:)

Still here, YT and GT! Just getting caught up today. Ecuador sounds beautiful. Sorry to hear you were under the weather - hope you're feeling better.

I'm very much intrigued by your descriptions of Ecuador, yestravel, especially with all the natural beauty you describe. I have thoughts about Colombia for a quick getaway; perhaps I should think Ecuador.

Thanks, YG. I hear decent weather in DC...yay to that:). I was fine as soon as we left the 10,000+ altitude

Tp- both countries are beautiful. We have spent our time in the Andean highlands and as I have written, it is impressive scenically. I think you expressed interest in hiking and opportunities abound in Ecuador. Most are moderate to difficult. And as I have mentioned the altitude plays a role in making a relatively easy hike, a bit more difficult, for a quick getaway, you'd be happy in either I think. Maybe see which has better air deals and direct flights.

TP- just saw you are a fellow DC'er. Avianca had some great fares to Bogota, direct and about 5 hours. Our flight home from Quito on Avianca is a bear. Leaves at 5:20 am thru Bogota. Perhaps other airlines have better times..

Thanks yestravel. Appreciate the comparison. And you are correct that it's warmer now in DC; 60 today.

<b>What to do with 4 Nights & 3.5 Days in Latacugna?</b>

We arrived in Latacugna on a quiet Sunday afternoon. The whole town seemed shuttered and the streets empty. We easily found our hotel, Villa de Tacvnga, and checked in and then the comedy of errors began. We noticed our top floor room had a dubiously stained bedcover. We asked for new one which took quite a lot of doing to accomplish. However after sitting in the room for a bit I started noticing a loud flapping sound coming from the rooftop. We asked to be changed to a second floor room only to discover that the stained coverlet had preceded us. We asked the kindly cleaning staff to once again switch the coverlet which eventually they did.

We had 4 nights now in Latacugna due to schedule shifting as we traveled. How to fill those days was a bit of predicament since Latacunga, although not an unpleasant town, didn't offer much in the way sites beyond serving as a launching town for Cotopaxi National Park and the Quilotoa loop which we had already done.

The first morning we woke up to some drizzle so delayed any potential excursion to Cotopaxi. We spent the day doing chores, dropped off our laundry, interviewed various tour agencies & returned our rental car to the Avis office in Ambato. We took the bus back from Ambato for the grand sum of $1.25. We were dropped off by the bus on the Pan American highway at Paso Lateral.

One bit of logistics that needed to be worked out while in Latacugna, was getting to our last stop, Ali Shungu Mountaintop Lodge in Otavalo. We had read to go by bus one must change terminals in Quito. The terminals are on opposite ends of the city and can take a bit of a drive to get from one to another if traffic is bad as it usually is in Quito. Prices for drivers were rather high and keeping our rental car also expensive. One of the local hostels told us about the Cita Express that bypasses Quito on its way to Ibarro. You pick it up at the Pan American Highway at Paso Lateral. This seemed like the best solution for, us although I was not thrilled to stand on a busy highway with a suitcase waiting for a bus. On our last night in Latacunga we met two more Canadian women who told us about a driver they were hiring for their quite extensive driving the next day for what sounded like a reasonable rate. We went to their travel agency they recommended, Neiges, and sure enough we could get a driver for $100 for the 5 hour drive to Otavalo. A real bargain compared to other rates we had been quoted, but significantly more than the bus. Now at least we had an alternative if we decided against the bus.

For our day to Cotopaxi we used Greivav Travel Agency. All the prices ($40 pp) were the same at each place we checked. We picked Greivav because he actually pulled out a map and showed us where we would be going and what we would see. (Note that guides are required in all National Parks in Ecuador.) The next day we walked around the corner from our hotel to Greivav TA and met our tour guide and the other couple, 2 Israelis, who would be going with us. Off we went to the Cotopaxi National Park.

Thanks for posting this YT. We will be travelling the same route and a few months and have no great wish to return to Quito so nice to know there are alternatives.

