud Forest Hostel which was $15pp across the board and included a hearty dinner and breakfast. The best part of this hostel were the piping hot showers and the heated common area.
The first day for us took about 3 1/2 hours and we by no means rushed. We had had a big breakfast in Latacunga before we left and this sustained us pretty much through the full hike. Snacks are recommended as is lots of water and don't count on any of the little towns in between to refuel. Also the trail is marked in some places with yellow and/or red dots. In some places there are a lot of them and in others they are sparse. Also, if you want something for a small snack while hiking the next day the hostel sells some great cheese that's from the cheese factory near by. The hostel 'mom' even cut it in half for us so we didn't have to buy as much! We kept our bread from the morning breakfast but there is a little bread you could buy too.
Day 2:
The second day was beautiful as you walk through the country side of the Andes. You start out for about 2km on the road out of town. The directions say to take a small trail down to the right after a white house. We did see the sign eventually but it was behind the house and the start of the trail was under some construction. There is also a small path that leads upwards; don't take this. Start heading down. This part of the downwards trail is pretty straight forward. Follow the directions and don't take the first suspension bridge. You will come across a second, single log bridge, take this, it is easy to cross. Continue straight up the river bank and into an open field. Walk diagonally across and you will see a small, steep trail leading upwards and this will take you back down along the river. You go until you see the white cliffs across the ravine, small, but a cool cave in them. My best advice from here is to keep following what looks like the main trail. There were a few times where we second guessed ourselves and the directions, but if you keep to the main path and in general going up you should do fine. If you come across any gates/doors that are closed find the best way possible to get around and make sure it's closed again before continuing on. The second half of this day is primarily uphill and some parts can be quite challenging. If you take your time though you should have no problem! The second day for us took about 3 1/2 hours. Again we weren't rushing but didn't take too many long breaks. For some of the others it took about 4-5 hrs and two of the groups got lost.
In Insinlivi there are two hostel options; Hostel Tata Cristobal or Llulluama. The first was $14 each for a private with our own bathroom. The water was sadly not hot however and barely even Luke warm. It did for the night though and again both dinner and breakfast were included. The second was $15 each for a dorm. As this was out of our budget I can't comment on the quality of the hostel but it seemed very nice. All the backpackers we met up with on the trail were staying at the first due to smaller budgets so it had a fun atmosphere at night.
Day 3:
Once again after a hearty breakfast we set off. The lady at the hostel was recommending a different path to start the hike but as we didn't have directions for that path we stuck to our paper. You start out for a bit on the main road and there is a sign as you leave town pointing you to Sigchos. The directions mention three power polls, ignore this direction as there are Eucalyptus trees and a fence but no trail. Keep walking along the road. At about the 45min mark you will see a rock with yellow, keep going... you will then see another yellow stone and the trail heading down to the left. Keep following the trail and don't side track. You will probably come across a couple closed gates and once again go through and just make sure they're closed behind you. We came across a bull who was luckily very friendly:), just don't make too much noise. After this the trail was pretty straight forward and much of the walking is done on small dirt roads and there are quite a few yellow and red dots. For the one direction where it says you will see a brick house with a pool, you don't actually see the pool until you get on the trail again. When you do see this house though it is quite clear and the path is marked. While most of this day is uphill it only took us about 2 1/2hrs. We also left quite early hoping to get an early bus back to Latacunga, but were disappointed to find that the only bus left at 2:30. The sheet from Hostel Tiana says there are quite a few buses with the last one at 2:30pm but it depends on the day.
