My plane landed in Quito Airport and already my heart began to race. I was slightly comforted by the wonderful customs agent before pouring out to baggage claim and patiently waiting. I didn't wait long but in those short minutes, I envisioned the worst. What would happen if my bag had not made it here? Would I have to spend the night in the airport, trying to explain my plight to people who spoke no english? Luckily, it flipped down the turnstyle and I swooped it up and stepped out onto the street. It felt like every person there was staring at me like I had horns. I tried to hide my belongings as I turned on my GPS and reached for my phone. I needed to call an uber to take me to a hostel where I would meet a friend, but to do that I needed to find Wi Fi. I asked around and everyone kept pointing to the street. I didn't understand but I walked further into the street and was able to connect. My uber arrived but spoke no english. He drove me deep into the city and, though it was dark, I was already fascinated. The contrast in elevation was something I had never experienced before. Our road would venture up only to see a road hundreds of feet below. As we got further downtown, the buldings, squeezed in between narrow streets, reminded me of Eastern Europe. Not a soul was out on the streets that night. He pulled up to a small door that read 'hostel' and helped me when I couldn't figure out the doorbell system. Finally, I was safe inside.
The next morning I woke up feeling excited. I was finally going to get to see the city in daylight. When we stepped outside I was amazed to see so many people filling the streets. It seemed like every person in Quito was outside that day. We walked all around the city, seeing the squares, tasting the food, and familiarizing ourselves with the language. We decided to head out of Quito that day so we grabbed our bags and headed for the bus. As we bought our tickets the vendor warned us to be careful with our belongings. We entered the waiting area and right away a guy followed me in and began standing extra close. I mentioned it to my friend who put himself in between us but I was still weary of this man. Right as I was about to put everything inside my backpack, our bus came and we shuffled on. It was incredibly crowded but I held onto my backpack on the floor for dear life. The creepy guy had made his way onto the bus and was standing right next to us. At first, I thought he was trying to sexually assault me by getting extra close and pretending to fall into me, at one point even puting himself between my friend and I. Luckily at the next stop, the bus cleared out a bit, including the creeper. Unluckily, I looked down to see my camera case was open and my cell phone was gone. The theif was long gone by then and I felt sick to my stomach for not realizing it sooner. I took solace in the fact that he hadn't taken my wallet which was right under my phone, or my camera which was right under that. I shook with rage as we tried to explain to the security guard what had happened. He just shrugged at us and we got back on the bus. Men were trying to give me their seats as I got back on but I had already written off all Ecuadorians at that moment. I just wanted to go home. Our bus arrived in our next city of Latacunga, we got off but I felt terrified and weary of everyone that looked twice at me. We found a really nice hostel and left our stuff to go find a cheap replacement phone. Most people were incredibly wonderful to us and my shell began to soften a bit. If anything, I had learned a really good lesson on how horrible the scum of the earth can be and to keep my stuff in better places. I truly believe in karma and that, that creepy man must have needed it more than I did, though a part of me still hopes he gets hit by a bus.
We had a wondeful evening in Latacunga and woke up the next morning to finally go hiking along the Quilotoa volcano. We took a bus up, away from the city. As it rounded each curve, the air got thinner and the buildings dissapeared. After the pass, a massive range of mountains stretched out before us. Canyons sprung out of nowhere and fell at least 200m in contrast to the steep peaks peppered throughout. The bus would make stops at dirt roads with no buildings in sight but people would unload and begin the long walk to wherever the next house was. School children were taken to their villages in the back of pick up trucks, bouncing along the only major road. We arrived at the town of Zambahua and jumped off the bus. The locals kept telling us to stay on the bus to Quilotoa and couldn't understand that we wanted to walk there. Again, all eyes were on us as we bought some papas fritas con juevo and headed down a dirt road out of town. After a while a few young school girls caught up with us and walked behind us, giggling. We continued down the road even after people began telling us it was not possible. We had a GPS that said it was, but we're getting weary of what to expect. A car came driving the other way and we piled in, not wanting to risk it getting dark before we got to a place to camp with water. It took us all the way back to Zambahua where we hopped on the bus to Quilotoa.
Before the bus got close, we entered a thick cloud with almost no visability. The bus driver kept honking his horn to signal other drivers but we still almost barreled into the back of a small SUV. We got dropped off and began walking through the cloud into the small town above the volcano. Children were everywhere, playing games, and people went on about their daily work even with the lack of vision. Knowing what we would see, we walked up to the viewpoint, nothing. It was much harder to breathe from up here and I labored to hike up the hill. With no view, we walked back down and checked in to a nearby hostel. While grabbing a coffee later that evening, my fingers began to go numb and my head felt like a balloon. I thought I was about to pass out. Nausea took over and I looked at my friend for help. Feeling a little bit like I was going to die, we returned to our room where I dug my inhaler out and took a few puffs. Immediately I felt more normal. The high altittude would bring a tough nights sleep of struggling to breath and a lot of congestion but when we woke up in the morning, the skies were clear and we could see the entire volcano with the lake deep below. We set out to hike around the ridge even though the wind was slightly concerning. The trail was really well maintained and we were partially blocked from the wind as we curved in and out of the ridge. As we walked, the clouds crept closer and closer to the crater; by noon we were fully engulfed. It was incredible to only get small glimpses of what we were walking around. We missed the turnoff and kept making our way around the crater before realizing and turning back. With how beautiful it was, the mistake didn't matter. We spent the rest of the day weaving our way down from the rim, through small villages perched on the side of steep slopes. Children screamed hello excitedly as we passed by and ran up to ask us where we're going and give us directions. We arrived to the town of Chugchillan late in the afternoon and checked into a cute hostel just as it began to pour. We were the only ones at the hostel that night and enjoyed a private dinner, a tea in the lounge, and a wonderful breakfast before leaving town.