Have your read about he activity with Tungurahua near Banos?
http://www.newsweek.com/ecuadors-tun...-erupts-433008

just caught up on your adventures. guess we are near the end, but waiting to hear about it. btw, loved gotravel's use of "desultory." what a perfect descriptor.

Thanks for following along, Alison. Hope to wrap this up shortly.

Just catching up on your trip and still enjoying it enormously.

Some of your descriptions of the fabulous mountainous scenery sound much like what we encountered in southern Colombia. We were very interested to read about both the driving conditions and the walking, and thanks for posting pricing too.

Ecuador sounds more expensive than Colombia if the Black Sheep Inn is $80 per person?

I smiled when I read you were thinking about the bus but were leaning towards the driver, which way did you go? We thought we'd take the bus for one leg of our last trip and ended up in a taxi ;).

Tripplanner, you may have seen this but just in case... we did some great hiking in Colombia
http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2016/...ombs-from.html
http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2016/...hiking-to.html

While Ecuador is not expensive relative to USA prices, compared to Colombia it seemed so pricey. Colombia was unbelievably inexpensive. I thought Black Sheep Inn expensive, really overpriced. We stayed at the fabulous Ali Shungu Mountain Lodge in Otavalo. It also included meals & was much nicer that BSI, for about the same price. Everywhere else we stayed in Ecuador was much less $$. Meals were also inexpensive.

Those buses killed my back. I'm still recovering. We went with the driver from Latacunga to Otavalo which was a good 5 hours drive. If we had to do it over we would have rented a car in Quito and kept it until the end of the trip. Driving was no problem and as I said great roads in general.

Hope to finish this up eventually -- got some house stuff going on.

YT. - how was the drive from Latacunga to Otavalo? Did you make any stops on the way? Thinking of doing the same thing in May on our way into Colombia (we have no great desire to return to Quito).

Is this the agency you used:
Nieges
Plaza de Santo Domingo
Guayaquil 6-25 y Quito
LATACUNGA

How the back??

Once you get on the other side of Quito it became very scenic. It was a long drive around Quito, maybe an hour or so. We went on one road where the driver went inside a bldg to ask if the road was open, so not sure what that was about. I would say of all the drives we did, this was my least favorite. We didnt make any stops along the way. I just wanted to get to Otavalo and out of a car! Nieges is who we used for the driver to Otavalo. I think that is the correct address based on looking at a map.

Thanks for asking -- Back is better, but still not 100%.

Hi yestravel, just checking in here after seeing you on the Australia forum--love how we Fodors folks pop up around the world. I'm so glad you liked Miguel as a driver/guide in Cuenca--we did too. I was really affected by his hard story of getting to the U.S. and then finally returning home to Ecuador. And it sounds like you enjoyed Ali Shungu in Otavalo as well, which we loved. (I recommended it to a friend who wasn't that impressed, which made me question whether I should ever recommend anything to anybody!) I hope you finish your report, though I know how much time it takes.

Hi! That was quite the story from Miguel. And we absolutely loved Ali Shungu. Frank was fabulous. He's actually from our area so we had a lot in common in terms of growing up in the DC environs. He did say that business has been down this year and last and he's going to convert to vacation rentals instead of being a lodge. They were fixing one of the villas to accommodate this.

Yestravel Guided by your experience, I booked us into Casa Montavalo in Cuenca. Great choice! Now ff to check out your Colombia TR for similar recs!

First of all, can't belive the hikes you have done -- very impressive and gorgeous.

Great -- lovely owner -- she used to be an attorney and gave it up to run the inn. Her friend who we met, Valentin, just called us the other night. Say Hi to her -- maybe she remembers us as the couple from DC who she had dinner with with Valentin...or not! Have fun!

forgoto to suggest tryng the Mexican restaurant around the corner, El Pedrecal Azreca on Estevez De Toral 8-60 y Bolivar. It was a welcome change for us from Ecuadoran food. Sonja had recommended it.