Chile

The border post to leave Bolivia is basically a shed in the middle of the desert. After queueing for our stamp we caught a bus down from the altiplano to the Atacama desert and the town of San Pedro de Atacama. At this point we were in no-man's land as we didn't cross the official entry point to Chile until the town. San Pedro is small outpost in the middle of the driest desert on the planet and has swollen in size in recent years due to increasing numbers of tourists. Despite this it retains a pleasant and inviting feel. After 4 busy weeks travelling huge distances and doing many activities we decided to slow down for a couple of weeks in Chile. We spent a couple of days relaxing in San Pedro with a short afternoon trip to Valle de la Luna and a spectacular evening stargazing. Due to the high altitude and lack of humidity in the Atacama desert the conditions for viewing the night sky are arguably the best on the planet. Indeed NASA and several other space organisations have observatories in the area. We spent an hour having a talk about the night sky and what we could see with the naked eye before looking through 10 different high powered telescopes trained on different objects. We saw Mars, the Orion nebula, the Andromeda galaxy and a 'supercluster' of 300 million stars amongst other things.

Valle de la Luna

Leaving the desert behind we finally returned to sea level for the first time in a month. We spent 4 relaxing days in La Serena on the Chilean coast making friends with an English girl called Katy and a German couple called Samira and Seb. Together the 5 of us surfed, ate and had a lot of fun doing not very much at all. We also discovered a shop selling very tasty custard doughnuts! Sometimes the joy of travelling is not seeing amazing sights, but making new friends and talking about our different views about, and experiences of, the world.

Fiona ready to surf

After a short stop in the town of Vicuña where we visited a Pisco distillery we headed south again to arrive at the port city of Valparaiso. The city became very wealthy and expanded rapidly in the 19th century as it was a major stop off point for ships from Europe on their way to California. Evidence of various European styles are evident in the older parts of the city and the grand buildings around the main plaza. Once the Panama Canal opened in the early 20th century growth stagnated and the city has never regained its former glory. We spent an interesting morning on another walking tour; in particular learning about the Pinochet dictatorship of the 1970's and 80's. It is still a controversial topic in Chile as many are still fans of the regime due to the economic prosperity and stability that it provided despite the evidence of terrible human rights abuses that took place (more on this later). 

Street art by Un Color Distinto

Our friend Katy from La Serena caught up with us again in Valparaiso and we spent a fun day together wandering around the hill above the port. Here the buildings are laid out in a rather chaotic fashion with tiny alleyways and many staircases linking streets. There are a number of old funicular railways providing easy access back down to the port. The area has many great cafes, bars, restaurants and artisans stalls, but the highlight for us was the street art. Almost every available vertical surface is covered in amazing, brightly coloured art. We went on a guided tour and began to recognise the styles of different artists and even got to meet a few of the artists themselves. 

Our last stop (for now) in Chile was the capital of Santiago. The city has developed into a great capital with European standard amenities (including a fantastic metro system and world class universities) that made it feel more comfortable to us than say La Paz, but hasn't lost the relaxed South American feel we have got used to. Being only a couple of hours from both the beach and mountains is a great bonus in my eyes too! The hostel we stayed in offered free ice cream and movie nights and a BBQ night which was a great way to meet fellow travellers. Highlights of the city included a great crab stew eaten in the fish market, cycling along the large number of traffic free cycle lanes by the river and a ride in a funicular up the Cerro San Cristobel (a big hill) from where we enjoyed the view across the city. We also survived an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale without even realising it had happened! It turns out there is at least one earthquake a day on average in somewhere Chile so buildings are constructed accordingly and the Chileans don't really get fussed until it is a 'big one'. Interestingly the earthquake that caused so much devastation in Italy in August this year also measured 6.1.

A view of Santiago looking towards the Andes

We spent a moving few hours one morning visiting the Museum of Memories and Human Rights. This serves both as a memorial to those who simply disappeared during the Pinochet regime and education to everyone to ensure that it never happens again. From the military coup in 1973 until Pinochet stepped down in 1990 ten of thousands of people were arrested, held without trial and tortured. Many were executed and some just disappeared never to be seen again. The exhibitions are quite graphic at times, but necessarily so in order to convey the truth of what happened. Despite many attempts, Pinochet was never brought to justice and died a free man.

