Cotopaxi - The Adventure

Since the pictures are posted and the trip has been mentioned, I believe the adventure to, at, and from Cotopaxi deserves a posting. With 9 other teachers from CEC, I took a day trip last Sunday to Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi is a volcano that, on a clear day, you can see from Quito. Similar to the Riobamba trip, we sat on top of a train, but this time only for 2 or so hours (my body thanked me later).

The trip began early Sunday morning (ugh, 6 am wake-up) so that we could catch a trolley train to a bus (40 minutes long) to the ¨tourist¨ train that drops off near the volcano. I say ¨tourist¨ because the train´s main purpose is to deliver tourists to/from Cotopaxi. My flatmates Karen and Bryn and I were making good time on the trolley but then had major trouble finding the bus. Without much information as to where to go (typical Ecuador style), we ended up walking around in confusion (up and down hills) trying to find the bus we needed for the train. After walking some time, Karen stopped a bus driver and asked him how to get to the train. Ah ha, we found the bus we needed and jumped abroad.

40 minutes or so later, the bus driver yelled at us to get off. As we got off the bus, we heard a train horn and saw the train tracks. Without tickets, we made a run for it and jumped atop the train. We found the others and were on our way (paid a little extra on the train but what can you do?). The nice ¨short¨ train ride (in comparison to Riobamba) to the station near Cotopaxi Park included conversations with kids who were curious about the gringa (me!).

Upon arriving, the 10 of us discovered it would take another ride in a truck to get to the park. So we jumped in the back and off we went. Riding in the open bed of the truck, we had a windy and cool ride to the park. After some negotiating about park entrance fees (didn´t have my national ID card yet), we all were able to pay the $2 national entrance fee (instead of $10). Finally, we arrived at about 5000 meters on Cotopaxi, and the driver said we had about 45 minutes to climb to the refuge. Oh boy, was it windy and difficult but a great challenge! We only made it about halfway to the refuge and had to turn back so we could make the train back.

The ride back to the train station felt faster but not fast enough. As we were pulling up, the train was honking and starting to move. The 10 of us made a run for it and one teacher jumped aboard an empty car. Others began to jump on and then pulled others on. The train wasn´t moving very fast but it was a hilarous process to watch. We all made it aboard safely and decided to sit in the shady car rather than on top of the train in the heat.

What an amazing day - I need a nap!