TWO DAY TRIP
Trekking to Crater Quilotoa & Indian Market Zumbahua

DAY 1 :
A few minutes after leaving Quito at 6:00 am, we make a short stop on the mountainside to take in a bird's-eye view of Quito and its surrounding volcanoes. We then take the Panamericana highway south along the famous AVENIDA DE LOS VOLCANES (Avenue of the Volcanoes), where we may see the volcanoes Atacazo, Corazon, Pasachoa, Antisana, Ruminahui, and Cotopaxi. This route, which travels through the mountain ranges of the Ecuadorian sierra, offers the opportunity to see beautiful rural landscapes, including corn, bean and potato farms, which produce the staples of the local diet.

We pass by the small agricultural town of Machachi and the highlands of Cotopaxi at 3600 m above sea level.

We continue southbound passing the town of Lasso, where locals offer a variety of typical foods from the sierra, and arrive in the medium-sized city of Latacunga to visit its Indian Market and discover its colonial buildings.

Next we will be passing by Pujili another traditional Indian pueblo, famous for its Danzante festivals.

We continue to the highlands of Paramo, reaching up to 3800 m with an amazing and multicolour landscape, where you will see the "choza" mud huts typical of the indigenous villages and farms of the region.

The road winds through a patchwork of farm fields where potatoes, onions, beans and corn are grown. You will also often see llamas along this road. Along the way, we stop to visit the Indian Market of Zumbahua, one of the most authentic Indian Markets of Ecuador, and can get a glimpse of the indigenous lifestyle of this region. After Zumbahua, we will take a break to enjoy lunch and take a short walk around the area.

In the evening, we have a typical dinner in the nice small village of CHUGCHILAN, where we also are going to spend the night.

DAY 2 :
On Sunday, we set off after breakfast to visit the impressive QUILOTOA CRATER, an extinct volcano crater which holds a vivid green lake. The impressive QUILOTOA CRATER has a diameter of 2 km and a depth of 500 m from the crater's rim!

From here there are two options:
· A 30 minute walk down to the pristine lake, with a steep 1 ½ hour return climb (through the "ecological taxi" option of ascent by mule is also available for an additional USD 3.00), or
· A breathtaking 5 hour walk around the edge of the crater, where you will discover communities living in an unforgiving climate and landscape.

After the walk, we will enjoy a picnic which consists of typical food from the region. We then drive to the small town of PUJILI to visit its Sunday market. Later in the afternoon we will return to Quito and should be back by 7pm.