The Museum of Memories and Human Rights

We will return to Chile later in the far south of Patagonia, but for now it is on to Argentina.

Bolivia

The title of this blog isn't quite correct. We'll talk about the last two days in Peru first! The Inca Trail was very physically demanding, so no-one felt like too much strenuous activity for a couple of days afterwards. The trek had also made Fiona's cough worse so she spent the next two days in bed or on the sofa in the hostel recovering. The rest of us made a few short trips out to see other Inca ruins nearby and we all went out for a celebratory dinner with some of our new friends from the trek. We took the opportunity to try an alpaca steak, which was very tasty.

We left Cusco on a night bus and headed to the town of Puno on the edge of Lake Titicaca. We spent just a few hours there in the morning to visit the floating islands before crossing the border into Bolivia. The floating islands are constructed from large blocks of mud and reed roots, which are then tied together with rope and layers of cut reeds laid on top. These islands are surprisingly stable and the largest of which is big enough to build several reed houses on. The short tour to visit them by boat was interesting but a bit touristic and the interaction with the people who lived there a bit contrived.

After getting back on the bus and crossing the border into Bolivia, we arrived at the town of Copacabana (very different from the famous area of Rio de Janeiro with the same name). We (Fiona and Ben) had spent 25 days in Peru, which was the longest either of us has ever spent continuously in one country outside the UK. We were a bit sad to leave, but left with memories of great adventures and were excited about Bolivia. 

There isn't much to do in Copacabana, but it is the place to catch a boat to Isla del Sol in the middle of Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is a huge 160km long by 65km wide expanse of water that forms part of the border between Peru and Bolivia. It is also the highest navigable lake in the world at 3600m above sea level. It was odd to see so much water that it felt like a small sea, but in fact we were really high in the mountains. We spent the hour boat crossing bracing against the wind sitting on the roof of the boat. It was very exhilarating, if a little cold. Isla del Sol is quite small and it is easily possible to walk the length of it in one day. Unfortunately we had only 24hrs on the island so didn't have time walk there and back in a day. Instead we went for a short walk to see some of the island and enjoyed a great lunch overlooking the lake and back towards mainland Bolivia. We are finding that a considerable amount of time on this trip is just spent enjoying the view. We all felt we could have spent a couple more nights on the island exploring fully.

Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca

Our final experience of the lake involved watching our bus being put on a concrete raft and floated across the narrowest part of the lake (less than 1km). We weren't allowed to stay on the bus and crossed in a small motor boat. Once safely on the other side we hopped back on and drove to the city of La Paz. At this point we realised that the infrastructure in Bolivia is not quite up to the standards of the countries we had visited so far. The main road from the border with Peru towards La Paz just seems to stop an hour short of the city. There used to be one, but they are currently in the process of digging it up to build a new highway. Unfortunately they have dug the whole thing up before starting on any of the new road so the journey was very bumpy and the views consisted of huge piles of rubble for many kilometres. 

Gawaine and Ben got up early on the first morning in La Paz to cycle down the North Yungas Road a.k.a The World's Most Dangerous Road, a.k.a Death Road. The Rowe sisters decided they had more important things to do and didn't join in. Until 2007 over 200 people died each year navigating the single track gravel road on the edge of a cliff. This was mainly due to it being used for two way traffic including trucks and buses. It is not hard to imagine how a truck or bus filled with passengers plunges over the edge when trying to pass another on a road barely wide enough for one. Thankfully a new tarmac tow lane highway was opened with large vehicles now banned from using the old road. That said 15 people have still died this year. These deaths are due to a combination of stupid overtaking manoeuvres on around blind bends on the tarmac part of the road at the top and cyclists trying to take selfies and not looking where they are going. There are several monuments to those who have died along the route.

