Cotacatchi is a town about 7 km from Otavalo. It cost us 25 cents to go there on the bus from Otavalo. We went there to stay with a new friend we met through an international travel exchange we belong to. Marcelo lives very near the center of the town, a block from the town plaza. We stayed with him for two nights.
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| In Marcelo's garden |
Laguna Cuicocha is a crater lake about 5 kilometers from town on the flank of the Cotacatchi volcano. It has two islands in its center that are vaguely shaped like guinea pigs, which is why the lake is called Cuicocha (cuy is guinea pig in the Kichwa language, and cuy are raised to be eaten). We hiked part way around the crater rim trail and saw many interesting plants, including orchids.
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| At Laguna Cuicocha |
Cotacatchi is know for leather work, with 120 leather shops. We spent part of an afternoon shopping, though we didn't buy much due to our limited suitcase capacity. The leather work was of high quality and very reasonably priced.
From Cotacatchi we went by bus through mountainous countryside almost entirely in cultivation.
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| Cultivated fields as we left Cotacatchi |
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| Between Cotacatchi and Tulcan |
The road had many switchbacks as we went higher and higher up the mountains to Tulcan, the northern Ecuadorian border city. There we stopped to change money and get something to eat before going to the border to exit Ecuador and enter Columbia. Evanna kept track of the bags in the square, while Kathy went to the bank. She soon returned and said that banks don't change money, that you have to go to a money changer on the opposite corner. As she approached the corner she could see a couple of men with great wads of bills in their hands. There were a couple of police men walking in front of her and she asked them where the money exchange was. They pointed to one of the men and indicated that he was the money exchange. He gave a decent enough rate and allowed Kathy to count the money before she handed over the US cash.
We took a taxi to the border where we had to wait in a long line to get our Ecuador exit stamp. We ate our take-out lunch while we waited. Once we had our stamp we walked, wheeling our bags, over the bridge across the river that forms the boundary between Ecuador and Colombia. On the Colombian side we stood in a very short line and got our entry stamp. The taxi from the border to the city of Ipiales was fast and in Ipiales we got on a bus for the second half of the journey over more mountainous roads to the city of Pasto.
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| Looking down the steep cliff alongside the road |
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| More steep drop offs. The bus wheels were about a foot from the edge in many places, and no guard rails! |
In Pasto we stayed two nights at the most luxurious hotel of the trip. It was also among the most expensive hotels of the trip. They staff at Casa Lopez was very accommodating and brought us coffee and hot chocolate when we arrived, quite stunned from our long bus ride. They also put hot water bottles in our bed when they turned the covers down for the night, and left us a package of biscuits. The local people thought the weather was very cold, but we just put our fleece sweaters on over our tank tops and were quite warm.
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| The guest lounge at the Casa Lopez |
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| Casa Lopez was formerly a colonial mansion and was full of antiques and beautiful woodwork |
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| Our bedroom at Casa Lopez |
Lago de la Cocha is a lake about 45 minutes by taxi from Pasto over a mountain pass. We went there in a collectivo, a kind of shared taxi, only this one was an ancient small pick-up truck with a crew cab. We shared the collectivo with Diego, Lilian and Ramiro. Unfortunately Ramiro was drunk and continued to drink during the journey. Fortunately Diego spoke very good English and Lilian could understand much of what we said and could speak some English as well. Diego is a pianist and music teacher at the local University and Lilian teaches music theory and is a composer in Bogota. When we got to the lake we quickly left Ramiro behind and joined Diego and Liliane in hiring a boat to take us across to the island in the lake.
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| On the boat with Lilian and Diego |
The boat traveled from the collectivo stop through a canal, past many restaurants serving lunches of Trucha (rainbow trout), and out into the lake. The weather was overcast with a bit of drizzle, so the views of the hillsides around the lake were obscured by mist. On the island there is a church and a short nature trail to a mirador on the opposite side of the island. We hiked to the mirador and back, then the boat took us on a tour around the island before going back to shore and to the restaurants. We selected a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the canal and lake and ordered our lunch. We had a lovely time talking with Diego and Lilian over lunch and during the drive back to Pasto. Diego offered his assistance with anything we might need during the remainder of our time there, which we did not require, but for which we were very grateful.
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| The restaurants along the canal |
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| The trail on the island |
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| With Lilian at the Mirador |
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