Maud visited us in Ecuador. We took a break from the cycling, parked our bicycles at a Dutchmans campsite near Quito and took the bus into Quito.
Maud took a 12 hour flight from Amsterdam straight to Quito airport. We picked her up and took her to the Secret Garden Hostel in the town center. Here we had some acclimatization and resting days. Quito is the highest capital in the world and it will take some time to get used to the high altitude coming from sea-level as Maud did.
After Quito we moved on by minibus to Cotopaxi, one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. Near the volcano there is another Secret Garden Hostel in the middle of nowhere. One of the most awesome places we have bin so far. Around Cotopaxi we did a few hikes (in the rain) and we did ride horses.
From Cotopaxi we moved on to Baños. A laid back outdoor paradise. We stayed a few days for some biking and hiking.
Cuenca was our next destination. The second largest town of the country after Quito. A nice town, home to the Panama hats. After two nights we moved on to the coast. 🙂
Montañita at the coast is a surfers paradise. We stayed quite a few days for surfing, relaxing and hanging around. Our hostel up there was super chill with a lot of hammocks hanging around, chill music and a good vibe.
A nightbus took us back to Quito for the last few days of Maud's visit. Back in Quito we visited the market in Otavalo. A large colorfull market with loads of local handcrafts for sale for cheap.
We also took a sky ride to a nearby volcano at nearly 5000m. To be honest; the sky ride took us to 4100m, we had to hike the rest by ourselves 😉
We didn't make it to the top but at least we had a great time up there.
After Maud having in Ecuador for nearly three weeks it was time to say goodbye again... 🙁
The short story above in nearly 300 pics below, have fun watching:
Waiting for Maud at Quito Airport.
Straight from an 12 hour flight into a public bus in Quito was a little bit to much... Here we have a break and from here we walked further to our hostel.
Much better. Tea at the hostel with a great view over Quito.
Inside the hostel.
Next day: RAIN 🙁
Our guide for a city tour through the old centre of Quito.
At a Shamans house
The most important part of the tour; The Chocolate Factory 🙂
And yes, we did some tasting as well.
I don't know, maybe he was jealous about my digital camera? 😡
Street view from above.
Maria with wings... Why?
Salsa lessons
School kids
Dancing in the street
Some pink add on.
Dan Brown was here!
Yummie Yummie...
Tasting local food.
On to the market.
At the equator.
Off course with the well known tricks.
The water in the sink trick.
The egg on a nail trick.
We tricked this one 😀
The equator monument.
At the equator as well but no idea wat this exact was... and we didn't really care.
At Cotopaxi: Hiking time (in the rain)
Je bent zelf een Lama!!!
Nearly at the top.
At the top... we climbed for a few hours to get here at nearly 4400m.
The misty route down.
The Lord of the Rings route
Our Chef, thumbs up for the excellent cooking
Horse riding.
Maud on the right spot... the back of a horse.
Mister Guide
Mister Guide in traditional clothing
Small tracks
Climbing up
Horse Selfie
The Cotopaxi Volcano in a far distance
High speed over the fields
La Casa del Arbol famous swing. Baños.
You always can go faster and higher.
And higher
And faster...
Trekking down again to the town Baños
Mac. Doner sells Shawarma 😀
The mountains around Baños
And hiking further down into the valley.
Baños
I think he's dead.
The candy store
Cycling the waterfall tour in Baños.
An one kilometer zipline
Looks like Disneyland in the mountains.
Waterfall number???
At the end of the cycling day a truck picked us up to bring us back to Baños... This is real luxery for us. We're used to cycle everything, including the uphills. Backpackers are more lazy...
In the truck with the bikes.
Our hostel in Cuenca.
Street sellers sell handmade art.
View over the city
At a museum
Busride to the coast. The high Andes routes.
At the hostel in Montañita.
Beach life!
Foot Massage
Surfing lessons
My favorite spot.
Another bus back to Quito. Above the clouds.
Quito again.... by night.
Another tea.
Quito is high up in the mountains but you can go higher.
4100m is the base. From here you can hike up higher to volcanoes.
We hike up higher.
The Passenger...
Or our guide for today?
Quito far away
The Quito skyline from above.
Horses was an option again but we did hike.
Local food halfway up the mountain.
And another tea.
Toilet quote
Taking the busy public bus to the Otavalo market.
Colors colors colors.
The day after we dropped Maud at the airport and took a ride back to Arie, the Dutch campsite owner where our bikes where parked the last weeks. The day after Maud left we started cycling again into the Ecuador Amazon region to head south for Peru within a 1000km.
Will be continued...
Thanks for reading again,
Kim & Arjan
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