The most enjoyable (and also hard!!!) way to capture the secrets and beauty of the Andes is by the
autostop, or the local autobus. My trip started from Guayaquil Terminal, going from Terrestre to Latacunga, a sweet little city with incredible local markets. After this trip, an autobus brought us to Zumbhaua, where a lot of people from the parish warmly welcomed us when they discovered that I am Italian. They brought me to one other Italian missionary who helped them build the parish.
After a quick, exquisite meal of chicken and rice consumed in a house, we left on a truck for the Laguna of Quilotoa, where we were lucky to see a beautiful, heartbreaking sky. Yes, here the land is so arid that it is like traveling the desert in California and Mexico, with beautiful landscaping. The only difference was that we were already 3,400m above sea level!!!
We arrived at the laguna in around 25 minutes, slowly riding behind an open truck and starting our descent to the laguna, which actually is at the bottom of the craters. Here, it is very slippery and arid. For the less fit, they use a donkey for going down and back up, but we opted for a cool trek!!! Along the small corridors, we had to often share the already small passage with goats and donkeys.
When got down, we were immediately in the cold water of the volcano, but we opted to wait and rent a boat for exploring the area around the laguna. The colour of the water was a really deep blue, and the setting was incredible. I took a freezing bath in the lake. UHAUAHA!!!
At the laguna, you can find some accommodation for the night or camping. We were in quite a rush, so we climbed back the same day. It was a difficult experience climbing up, because the land is very fragile, so sometimes you slipped on the land. Anyway, it was the most memorable thing we did in the Ecuadorian Andes.
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