Ready for action

Having been kitted out with appropriate clothing (circa 1990), knee and elbow pads, full face helmet and a bike with good brakes we began the ride on a tarmac road high above La Paz. This gave us time to get used to our new bikes and appreciate the dramatic scenery. Although we took care to keep our eyes on the road and not get distracted by the view. An hour later the tarmac ran out and we diverted onto Death Road proper. After a slow start we gained confidence on the terrain and picked up some speed. The ride along the the gravel track was exciting and required concentration, but the ever present cliff edge and the scenery as we descended from mountain pass to jungle track made it even more exhilarating. 50km later we arrived at the bottom. We had survived the World's Most Dangerous Road!

That's a big drop!

Braving the edge

Meanwhile Fiona, Hannah & Rachel visited the Valley of the Moon and the Witches Market where amongst many interesting items you can buy a dried llama foetus. It is traditional before constructing a new building in Bolivia to hold a small ceremony with a shaman and provide an offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth). In the case of a house or similar sized building a llama foetus is deemed a sufficient offering. Urban legend has it that for large buildings a human sacrifice is necessary. There are several tales and even a film about homeless people being plied with alcohol, invited to a party and then buried alive in the foundations of buildings. Hopefully this is just a story made up to entertain the tourists.

Leaving La Paz on yet another night bus we headed to Uyuni to begin our adventure on the famous salt flats. We had booked a 3 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni and nearby national parks. This would be our last few days as a group of 5 before Hannah, Rachel & Gawaine's holiday was over and they headed back home. The tour began with a visit to the train graveyard just outside town. Uyuni was founded as a rail hub for distribution of minerals from mines in the surrounding areas out to the Pacific coast. As Bolivia no longer has a coastline (Chile took the land in the Pacific Wars of the late 19th century) and depletion of mineral reserves, the trains were largely abandoned in the mid 20th century.

Uyuni train graveyard

We then headed out onto the largest salt flat in the world, the Salar de Uyuni, the bed of a huge prehistoric lake. It is a pretty odd landscape and it felt strange to be able to see the horizon in every direction with a featureless terrain in between. The salt has cracked into huge polygonal slabs and if you dig in the cracks between them you quickly find brine. It also makes for some great forced perspective photos!

Yorkshire, Yorkshire!

Jump!

Ouch!

Giant llama.....run!

We stopped off in the very middle of the salar to visit the Incahuasi island. This is a bizarre cactus covered rock that rises up out of the vast emptiness of white. Some of the cacti are hundreds of years old and can reach 10m in height.

Incahuasi

Sunset on the Salar de Uyuni

The first night was spent in a hostel literally made of salt on the edge of the salar. The walls, tables, chairs and even beds were all made from breeze block sized slabs of salt. As impressive as the salt flats were it was the rest of the trip that really took our breath away. We had naively just expected more of the same, but every 30minutes it seemed like we had arrived on a different planet as we drove along. There was sandy desert, green plains with llamas on, rocky scrub land, huge volcanoes, mountains, lots of flamingoes on a series of huge lagoons and finally fumaroles and boiling mud. The photos here give you a taste, but they can't really do justice to the incredible scenery we saw.

One of the many lagoons in the Siloli desert

Sunny but very cold

Flamingoes on Laguna Rojo

Fumaroles and boiling mud pots

We spent the second night of the tour, and the final one as group of 5, in a basic lodge near the Chilean border. We would say goodbye the following morning as we (Fiona and Ben) were dropped at the border post whilst the others returned to Uyuni then La Paz to fly home. After dinner that night we sat in the dark in natural hot springs enjoying the night sky. Without any light pollution and being at over 4000m there were so many stars to see. It was a memorable way to end our 3 week adventure with Hannah, Gawaine and Rachel, and our time in Bolivia.

Peru Part II - Cusco & The Inca Trail

The bus journey through the Andes to Cusco was spectacular, driving over mountain passes and past lakes, flamingoes and herds of alpacas. We spent a couple of lazy days exploring the old city, the artisans markets (we both bought alpaca wool hats) and the Inca Museum. Cusco is situated at 3600m above sea level so provides a good place to acclimatise for trekking in the Andes, but it does mean you have to take it easy for the first few days as a brisk walk can easily get you out of breath.

