Quilotoa — Local services in Chugchillan

This lake is amazingly beautiful but the view is so much more rewarding if you reach it on the popular Quilotoa Loop trek. We did the three day route from Sigchos meaning that the lake was the main event and highlight to all of our hard work. Unfortunately, most people visit the town of Quilotoa only by bus or tour, which only exposes them to one view from the only touristy part of this whole area and they miss all of the surrounding scenery and culture.

This trek is really easy for anyone to do along and certainly does not require a guide or expensive tour. With several very comfortable hotels along the route, there is no need to lug a bunch of camping gear and you always have a nice shower after a long hike. In fact, we found the hotels along the way more comfortable and better values than most in Ecuador.

Getting to Sigchos is easy from Latacunga. There are several direct buses leaving from the terminal which take two hours. We got on the 8:00am bus which costs $2 which had plenty of seats available. We started our trek around 10:00 and made it to Isinlivi by late lunch. In fact, the distances are short enough where you could double up a day and make it all the way to Quilotoa on the full classic route in only two days.

In Isinlivi, we did not stay at the super popular Llama hostel. The one next door is also extremely comfortable with good food and even cheaper. Dinner and breakfast included for just $15 a person in a private room / bath in shoulder season (may have to share a room in peak season). This was the same structure for our second night in Chugchilan at Cloud Forest.

In our opinion, the first day is the least scenic and could be skipped if not interested in three days of trekking, although starting in Isinlivi wouldn’t save time because you can’t get there by bus until afternoon (if you are a fast hiker you could still make it to Chugchilan this day).

The third day is the most beautiful. But be aware, the rim of the crater is very very windy and the trail often is narrow and sketchy. We were almost blown off our feet. The combination of high winds and trail conditions near the cliff have caused deaths in the past. We hiked the western rim to the town only which is less dangerous. The going opinion from our hotel hosts was that the longer eastern rim is too dangerous in windy conditions. We didn’t do it so can’t confirm, but can state that the supposedly less risky side is still precarious.

It is easy to get back to Latacunga after the hike. There are several buses which make the two hour journey each day. We caught the 3:00pm bus, which is supposedly the last of the day, and made it back to get our bags by dinner time. We even managed to catch a bus to Riobamba that night by transferring in Ambato.

We hope this helps. It isn’t a hard hike although the trail can be tricky to find at times. Keep your gps app handy. If you want more detail about the exact route with distances, elevations and times, feel free to reach out to us. Or you can search our name, Career Break Adventures and Quilotoa Loop to find a detailed walkthrough. Good luck and...

It is a marvelous adventure, we arrived there with my 13th years old son and it was amazing for all of us, on our way down we took 1 hour to arrived to the crater, it was not that hard even if it was 8pm, at 9.15pm we put out tent and eat a little bit. A looot of wind at night (secure well your tent!), you will find a few dogs over there but harmless. And in the morning we woke up with a beautiful landscape! amazing!, you can use little boats, drink canelazo, but you will have to take with you food, there's no food down there. You can do trekking (walk around the crater aprox 4hrs), explore the surroundings, there a culumpio there too. On our way up you will have 2 options, go up by horse/burrito ooooor walk to the top, of course we choose to walk, but I'm not in that good shape right now and it was really hard and for my son was reaaaally exhausting. If you love nature, you need to go...

Quilotoa is the perfect place for camping. The weather is not extreme (even in winter). Moreover, there is plenty of activities to do for one to two days stay. If you prefer you can just camp on the border or at the bottom of the lake and relax or you can walk around the lake for 4 to 5 hours. There are also acceptable food and accommodation services close to the lake if you prefer not to camp. The place is also well connected to the closest city, Latacunga. There are available buses regularly every day from 8am to 5pm. The route from Quito by using public transportation is: Quito - Latacunga- Quilotoa. You must get off the bust in the last stop in Quilotoa and you walk from 5 to 10 minutes to the lake. You do not need to take another bus or...