The last week in Ecuador was spent taking local buses and visiting first Banos, four hours south of Quito and secondly Otavalo, 3 hours north of Quito, whilst staying in Quito between times at the Travellers Inn, a small, friendly and pleasantly civilised hotel in the Marischal district of Quito.
Bus journeys in Ecuador are incredibly cheap (about one to two pounds for each journey!) and the buses fairly comfortable. The highlight is always the vendors leaping onto the bus to sell icecreams, local foods or ´cheap´watches etc, this is closely followed in popularity by the onboard movie, which is always in Spanish, always violent, and despite the language barrier there´s no problem following the plot!
Banos is a popular tourist destination due in part to it´s recently erupting volcano, Tuahanau, in 2006, and the hot springs, for me always popular. Only 2 nights there staying in an inexcreble hostal with bed bugs......needless to say I gave a pretty dreadful review on the hostelworld website. The hike up to the viewpoint of the volcano was blocked after a 2000 ft climb so consoled myself by stopping off at the Runtun hot springs and spa for the rest of the day. Very enjoyable it was to, and for relatively little I had all day in the springs followed by a full body massage and 2 excellent meals. Returning to Quito the next day by bus I threw everything into the laundry, sorted through emails and then set out for Otavalo on Friday, the next day.
Otavalo has one of the largest street markets in northern South America, held on a Saturday, so I had time to orientate myself to the town, check in to the hostal (a great improvement on Banos) and find a great little restaurant (Lonely Planet recommended) where I had the best sea bass I´d tasted for some time. 3 nights there gave time to visit the market and the cathedral, as well as get a chance to meet some local people who, as in Bolivia, dressed in traditional costume. The second day I was able to hike (with guide and a Dutch girl) the volcanic Lake Coicocha, about 30 km from Otavalo. The 5 hour hike was truly worthwhile at this time of the year with many flowering shrubs and flowers, including orchids, and also a number of lizards at the higher points, sunbathing on the rocks. Sadly we failed to see a condor, but were assured by our guide there was a family nesting higher on the hillsides around the lake. It was great to be hiking again, particularly as had not hiked for 3 weeks or so, since Pasachoa.
The journey by bus back to Quito was straightforward with the usual competetive scrum by ticket vendors at the bus terminal to persuade you to buy a their company´s ticket! Back in Quito I prepared to fly to Manaus, Brazil, after taking a second yellow fever vaccination, having left my vaccination certificate in England......
Photo 1. Otavalo Market vendor dressed in traditional dress, the blouses were exquisitely embroidered and trimmed with lace.
Photo 2. A lizard egg at Lake Coicocha
Photo 3. A lupin-like flower at the lake.
Photo 4. A pink orchid on the higher hillsides around the lake.
Photo 5. Lake Coicocha from a high vantage point.
Photo 6. With Jaime, our guide.
Photo 7. The main plaza in Otavalo, the head is one of the Inca kings, with the cathedral in the background.
Photo 8. Early morning on the lake hike, as it warmed up the clouds dispersed.
Photo 9. One of the 4 hot pools at Runtun.
Photo 10. The cloud covered recently- active volcano at Banos.
Photo 11. Banos viewed from the hot pool!
Banos is a popular tourist destination due in part to it´s recently erupting volcano, Tuahanau, in 2006, and the hot springs, for me always popular. Only 2 nights there staying in an inexcreble hostal with bed bugs......needless to say I gave a pretty dreadful review on the hostelworld website. The hike up to the viewpoint of the volcano was blocked after a 2000 ft climb so consoled myself by stopping off at the Runtun hot springs and spa for the rest of the day. Very enjoyable it was to, and for relatively little I had all day in the springs followed by a full body massage and 2 excellent meals. Returning to Quito the next day by bus I threw everything into the laundry, sorted through emails and then set out for Otavalo on Friday, the next day.
Otavalo has one of the largest street markets in northern South America, held on a Saturday, so I had time to orientate myself to the town, check in to the hostal (a great improvement on Banos) and find a great little restaurant (Lonely Planet recommended) where I had the best sea bass I´d tasted for some time. 3 nights there gave time to visit the market and the cathedral, as well as get a chance to meet some local people who, as in Bolivia, dressed in traditional costume. The second day I was able to hike (with guide and a Dutch girl) the volcanic Lake Coicocha, about 30 km from Otavalo. The 5 hour hike was truly worthwhile at this time of the year with many flowering shrubs and flowers, including orchids, and also a number of lizards at the higher points, sunbathing on the rocks. Sadly we failed to see a condor, but were assured by our guide there was a family nesting higher on the hillsides around the lake. It was great to be hiking again, particularly as had not hiked for 3 weeks or so, since Pasachoa.
The journey by bus back to Quito was straightforward with the usual competetive scrum by ticket vendors at the bus terminal to persuade you to buy a their company´s ticket! Back in Quito I prepared to fly to Manaus, Brazil, after taking a second yellow fever vaccination, having left my vaccination certificate in England......
Photo 1. Otavalo Market vendor dressed in traditional dress, the blouses were exquisitely embroidered and trimmed with lace.
Photo 2. A lizard egg at Lake Coicocha
Photo 3. A lupin-like flower at the lake.
Photo 4. A pink orchid on the higher hillsides around the lake.
Photo 5. Lake Coicocha from a high vantage point.
Photo 6. With Jaime, our guide.
Photo 7. The main plaza in Otavalo, the head is one of the Inca kings, with the cathedral in the background.
Photo 8. Early morning on the lake hike, as it warmed up the clouds dispersed.
Photo 9. One of the 4 hot pools at Runtun.
Photo 10. The cloud covered recently- active volcano at Banos.
Photo 11. Banos viewed from the hot pool!
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