After a 7hr wait in Lima airport due to a missed connection Fiona's sisters Hannah and Rachel, and Hannah's university friend Gawaine arrived in Cusco on 3rd October. They were joining us for 3 weeks to trek the Inca Trail, which we had booked back in January and then to travel on to Bolivia. It was great to see some familiar faces again. The first order of business was to 'check-in' for the trek; paying the balance and receiving a briefing on what to pack and what to expect. After this we spent more time exploring the city together and visited the Saqsayhuaman Incan ruins (known as Sexy Woman by us gringos). The Incan city of Cusco is supposedly laid out to represent a Puma and the temple at Saqsayhuaman is the head. The temple consists of a huge open field for celebrations and ceremonies and a 3 tiered hill with a tower on top. The most impressive feature is the huge zig-zag wall made of giant stone blocks. Some of these weigh up to 130 tonnes and all fit together perfectly without any kind of mortar. At the temple we also found a natural rock slide and crawled through a tunnel in the rocks.

The huge walls at Saqsayhuaman

The five of us overlooking Cusco

The first day of our trek along the Inca Trail began before 5am (we were used to early starts by this point) for the 2hr drive to the town of Ollantaytambo for breakfast. After filling up on pancakes and omelettes we drove to the end of the road at Km82 where the trail begins. We packed our sleeping bags and mats and any spare clothes we didn't need during the day into a duffel bag to be carried by the porters, took the obligatory photos by the Km82 signpost, showed our passports at the control gate and we were off.

At the start of the Inca Trail

Most of the first day was fairly flat and our guide stopped regularly to explain things to us. After the one tough uphill section of the  day we were rewarded by fantastic views down onto an Incan temple below. By the time we reached the lunch stop the porters, carrying much more than we were, had raced ahead and put up a dining tent, laid the table for us and prepared a 3 course lunch. We were expecting sandwiches for lunch so this was a great surprise and the food was really tasty. Then as we finished lunch, they took down the tent packed up and rushed off before we were ready to leave. Arriving at the campsite for the day they had once again put up the dining tent and each of our 2 man dome tents. They worked so hard.

Hannah, Rachel & Fiona together again!

Looking down on Inca terraces

Day 2 was the hardest and consisted of an uphill climb from the start until we reached the top of the ominously named Dead Woman's Pass mid afternoon. This involved gaining over 1000m in altitude to reach the highest point of the whole trek at 4200m above sea level. Having been at altitude for about ten days before the trek we (Ben & Fiona) didn't suffer from any altitude sickness and just got out of breath easily due to the lack of oxygen so we took it slow and steady. Unfortunately Rachel, Hannah and Gawaine had less than 48hrs to acclimatise to the altitude before beginning the hike. This didn't seem to bother Gawaine who raced up the mountain. Rachel in particular suffered from the effects of altitude sickness but was not going to be beaten and we all made it to the top. After a short stop to take victory photos and admire the stunning view, we headed down the other side before we started to get cold. At this point we were all thankful we had decided to hire trekking poles as they definitely made it easier.

Rowe sisters in action!

The view from Dead Woman's Pass

Celebratory photo from the top

We spent the morning of the third day hiking over two more passes, but they were much easier than the one the day before. We had history lessons at more Incan ruins and continued to be amazed by the scenery every step of the way.

Not a bad view to wake up to

The lunch stop on the third day was atop the final pass of the trek and was reached after hiking through the clouds, which was a surreal experience. We knew there was a great view out there and a steep drop to our left, but we just couldn't see it. Fortunately the clouds lifted as we reached the top and we got our first view of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu actually being the name for the mountain on which the famous city is located. From this point we could only see the back of the mountain; we'd have to wait until the final day to see the ruins themselves. At lunch we were amazed that the chef had prepared us a cake at 4000m without an oven! In the afternoon we were once again grateful for the trekking poles as we descended over 3000steps to our final campsite.

