On the drive back, we got to see Cotopaxi, the snow capped mountain outside of Quito. I´ve been here for six weeks and still haven´t seen it yet so at least something good came after getting pooped on. Usually there are too many clouds to see it but we got lucky that there were no clouds at the time we drove back. This is a picture of me with the guide and two other travelers in our group. I´m wearing the hippie pants I had to buy after the donkey incident.
After hiking down, we rode donkeys back up the same trail. While I was getting on my donkey, I accidently hit another one in the face with my foot. As we started back up, my donkey kept getting really close to the other one that I had hit. All of the sudden, I looked down, and the donkey that I had kicked in the face, was pooping all over me! I didn´t have any way to getting away and I had poop from above my knee down my leg and covering my shoe. The worst part was that I had to ride the whole hour back with poop all over me. The guides were all laughing at me along with all the people that were hiking down. It was so gross. I must have had bad karma from kicking the donkey and he decided to get back at me. Thankfully, at the top there was a market and I was able to buy a new pair of pants so at least I didn´t stink for the three hour car ride back to Quito.
We had a steep hike down to the Laguna where at one point we had a traffic jam with some sheep who were trying to make their way up.
We finally got to the Laguna Quilotoa and it was so pretty. The color of the water is so blue from all the minerals in the water. The dark spot in the center is a reflection from one of the clouds above.
This is a picture of one of the beds that is more or less just a bunch of blankets and hay in the corner. In the house are also little chicks running around and guinea pigs which they eat. It´s really dark inside and they just have one little light for the house. Because we were so high up, it was really cold outside but once we walked into the house, it was a lot warmer. The way that the house is built and the materials they use keep it warm when it´s cold out and also keep it cool when it´s hot outside. There are also so many people in one small room that that seems to keep it pretty warm inside too.
After the market, we visited the home of an indigenous family. This hut in the center is where they live and on the drive to the Laguna, you can see various houses scattered along the fields. The house is just one room where they eat and sleep and although it doesn´t look like it, the roof is actually waterproof from the smoke that they burn so that the rain doesn´t get in.
Yesterday, I went on a tour with a couple friends to the Laguna Quilotoa which is a lake inside a volcanic crater. A few hundred years ago, the volcano errupted and now there is this laguna where the volcano used to be. On the drive there, we made a few stops along the way. This is a picture in Pujili where there is an indigenous market every Sunday. The people from the surrounding villages come to buy and sell food and other goods. Bananas are the second highest export after petroleum and there were tons at this market.
On the drive back, we got to see Cotopaxi, the snow capped mountain outside of Quito. I´ve been here for six weeks and still haven´t seen it yet so at least something good came after getting pooped on. Usually there are too many clouds to see it but we got lucky that there were no clouds at the time we drove back. This is a picture of me with the guide and two other travelers in our group. I´m wearing the hippie pants I had to buy after the donkey incident.
After hiking down, we rode donkeys back up the same trail. While I was getting on my donkey, I accidently hit another one in the face with my foot. As we started back up, my donkey kept getting really close to the other one that I had hit. All of the sudden, I looked down, and the donkey that I had kicked in the face, was pooping all over me! I didn´t have any way to getting away and I had poop from above my knee down my leg and covering my shoe. The worst part was that I had to ride the whole hour back with poop all over me. The guides were all laughing at me along with all the people that were hiking down. It was so gross. I must have had bad karma from kicking the donkey and he decided to get back at me. Thankfully, at the top there was a market and I was able to buy a new pair of pants so at least I didn´t stink for the three hour car ride back to Quito.
We had a steep hike down to the Laguna where at one point we had a traffic jam with some sheep who were trying to make their way up.
We finally got to the Laguna Quilotoa and it was so pretty. The color of the water is so blue from all the minerals in the water. The dark spot in the center is a reflection from one of the clouds above.
This is a picture of one of the beds that is more or less just a bunch of blankets and hay in the corner. In the house are also little chicks running around and guinea pigs which they eat. It´s really dark inside and they just have one little light for the house. Because we were so high up, it was really cold outside but once we walked into the house, it was a lot warmer. The way that the house is built and the materials they use keep it warm when it´s cold out and also keep it cool when it´s hot outside. There are also so many people in one small room that that seems to keep it pretty warm inside too.
After the market, we visited the home of an indigenous family. This hut in the center is where they live and on the drive to the Laguna, you can see various houses scattered along the fields. The house is just one room where they eat and sleep and although it doesn´t look like it, the roof is actually waterproof from the smoke that they burn so that the rain doesn´t get in.
Yesterday, I went on a tour with a couple friends to the Laguna Quilotoa which is a lake inside a volcanic crater. A few hundred years ago, the volcano errupted and now there is this laguna where the volcano used to be. On the drive there, we made a few stops along the way. This is a picture in Pujili where there is an indigenous market every Sunday. The people from the surrounding villages come to buy and sell food and other goods. Bananas are the second highest export after petroleum and there were tons at this market.
