The guide book said:
Bumping along the spectular dirt roads of the Quilotoa Loop and hiking between the area´s Andean villages is one of Ecuadors most exhilarating adventures. Transportation is tricky but the rewards are abundant: highland markets, the breathtaking crater lake of Laguna Quilotoa, splendid hikes and traditional highland villages.

I say that Guatamala got a big Ronan O Gara boot and is kicked off my top spot by Ecuador. This country is beautiful, the people are beautiful, the food is... ok. I spent the last few days high up in the Andes. I met an Australian couple, Carol and Anthony, on the bus there and we spent the time together. We stayed in a cozy place called Mama Hilda´s:
This is my cozy room and my cozy bed. Its not just any bed... That bed is the 40th bed I slept in since I started my trip!!

Breakfast at Mama Hilda´s:

The view from my room:

Carol and Anthony relaxing after a days hike:

The village, Chugchilan, that we we staying in is tiny. Its very rural but has a wonderful feel of community about it.
The shop. knitting Al Paca gloves:

The girls going to school, each bringing a stick for the fire:

The street stall, spuds and... something??? :

The first day, We rented horses and went up even higher into the clouds (spot the Al Paca saddle):


The second day we got a bus to the next village and hiked back across country. The bus left at 5 in the morning and was heading to market. The whole length of the bus aisle was stacked shoulder high with produce, mainly sacks of pototoes, but there was a puppy in the box beside me!. We got off before the market and so had to climb over everything in the meter high space that was left. Adventure!

The hike was a great experience, a really good chance to meet local people and walk through the farm lands. We didn´t have a guide, just asked the farmers along the way, only they didn´t speak Spanish but the local Quichua! I would loved to have taking lots of photos of the locals, especially the women in their traditional dress, but they don´t like photos, and those that do demand money!
The Laguna Quilotoa:

Along the way:













More locals:

That night we had a treat back at Mama Hilda´s. Some little girls came and danced for us. They had us join in at one point . We got so out of breath trying to keep up with them. The sploggie spots in the photos are dropplets of cloud: Unfortunitly, I had an accidident. It´s a bit disasterous actually. My spork broke! It feed me so well up till now. I´m sad to see it go: I´ve moved on again and am now in Banios. I plan to go mountain biking tommorow and maybe checkout a volcano if its not erupting too much. Report I got from internet on it...

On 1 January, ash emissions were continuous and incandescent blocks rolled down the flanks. Roaring noises and "cannon shots" were heard, and the ground and windows vibrated in areas to the NNE and NNW. On 3 January, the seismic network recorded a high number of explosions. Some explosions caused acoustic waves similar to "cannon shots" that vibrated windows in areas to the W and NW. These explosions ejected incandescent blocks from the summit crater that rolled 500 m down the flanks. On 4 January, "cannon shots" were again noted as far as 13 km away; this caused large windows to vibrate in areas to the W and glass to break in Puñapí. Explosions vibrated the ground in one town and generated ash plumes that rose to an altitude less that 6 km (19,700 ft) a.s.l. During 5-8 January, roaring noises and "cannon shots" continued; windows and floors vibrated as far as the Tungurahua Observatory (OVT) in Guadalupe, about
13 km NW, on 6 January. According to news articles, nearly 1,000 people were evacuated on 6 January to spend the night in evacuation shelters. They were allowed to return to their villages in the daytime to tend to homes, crops, and animals.

Simon got to upload some photos of his trip too (low res. will be faster to load). Simon s photos link




My map updated xxx r