Trekking through the clouds

Happy to have made it to lunch on the third day

More amazing ruins and scenery

The final morning's trek started as the control point opened at 5:30am and we eagerly hiked for a couple of hours to reach the Sun Gate where (weather permitting) we could see the famous postcard view of Machu Picchu. Unfortunately Ben had been ill in the night and found the final walk particularly difficult, despite it being the easiest part of the trek. We reached the Sun Gate at 7am to find that the whole mountain was enveloped in cloud and we could see nothing. We celebrated nonetheless, as we had successfully hiked over 46miles through second highest mountain range on earth.

The famous view of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate

We made it!

After another hour walk descending we entered the ruins themselves and proceeded to explore. I have run out of superlatives to describe the sights on this trip so won't try to describe Machu Picchu for fear of repetition. No-one really knows exactly what the purpose of the city here was as it lay undiscovered by the Spanish Conquistadors and by the time it was 'rediscovered' in 1911 the Incans had been wiped out. Temple, royal palace and observatory are some of theories.We could have easily spent a whole day seeing everything and hiking up nearby Huana Picchu to get another great view. We were all pretty tired though and needed to meet our porters for lunch to get the rest of our belongings back so we took the bus down to the town of Aguas Calientes. Following lunch and a trip to the hot springs we caught our train and bus back to Cusco for a well earned rest.

Fiona at Machu Picchu

Peru Part I - Lima to Cusco

We arrived in the capital Lima after an epic 36 hour bus journey! The extra cost to upgrade to VIP seats was well worth it. More legroom, wider seats and a personal TV like being on a plane. We stayed in the upmarket and trendy district of Miraflores, which could fairly easily fit into any European or US city. During our 2 day stay we visited a pre-Incan Huaca (temple), explored downtown Lima on a walking tour and cycled along the cliff tops of Miraflores. On our second night we treated ourselves to some gourmet Peruvian food and ate at the Panchita restaurant.

The cliffs of Miraflores

The following day was Ben's birthday and we decided to do something a bit different and celebrate by spending half the day on another bus! We had booked to travel from Lima to Cusco with Peruhop. This is a hop-on hop-off tourist bus that runs in the south of Peru (and connects to Bolivia). Whilst a bit more pricey than the standard long distance buses, they make stops at places that are otherwise harder to get to, include some tours in the price, have an English speaking guide and provide an opportunity to meet other travellers. Our first brief stop was on the outskirts of Lima at a memorial to those who died in the Pacific War between Peru and Chile at the end of the 19th Century. Here we learnt some history and got our first taste of the rivalry that still exists today between Peru and Chile. Mid-afternoon we arrived in the beach town of Paracas. The hostel here backed onto the beach and had a great terrace with a pool, pool table, table tennis and a bar. The perfect place for a birthday cocktail! We spent quite a bit of time just relaxing in the nice surroundings. Whilst in Paracas we also went sea kayaking and took a boat trip to Las Islas Ballestas where we saw thousands of seabirds including a couple of penguins. Due to the huge number of birds there is also a lot of guano (bird poo) which is harvested for use as fertiliser every 7 years.

Islas Ballestas boat trip

In the Paracas National Reserve

Our next stop was the desert oasis of Huacachina. This is a tiny village surrounding an oasis and only really exists now to cater for tourists both international and Peruvian. There isn't much to do here so we only spent 2 night, but the highlight was a dune buggy trip into the desert. The only word to describe this experience is crazy! The buggy was basically a huge engine, some steel tube fashioned into a chassis / roll cage, some seats and 4 huge wheels. It was like being on a roller coaster but with no track to make sure you stay in the right place. Our driver clearly had done this hundreds of times before and was very relaxed throughout the whole trip (the rest of us were slightly less so). We also had a short go at sand-boarding down some of the dunes. We tried to stand up on the shorter ones and used them as sledges for the huge steep ones.

'Driving' the dune buggy

In nearby city of Ica we visited the regional museum to find out more about the pre-colonial history of the area. Amongst lots of pottery and textiles they had several mummies and human skulls on display. The skulls had evidence of trepanning, which is where holes were cut in the skull (whilst the patient/victim was still alive) in order to let bad spirits out or allow better communication with the spirit world. It was very interesting, if a little creepy seeing so many human skulls. We also visited a Pisco winery before leaving the area. Pisco (distilled wine) is the national drink and a source of much pride for all Peruvians. It is often combined with egg white and lemon juice to make the famous Pisco Sour cocktail. Pisco is also the source of yet more rivalry with Chile, as both claim ownership of the drink and say that the other nation's drink isn't 'real' Pisco.

