We stay one day in Latacunga after driving through the Valle Hermoso. The city lies at the foot of Cotopaxi, the second highest mountain in Ecuador at 5897 meters and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.

Just this morning, according to the news, there was a small eruption that rained ash on the cities of Quito and Mejía.

During the day, the mountain is mostly hidden in the clouds, but it is said to be visible more often in the evening. I wait and am rewarded.

Day 8 without a Breakdown

The city has a beautiful old core and colonial style buildings. It’s quiet even if it’s Saturday. The city is small. We are looking for a restaurant to find the traditional dish chugchucaras. These are pork, potatoes, corn and bananas. Apparently there is no longer a recommended restaurant and we end up at the Mexican.

There we meet Cristina and her husband. She comes from Latacunga and gives us numerous tips. We also realize that we ate the chugchucaras we were looking for yesterday while wildly betting on a dish at a local eatery along the way.

The city is beautiful, but not particularly exciting. Tomorrow we will drive to the nearby national park and take a closer look at the Cotopaxi and all the other volcanoes along the volcanoe route. On Monday we will reach Quito.