Farewell Latacunga

This view from our hostel window is perhaps a little misleading as far as demonstrating Latacunga to those of you back home. I will admit that in order to take it, I had to stretch out of our 5th floor window and zoom in to exclude the other more common, and less picturesque buildings, in view. Latacunga sits at the base of Cotopaxi and has in fact been destroyed by her eruptions, and subsequently rebuilt, three times over the course of time. The history of the town is therefore not all that old and the buildings that do stand represent a real mix in architectural style an age. Latacunga itself does not feature heavily on the tourist/backpacker trail other than as a gateway to Cotopaxi National Park and the starting point for the treks that are frequently undertaken in the area. Arriving by bus from Banos along the Pan-American Highway, Latacunga appears split both by the highway itself and the Rio Cutuchi river. It is a busy market town that clearly thrives on local trade out of the several bustling markets (see Simon's pictures for a taste of the market in full swing) quite unlike the relaxed and rather touristy Banos.

This time my Spanish had paid off and again we had successfully reserved the correct hostel for the correct number of nights.! The hostel is exactly as described by the Lonely Planet in that it is cheap, clean and the owners are friendly. Predictably though it lacks any sort of character which is a shame after our stay at the very pretty hostel in Banos. What the Lonely Planet failed to point out is the fact that the hostel is in an extremely noisy location and we were kept awake long into the night by car horns, shouting and one very irritating barking dog which even our earplugs failed to quieten.

Luckily we'd picked up a leaflet in Quito about a recently opened backpackers hostel and cafe in Latacunga which we hot-footed our way to immediately after check in. We've spent quite a bit of time there since and it has provided a welcome haven from the hustle and bustle of this town, along with good coffee, delicious cookies and a helpful owner.

I'm sure that this post will differ wildly from Simon's...we really are in the same place, I promise! This is the kind of town that makes me feel a little homesick...not much to do or see and a feeling of treading water until we move on to our next destination.

Latacunga has been interesting but is not somewhere I'd hurry back to. On the plus side...we're off to the Black Sheep Inn tomorrow, where our room has a wood burning stove; there are no roads; we'll eat great vegetarian food (I certainly need that after today's market experience) family style with the other hostel residents; we can take beautiful walks and we can enjoy Christmas. Apparently they do have internet so hopefully we'll be able to write all about it. Stay in touch, I love reading the blog comments and receiving emails.

Sarah x