First I had to take a bus from Banos, where I was jumping off bridges and trekking down to waterfalls, to Latagunga. Where? Exactly. In Lataguna, I was dropped off at a random corner in town. No bus terminal exists. An hour after wondering around and asking people for directions, I found the corner where the bus for Zumbahua picks people up. Huh? Exactly. 5 hours after starting out from Banos, I was again dropped off on a random corner in the small town of Zumbahua. There was nobody in sight and I had no idea how to get up to the tiny village of Quilotoa 15 kilometers further up the mountain. So, with no options I took a seat on the corner and waited for someone, anyone, to appear.
(Side note: These buses that I were on were not normal tourist buses. They were filled with native indigenous people. Many of whom brought their animals on the bus with them. One little girl, despite herself, couldn´t stop touching my curly blond hair. I don´t think she had ever seen anything like it. Every time I would drift off to sleep I would wake up with her hand on my head, or peaking at me from her seat. I snapped a couple pictures of her.)
It wasen´t long before a kid pulled up in his pickup truck and asked if I needed a lift up the mountain. An hour later, and 6 hours after boarding my first bus of the day I was dropped off in Quiltoa, a tiny indigenous village of about 80 residents, where everyone speaks Quechua, some Spanish, and of course no English. I was met by a nice woman who offered a bed in her house, dinner that night, and breakfast the next morning for $8. I hastily agreed, dropped off my backpack in my room, grabbed my coat, as it was quite chilly at 15 thousand feet, and walked the 20 yards to the crater rim for one of the most absolutely incredible sights I have ever seen.
Almost 800 years ago after a major eruption, the cone of the volcano collapsed, leaving a perfectly symmetrical crater surrounded by mountains on all sides. Dissolving minerals and sulfuric content cause the water to become an astonishing turquoise color. The lake is over 800 feet deep.
My host for the night.
Incredible.
Deep thoughts.
Couldn´t hold the serious face for long.
It was really big!
