Volcanoes and a new brand of beer

Iliniza when clear!
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And on to country number 7. We decided against the 38 hour bus journey and opted to fly from Lima to Quito. Quite expensive mind.

Stayed in the Mariscal area of Quito. Very surprised by how cosmopolitan the area is. Pretty touristy with international restaurants and lots of bars although lots of locals out on the town too.

We booked a couple of tours through Gullivers (definitely recommend this travel agent). The first of which took us to the Cotapaxi volcano, one of the highest active volcanos in the world.

Views from our ascent
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We set off pretty early and caught a train to the national park entrance. The train ride was really good fun as we got to sit on the top of it. Great views. Passed lots of little dwellings where little kids stood and waved at us. Even managed to get a good view of the top of Cotapaxi in the morning before the clouds came in. After the train ride we walked up the volcano to the refuge where we had lunch. By this time the clouds were fairly thick and view not so good. After lunch we walked up to the edge of the Glacier. We were at around 5,000m so walking uphill required considerable effort. After throwing a few snowballs and taking some photos we returned to get on the mountain bikes and ride down the volcano. Good fun, if a little cold and wet. Stayed the night in a really nice lodge/farm called Papaguyo. Lovely open fires. very cosy.

Cotopaxi at breakfast
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Next morning, up early again for second tour, climbing to the top of volcano Ilineza. Just us two and a guide this time. Drove up to around 3,500m. Weather pretty good, lots of blue sky. The first part of the walk, 2 hours up to the refuge was not too bad. After the refuge part it was a good 2 hour scramble to the top (5,126m high). We hung off and scrambled over rocks, pretty scary at times. At points we were both gasping as the air was so thin. After a final clamber we reached the summit. Really felt like we were on the top of the world sat on the peak of a mountain above the cloudline - pretty amazing. The clouds cleared a little and we were able to see some other volcanoes and the bright green lagoon at the bottom.

Iliniza peaks
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The descent was much nicer. After we had got down past the scary part we took another route down which involved practically just standing up and sliding down on the loose ash. Good fun - it should be introduced as a new sport. Inevitably fell over a few times but soft landing so it was ok.

Got back to the landrover to head back to the farm. However after about 10meters is conked out and grounded itself. Took over two hours to get another car to come out and help. A very cold wait. really good day though.

On our way to the top
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We also visited the equator site - the centre of the Earth. The monument and the museum inside were pretty disappointing to be honest. The monument is not actually on the equator, bit of a blunder! However the other museum we had a talk on the area, the historical sites that have been found and their significance. Very interesting.

The rest of our time in Quito was spent wandering around, sorting out ongoing flights and enjoying the nightlife. Did a bit of Salsa too.