Latacunga, Ecuador

This footprint is really just a quick pit stop, both literally and figuratively. Latacunga is a preparatory stop for our next few days doing a three day trek called the Quilotoa Loop.

From Cotopaxi we had a one hour shuttle bus from the hostel to the nearest town called Machachi with some of the other guests and from there some of us went our separate ways. At this point we just had to wait on the side of the Panamerican highway for the next local bus south to Latacunga. It still mind boggles me that you can do this in these countries. Literally just stand on a main road (or in this case a three lane highway) for long enough and hail the bus, tell them where you’re headed and away you go. Who needs actual bus stops?

Our late arrival from Cotopaxi with a couple of extras in tow meant we just grabbed a quick dinner around the corner from the hostel and an early night. Up early the following morning to rearrange everything we needed into our daypacks for the next three days. Not such an easy feat when trying to account for all different temperatures, sweatiness and also some extra comfy clothes for the evenings! You’d think I’d be an expert packer by now, but sadly not the case! Definitely will be refreshing to travel light for the next few days though, as we leave our big backpacks behind here in Latacunga.

Being a Sunday, it meant the buses to the start of the Quilotoa Loop were a little less frequent. The 6:30am bus was not tempting anyone so we settled for the more appealing time of 11:30am. A lazy morning with few stops in the town on our way to the bus station to find snacks and various supplies for the team kept us busy enough though, onto Sigchos we go!Read more