After the communal breakfast we quickly packed up to get on the trail.  It was another beautiful day and the hike was great.  The scenery was a little different from the previous two days and it wasn’t very steep...until the last hour.  We enjoyed crossing the river and hiking low in the valley.  The last hour was pretty awful.  Straight up.  The donkeys were the friendliest animals and our favorite!  When the local kids see you coming they come running!  Sometimes they ask for your name, most of the time they ask for candy, and sometimes money.  We had a bag of caramels ready for them!  It took us only 3 1/2 hours to do the 8 miles this time.  Once we arrived in Chugchilan we checked into Cloud Forest Hostel and got some lunch, water, and ice cream.  This place is only a couple of bucks cheaper than the last, but is way less nice.  We walked around the small town and saw some local kids collecting bees in coke bottles.  We relaxed until the communal dinner, which was surprisingly good.  It was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and half a canned peach.  It’s the first time we have had canned fruit on this trip.  We haven’t even seen it being sold in the stores.  We saw a skinny dog sleeping by the bushes so we snuck it in our room to warm up(on the extra bed in our room).  Tomorrow will be the final day of our hike.

After the communal breakfast at the hostel we went for a short walk around town.  We were going to do a cheese making tour, but it was closed on Sundays.  We decided we would do a hike recommended by the hostel.  It was a beautiful hike, but was a little more than we needed.  It was very steep and we were needing more of a rest day.  We did get to see a lot of animals, which is my favorite part.  It took us 4 hours to complete.  We had lunch when we got back and then took some time to relax.  It is hard to relax without Wifi because there is always research to be done for the next destination.  Dinner was better this night than the last.

Today is the first day of the Quilotoa loop hike.  There are only 2 morning buses to the tiny town of Sigchos from Latacunga so we decide to take the 6 AM to beat the crowd.  The bus ride was about.  2 hours.   Once we arrived we ate breakfast at a small cafe before starting the hike.  The typical local breakfast is usually coffee, juice, bread, and cheese.  Sometimes it comes with butter and marmalade. If you're really lucky it includes eggs.  It's usually a great deal at around $2-3 each.  We walked through the lazy town and eventually found the trailhead.  The views were instantly amazing.  We also had great weather this day, which is always welcome.  The trail was sometimes a dusty dirt road and sometimes a small footpath.  It wove up and down hills, through pastures, around small farms and homes, and ended in Isinlivi.  It took us 4 hours to hike the 8 miles.  Isinlivi is an even smaller town than Sigchos.  We checked into Llullu Llama Mountain Lodge.  It is our new favorite hostel!  For $20 a night per person it includes breakfast, dinner, yoga, a jacuzzi, animals, and an amazing view.  They were kind enough to give us our own private(ish) room for the same price.  We immediately decided we wanted to stay two nights.  We had a couple drinks at happy hour and met a lot of nice people.  We met an older couple who were traveling the pan American highway in a Honda Element.  He gave us a tour and it made us very jealous.  We both miss the freedom of having our own vehicle.  We also met Lisa and Claus from northern Italy.  They are on the tail end of their year long trip together.  The four of us had a nice chat about the hard parts of traveling long term.  We also met a couple who were biking through South America.  A bunch of us went in the jacuzzi and I'm surprised we did.  It smelled really bad and the water was a muddy brown color.  Once we noticed the blue paint from the walls on our skin we decided to get out.  Everyone sat down and enjoyed dinner together.