Itinerary:
DAY 1: ARRIVAL TO QUITO
Arrival to Quito, where you will be met at the airport by our guide and transferred to your hotel. Overnight.
DAY 2: QUITO CITY TOUR – COTOPAXI PROVINCE
This day you will visit the colonial site of Quito where you will walk through the Main Plaza. Visit the Government Palace, the Cathedral and some of the most important churches built around the XVI and XVII centuries. After this visit our guide will drive you to a local restaurant where a delicious typical lunch will be waiting for you.
In the afternoon you will.
DAY 3: COTOPAXI: THE HIGHEST ACTIVE VOLCANO OF THE WORLD
After a delicious breakfast, your horses will be waiting for you for a horseback riding trip visiting the foothills of Rumiñahui Volcano, riding side by side with herds of wild horses and bulls, you will wear the typical clothes of the “Chagra” the person in charge of looking for the cattle like a cow boy.
Return to the main house where a delicious lunch will be waiting for you and in the afternoon you will visit Cotopaxi National Park, where if the weather conditions permit, you can admire the impressive Cotopaxi Volcano (5,897 mts. 19,342.16 ft). Then you can walk around Limpiopungo lake located in the base of the volcano where you can enjoy of the flora and fauna. Late in the afternoon our guide will drive you to a local hacienda where you will diner and overnight.
DAY 4: INDIGENOUS MARKET – QUILOTOA LAKE
Early in the morning after breakfast depending on the day of your tour you can visit an indigenous market, where you will see how the local people trade their products, (on Sunday and Wednesday: Pujilí Market; on Thursday: Saquisilí market and on Saturday: Zumbahua market). Then you will visit Quilotoa Lake, on route you can stop in Tigua a small town where you can find amazing handicrafts made by animal skins and beautiful and colorful masks that represent some local animals.
Finally you will arrive to Quilotoa Lake where if you want and if the weather conditions permit you can walk down from the border of the crater to arrive to the lake, time to visit the area and go back walking, or if you prefer it is possible to hire mules to return. You will enjoy of a delicious box lunch on route. Arrival to the top and then our guide will drive you to Chimborazo province where you will overnight in Hill Star Refuge located in the base of Chimborazo volcano, in Hacienda La Andaluza or Santa Isabella Hotel.
DAY 5: RIOBAMBA – CUENCA. DEVIL’S NOSE TRAIN – INGAPIRCA
Early in the morning, after breakfast your guide will drive you to the Alausí train station located at 2 hours to the south of Riobamba, where you will take the train that goes through the old railroad that was built in the early nineteen hundreds to go to the famous Devil’s nose*. This route got its name for its zigzags movements in the hills.
At the end of your train adventure, your guide will be waiting for you in Alausí town from where you will continue with your trip to the Ingapirca ruins, box lunch on route. These ruins are the best and most important Inca archaeological site in Ecuador, Ingapirca that means “walls of the Inca” is located in the province of Cañar, about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Cuenca. In the afternoon you will depart to Cuenca, time to rest and walk close to your hotel, overnight.
DAY 6: CUENCA CITY TOUR – QUITO – INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT
After breakfast our guide will be waiting for you at the lobby of your hotel in order to explore the city. You will walk through magnificent churches, beautiful old buildings with wrought iron balconies and carved wooden doors, flower and handicrafts markets, art galleries, workshops and all the wonders that Cuenca, with its colonial style and pleasant atmosphere, offers to its visitors. You will also ride along the Tomebamba River admiring the ancient houses perched on the riverbank above. Also you can visit some modern neighbourhoods and enjoy of a panoramic view of the city from the vantage point of Turi. After that our guide will drive you to a local restaurant where you will enjoy of a delicious typical lunch. Late in the afternoon you will be transferred to the airport in order to catch your flight back to Quito. At Quito’s airport a local guide will meet you and assist you to international departures for your international flight home connection.
(B.L)
