Papallacta + Cotopaxi

I've been trying to check Ecuador's key highlights off my list. While several (including the Galapagos!!) will inevitably still remain to be seen, my hope is to make a decent dent before I leave. This, despite being mostly Quito-bound for various reasons during the week. Ecuador is renown for its widely (and wildly) diverse ecosystems and natural riches: its beaches and jungles, volcanos and cloud forests, lakes and hot springs. So far, I'd enjoyed some of these things at Mindo, the Ruta del Sol, and Otavallo and Cotachani. On the agenda for this - my 2nd to last weekend in Quito - my plan was to visit Papallacta on Saturday and the Cotopaxi volcano (at long last!) Sunday.

I'd signed up earlier last week for a day trip to Cotopaxi with the "Biking Dutchman" (who turned out to be a real man named Yan), but figured I could easily make it to Papallacta on my own. All I needed to do was reach the "mineral, crystalline, hyper thermal, hyper tonic, sulfate, alkaline terreous waters" of the thermal baths for which the tiny village of Papallacta is known, pay the entrance fee and soak in them. This did not require a guide.

There is also a certain satisfaction in figuring out how to get somewhere on your own as a non-tourist. A certain kind of enjoyment that comes with blending in with the locals. While taking the city trolley then the Papallacta bus by myself probably extended the trip by about 2 hours and was pretty tiring, it was worth it. At Quito's Quitumbe bus terminal I made the friendly aquaintace of a woman who was heading home to Banos and we chatted about New York and what I should do in Ecuador.

Then there was the bus itself. Papallacta is located southeast of Quito in the Cordillera de los Andes and the view through the window was of fluffywhite, cloud smattered peaks and perfectly green rolling hills. Getting off the bus, I rejected offers of a taxi ride up to the baths in favor of making the 2k ascent past Papallacta's houses, cows, and trout farms on foot. It had been a longer than anticipated journey since leaving La Floresta early that morning and I eagerly headed straight to the Spa upon my arrival for a long, hot soak - which I thought would be greatly enhanced by a massage.

In contrast to deeply relaxing, wispy green Papallacta, my day in Parque Nacional Cotopaxi was an adrenalin inducing head rush. Um, mountain biking is HARD. Though only Ecuador's second highest volcano, Cotopaxi is the country's most emblematic for the magnificence of its snowcapped glacial peak at 5900 meters. The tour I had signed up for entailed driving up to where this glacial ice began at about 4600 meters then biking our way down ~1500 meters and back out of the park... past open, gold green plateaus, one wide blue lake and herds of wild horses.

By the end of the day, we had biked 40 km and I had promptly fallen flat on my face within the first 10 minutes of my descent. Fortunately, I'd been riding really slowly on the winding dirt path when it happened so I merely toppled over and ate a lot of dust but was otherwise fine. My fellow bikemates - lovely couple Karina and John from San Paolo - were gracious enough not to laugh until much later in the van back to Quito.

I'm glad I've been able to broaden my experience of Ecuador a substantial amount further in just two days -that's what I call a gratifying weekend. Now, I am thoroughly exhausted and going to bed. Hasta manana!