Chimborazo

We had booked a private taxi to bring us to Chimborazo because there were no tours leaving today and we didn't want to return to Baños. It was the best option in regards of available time and costs. So we packed in the morning, had a breakfast and then waited to get picked up... She was 20 minutes late but at least we had scheduled an earlier time, so it wasn't that bad. The drive to the Chimborazo volcano took three hours in which we drove through occasional rain and constant fog and clouds. We made a quick stop in Pailitas to grab some typical corn tortillas filled with cheese and baked on volcan stone. It was really tasty, especially with the delicious salsa picante.

Just 10 minutes before we reached the entrance of the National Park the sun broke through the clouds and we got gorgeous views of the volcano 🌋😍 And not only that, we were also treated with wild vicuñas 🦙🦙 strolling through the plains in front of the volcano. Then we registered at the entrance station and drove up to the first refugio where we were greeted by a strong wind, sunshine and great views up to Chimborazo. The trail leading up to the second refugio at 5.000m was well prepared and made the 200 metres ascend pretty easy. We took some breaks to avoid altitude sickness and Julia felt better than at Cotopaxi. We took a little break there and the wind intensified but we still continued on until the Laguna Condor Cocha at 5.100m. This is also the most you're allowed to go without a guide as the terrain gets a lot worse and dangerous. But the scenery was absolutely breathtaking! The way down went nice and easy and we soon left the park. We just needed to make a short stop to take pictures of the cute vicuñas 🦙🥰

Our driver brought us to the bus terminal in Riobamba where we were lucky to catch a bus 15 minutes later to Cuenca. The drive was quite long with 6 hours but we got to see some beautiful Anden scenery (never getting tired of that) and we didn't arrive that late. On the way we booked the hotel that was perfectly situated between the bus terminal and the historic center. After the check in we planned what we're going to do the next days and then went to sleep on the very comfortable beds. And most importantly, the pillows were great 😅Read more