Hopping back on to the bus again we drove to Nasca - home of the famous Nasca lines. These are images carved into the earth by ancient civilisations. No-one really knows what they are for, most probably some sort of calendar, but with the largest being over 100m long there is no way they would have been able to appreciate their efforts (unless they invented flight and then kept it a secret!). As it is so hot and dry the weather doesn't seem to have affected them so they lay undiscovered for hundreds of years. They are so hard to spot from ground level that when building the Panamerican Highway in the area they built the road right through the middle of the lizard! We didn't think our stomachs would be strong enough to cope with a tiny aeroplane zipping over them, so settled for a tall look out tower where we could see a small section. Even this tiny glimpse was impressive, and so mystifying!

The next 'hop-off' point was in Arequipa. A pretty town with a backdrop of volcanoes situated in the foothills of the Andes at 2300m above sea level. Here we began what would be almost a month at high altitude with Arequipa being the lowest point!  From here we set off for a 3 day trek into the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon is the second deepest in the world, being twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the USA. The measuring and defining of canyons is not exactly agreed upon worldwide so the second deepest claim may not be verified internationally. Nonetheless a trek down to the bottom, along part of it and back up to the rim was to be no mean feat and would serve as good practice for our upcoming Inca Trail trek. Day 1 started at 3am with a 5hr drive to the canyon, but we were rewarded with amazing views from the edge on arrival. We even got to see several condors effortlessly gliding over the canyon. The trek on the first day was almost entirely downhill into the canyon, but still hard work due to the intense heat. Needless to stay the views were stunning for the whole trek and words here can't really do them justice.

A view of Colca Canyon from halfway down

Day 2 began at the more leisurely time of 7am after a breakfast of pancakes. We walked along the canyon passing through a couple of small villages stopping occasionally for our guide to explain various things to us. We learnt about the culture and traditions of the local Quechua people, and interesting facts about the flora and fauna.

Canyon supermarket selling the essentials of water and snacks

Our accommodation for the second night was in a small oasis where we had tasty food and went for a much needed swim in a pool filled with water from a mountain spring. Cold, but refreshing.

The second night was spent in basic thatched huts

The third and final day consisted of the uphill climb out of the canyon. This was the equivalent of climbing up Ben Nevis, but we were already twice as high when at the bottom! We started walking in the dark with head torches to light our way so that we would avoid hiking in the the mid-day heat. We kept the pace slow as we weren't fully used to the altitude yet and made it to the top in under 3hrs. Some of our group elected to use mules to get to the top and overtook us just before the top despite setting off over an hour later. On the drive back to Arequipa we stopped at some natural hot springs where we spent a relaxing hour. The water had to be mixed with cold water before anyone was allowed in as it was literally boiling as it came out the ground. It was very strange to see a spring of boiling water.

Victory banana!

After one night back in Arequipa we got back on the Peruhop bus for the journey through the Andes to the Inca capital of Cusco, where we would meet Fiona's sisters and our friend Gawaine for more adventures.

Ecuador

We arrived in Ecuador on 6th September after a night bus from Cali in Colombia to the border. After the usual slow land border crossing; a long queue to get out of out Country A, a short walk across no-man's land, and a slightly shorter queue to get into Country B, we had arrived in the second country on our travels.  Despite everyone having their bags searched for drugs in Colombia before we boarded the bus and again on arriving in Ecuador, the bus was pulled over by anti-narcotics police less than 5km into Ecuador. Fortunately this time they only picked on random people and we weren't chosen, but it was a bit nerve wracking nonetheless.

