Latacunga and Chugchilan

SHARLA:  Hey, everyone!  The keyboard I´m typing on is not too bueno, so there may many misspelled words, so bear with me. 

Camille arrived on time and with no problems!  YAY!  She was tired.  It was 11:00pm by the time she arrived and almost midnight by the time we got to the hotel, so we made short work of getting to bed that night.  We had to be at the Chimbacalle train station by 7:00am to see if we actually had tickets or not.  We got there and found out the station doesn´t actually open until 7:20, so we waited outside.  We explained that we had a deposit slip that showed we paid, but no tickets.  A security guard that spoke some English came out and told us that we did not have reservations that day, and that it would be impossible to go to Latacunga on that day because the train was full.  I explained to him that I had emailed the person our deposit and that we had reservations in Chugchilan that night.  He told me to wait.  A few minutes later, he came back out and told us to come with him.  He led us to a girl who told me in broken English that they had received my email that morning.  I guess they realized I wasn´t very happy about our seats being given away, because she began handwriting us some tickets and we were in the first three seats!!!  YAY!!  We were so happy to finally have tickets.  What an ordeal that was!

We didn´t know when we booked the trip, that the train trip was actually a guided tour.  Of course, we couldn´t understand anything that the girl was staying, but every once in a while, she would lean down toward me and summarize a few things.  There were several stops along the way.  It was very cold outside, and so cloudy that we couldn´t see Cotopaxi volcano, or really much of anything else!  Finally, we arrived at Latacunga.  We were the only ones to get off here....everyone else was staying on and returning to Quito.

We found a Chinese restaurant to eat at which was really good.  It was a hole in the wall, and the chef wasn´t friendly at all, but it was good food.  We asked several chivas (trucks) and taxis for rides.  We were quoted from $45 to $60 to go to Chugchilan.  We opted for the bus, which would take us halfway to Quilotoa for $2 each.  Once we got there, some indigenous women offered to take us by car the rest of the way for $30.  They came down to $22, but we walked away.  A chiva pulled up just as we did, and we talked him down to $20 for the three of us.  We piled into the back....Camille wasn´t too happy with us at first.  It was cold and cloudy and we couldn´t see a thing.  But, we all stood up and held on tight, and laughed and giggled and prayed that we wouldn´t fall out of the back of the truck.  On the side, which was quite a drop down!  We finally made it to the hostal which is very nice.  The rooms are extremely cold, but comfortable.  We had dinner...typical Ecuadorian food, and then made our way back to our room.  We got into bed and played Scrabble on our iPads until we went to sleep.  I woke up at 3am, and could never go back to sleep!

Although, we had all prayed for sunshine this morning, when I looked out the window and saw only white clouds only feet away.  We almost decided not to go, but then Marsha and I went to breakfast (Camille decided to sleep in).  On our way out, we ran into Jose, the owner and he said the sun would burn off most of the clouds and everything would be fine.  We decided we would regret it if we didn´t go.  We went to the room to get ready, and tried to get Camille out of bed.  She decided she would be better off staying at the hostal.  So, Marsha and I jumped into the back of Jose´s truck and off we went to the Lagoon at Quilotoa.  The sun was trying to peek through the clouds and the drive was nice.  We even saw a couple of deer near the side of the road. 

Jose had set up a guide for us.  His name was Edgar, and he looked about sixteen.  We bought water and some snacks and began our hike at 10:00am.  We quickly reached the rim of the crater and the lake below was breathtaking.  Marsha read that it is the most photographed lake in Ecuador, and I can see why!  Absolutely magnificent!!  We walked around about half the rim, which was quite a hike in itself and we had 4 more hours to go!  Around the rim, there was sand....white sand just like at the beach.  It was beautiful, but a little bit hard to walk in!  We took our last look at the lake and began our very long descent into the canyon.  I believe we went from 3800 meters to 2900 meters.  It was really difficult hiking, but the views were just amazing.  I can´t wait to get our pictures posted so that we can share this experience with you!  We made it to the small river at the bottom of the canyon, and crossed on a board that was laid across it.  Immediately, we began our ascent.  And, when I say ascent, I mean almost vertical.  It was sandy, too, so it was pretty precarious.  The air up here is very thin, so I had to stop quite a bit to rest.  Edgar was very patient, though, and never seemed to get frustrated.  I was really happy to see Chugchilan, though, I must say!  We took a nice, hot shower...the hottest that we have had in Ecuador until now.  Well, about time for dinner, and early to bed for our trip to Guamote tomorrow, so I´ll write again soon!