Quilotoa Village: Breathe deeply and be positive
December 4, 2016
Location: Ecuador
Quilotoa Village is located in the Ecuadorian Andes, 3 + 1/2 hours by car from Quito.
My Experience
Here we are, my experience! This place came after my worst time of my journey in South America. Just to understand what happened, only 40 days after we started our trip we have been robbed on a bus from Quito (Capital) to Ambato (South of Quito).The weird thing is the way it happened. Read our full post here (Robbed in Ecuador).
It was time to relax myself, time to understand what to do about my journey in South America, time to know if travelling was more important than stuff/money. My future wife Romina helped me to make the right decision and this small village represent a really important place for me because I understood, in Quilotoa Village, something that I will keep in my mind for the rest of my life:
Be Brave, Take Risks. Nothing can substitute experience.
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- A local woman is preparing something for lunch
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- Men are working in the highlands, women in the city
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- Small meeting in the main plaza of the village
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- Small village in the middle of nowhere, we love Quilotoa
The Quilotoa Village is made by buildings scattered near the park entrance that are mostly hostels and cheap restaurants. Few people actually stay in Quilotoa Village overnight, me and Romina are 2 of those. What did we do in Quilotoa Village?!?! Well we just tried good and warm dishes during cold days, we relax our time talking with local people understanding their culture and traditions. These pictures can make you guys an idea about it.
We have been also to the Crater lake, near Quilotoa Village. The 3 kilometres wide caldera was formed by the collapse of this volcano following a catastrophic eruption about 800 years ago, which produced pyroclastic flows and lava that reached the Pacific Ocean, and spread an airborne deposit of volcanic ash throughout the northern Andes. The caldera has since accumulated a 250 m deep crater lake, which has a greenish colour as a result of dissolved minerals.
Take a deep breath and be positive. Quilotoa Village.
It’s time to take a nap before starting my return. Quilotoa Village.
At the bottom of the crater, some local people sell stuff too. Quilotoa Village.
We stayed there 3 days and we realised it was time to keep travelling to the South of Ecuador. Anyway there many things to do here and the most popular one is Quilotoa Loop, a hiking trail that passes through some remote Quilotoa village.
How to get there, best time and cost
There are several buses a day from Latacunga (1 hours ride from Quito), leaving around 6am and 11:30a and the journey is approximately 2.5 hours and costs $2.
The seasons in the highlands are more consistent, although the warmer, wetter period from December to March is the least advisable, especially if you are planning on hiking. When you get to the entrance of the village you will pay 2 $US and the ticket is valid for several days.
Here how to discover South America in 2 minutes! Me and my wife in our best 120 shots of 6 months of travel… Enjoy
uTips
- It’s not really easy to find a place with Internet connection in the village. So, just disconnect yourself from the real world for a few days, it’s great!
- Stay as much time as you like to look the crater and how beautiful is the life.
- Prepare yourself to make Quilotoa Villages Loop, people told me that is one of the best life experience.
- Everything is cheap and good! Try the small restaurant in the main plaza, there is no sign outside and this is the lonely tip I have for you.
- My last tip: Don’t get stuck with the thing that ruins your day, life is too short to be wasted in your crap. Smile and be positive because there are so many beautiful reasons to be happy, one of those is travelling.
Author of this post: Davide
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OMG getting robbed must have been so scary! Happy to see that you turned it around and made the best of you trip. Interesting read.
I would love to disconnect for a few days in a place like this! Your photos are gorgeous. I don’t know why more people wouldn’t want to spend the night in Quilotoa – the way you describe enjoying meals with the locals sounds like a perfect experience! Being able to just sit and hang out at the lake would make me want to stay for a few days, at least!
A trip to Ecuador is high on my list. I’ve have to take note of this city. You’re photos are great, so thank you for the travel inspo!
Ecuador looks like a interesting place to visit. A place where you can disconnect from it all. Small village with good food sounds enticing. I guess you have to be careful anywhere you go. Safe and happy future travels.
Nice read. Love learning about new places, it is why we travel after all. To learn and be inspired. Ecuador has been on my list a while now, mainly because my 11 yearold son cant stop talking about it. Now i can give Quilatoa a thought.
The pictures look absolutely lovely – just like my place to be right now. Compared to this desk view, haha. Since we bloggers tend to be online almost 24/7, it’s good to find a place where we’re pretty much forced to leave the world as it is and simply be. Well done 🙂
Looks like an amazing place. Love the crater lake. I’m a bit partial to anything built on a caldera – so naturely amazing. Great experiences here by the sounds of it.
Wow what a story! Your pictures are wonderful by the way. I’m sorry to hear that you got robbed. It’s never a fun experience to have something like that happen overseas. I’m glad that you still continued onward and focused on the positive = that’s what life is really about! Cheers!
What stunning pictures. It looks like a beautiful place to visit and the crater sounds amazing! I imagine you would’ve had a rich cultural experience and spent some quality time with the locals here in this small, sleep village. Thanks so much for sharing. If I ever visit South America, I’ll have to put Quilotoa onto the itinerary!
The village sounds lovely, exactly the type of place I like to visit!
We are so sorry to hear you got robbed, that must have completely disheartened you. But glad to hear you carried on with the travels and Quilotoa sounds lovely. We will be biking up that way eventually so we will have to check it out.
The tips are extremely helpful!!