Quito, the second highest capital city in the world at 2850m, was our first stop. We stayed at the really good Secret Garden Hostel where we had pancakes for breakfast and lasagne/pie for dinner. The food was a welcome change from the rice/meat combo prevalent in Colombia. The highlight of our stay in Quito was a trip to the Equator which is just north of the city. The bus took about 90mins and cost us less than $1 for us both! Ecuador in Spanish just means Equator so the line is known as El Mitad del Mundo; The Middle of the World. There is a large park and monument where we took the obligatory photos and stepped back and forth from the Northern to Southern Hemispheres. 

Ben at Mitad del Mundo

However the monument is actually in the wrong place! The equator was 'accurately' measured in 1982 and the monument built accordingly. With the advent of GPS technology we now know that the Equator is 240m further north. (NB: The Equator actually moves due to the Earth not being a perfect sphere and other reasons. Google it if interested). There is another small museum next to the larger one where they also claim to have the Equator. We learnt a bit about indigenous cultures in Ecuador, saw some shrunken heads and balanced an egg on a nail (apparently it's easier on the Equator but I don't believe it). The guide also demonstrated to us how water will spin anti-clockwise out of a sink in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Again this is a fallacy and can easily be done as a trick anywhere in the world. I'll leave interested parties to use Google again for more info.

Fiona and her egg

From Quito we headed to stay just outside the Cotopaxi National Park. The Secret Garden also own a hostel there which was amazing. We stayed 3 nights in the middle of nowhere absorbing the stunning scenery. Due to it's remote location the hostel is all inclusive so everyone sits down for meals together making for a great social atmosphere. We made some good friends in our short time there. The hostel is at an altitude of 3500m which makes even the shortest of walks more breathless than they should be. 

Our home for 3 nights in Cotopaxi. No power, just a log burner to keep warm.

Our first two days were spent doing a short hike to a waterfall, a hike up to the summit of Pasochoa, an extinct volcano at 4200m and playing card games in the evening. Cotopaxi itself is an active volcano and last erupted from August 2015 to January 2016. The national park had only just re-opened and attempts at the summit are still prohibited. Instead we drove up to the last car park and hiked for 40mins in the snow and wind to the refuge at 4864m. The whole climb was up volcanic sand which made for difficult time even without the altitude. After a quick cup of tea we headed back down to the minibus and then mountain biked down the lower slopes to the exit of the park. The terrain was like nothing we had experienced before and looked like it belonged on a different planet or distant moon. The huge boulders bigger than cars strewn about demonstrated the awesome power of the volcano. We would happily have spent much longer in the area climbing other volcanos and enjoying being completely isolated from the rest of the world.

 Cotopaxi Volcano

 At the refuge after a tough hike

Making friends with the locals

From Cotopaxi we headed to the adrenaline capital of Ecuador - Baños. This is a tiny town on a plateau at the foot of another volcano - which we were made very aware of by all the volcano evacuation posters in every room of our hostel. (Fortunately there were no signs of eruption during our stay). Despite it being cold and rainy when we arrived, it was much sunnier the next morning - perfect weather for hiring bikes (guess who's idea that was!). We chose a route out of the town passing by several local waterfalls which were very picturesque. The final one was huge and if you were feeling brave (and didn't mind getting wet) you could crawl up a tunnel in the rock to stand behind it! After a morning of cycling we had earned a good lunch in a well placed empanada shop. The banana and chocolate ones were amazing! Later that evening we treated ourselves to a rather extravagant spa session in a local hotel. Situated half way up the mountain, we enjoyed beautiful views over the whole of Baños, both before and after the sunset, while lounging in a series of hot pools and jacuzzis. (They also had amazing showers!).

Ben in the Devil's Cauldron

During the next few days in Baños the fun really started as we went white water rafting, canyoning (abseiling down waterfalls) and went on the swing at the end of the world. This is a swing from a treehouse high up on the mountain side, enabling fantastic pictures of the view. When we got there however the clouds had set in so instead we swung out over mist. Still got some good pictures though. 

White Water Rafting

Fiona on 'The swing at the end of the world'

From Baños we headed back up to Quito (via a short stop in Latacunga where we didn't do anything due to illness). Here we enjoyed our final few days in Ecuador, wandering around the old town streets and mentally preparing for our mammoth bus journey to Lima. But more about that in the next installment....