I didn't have a map neither much of an idea what Latacunga was like. To be honest I only went there because it was closest to the volcano Cotopaxi, which I wanted to visit.
When I arrived there was still light, but a little later it already started getting dark. I started askeing around for a hostel - the people were very friendly, but no one knew anything.
I felt lost and tired, and it was getting later and later. And I was hungry.
At some point I decided to cross the bridge to try my luck on the other side. I came out on a big plaza and was started to get hope again.
Then I found a cheap hostel, or rather a hotel, and I decided to stay. I left my stuff and payed the night, then I left to get something to eat, and when I left the builing I started feeling weird. The street was dark and it seemed to me that the strangest people were around here. I don't know if it was paranoia or reality, but I felt uncomfortable and kind of scared.
Around the corner I found another hotel, and as I found out that it only cost a tiny bit more and seemed a lot safer, I rushed back to the other place, got my stuff and changed room. Surprisingly I even got my money back.
After I settled in the other hotel I left again to get something to eat. I was starving.
I started walking around what seemed to be the city center, and my paranoia continued. It seemed like a really strange place to me - there were not many people around and the streets were dark. I hardly found any open restaurants. I didn't feel comfortable there, at night, all by myself.
Finally I found some street food. It was not what I was hoping, but I didn't care anymore.
I bought a filled potato, and then I returned to the big plaza. There I found a cheese empanada and something hot to drink.
I sat down on the little bench and started chatting with the woman selling. She was very nice and seemed like a mom, so I immediatly felt a little better. I stayed there a while, until she was about to leave her post, and then returned to the hotel to get some rest.
When I got up in the morning, the weather was foggy and rainy and cold.
I went to the market to get breakfast (the market was definitely the best thing about Latacunga, and the only thing I liked), but when I finished the weather still looked terrible.
Originally I wanted to go to the Cotopaxi volcano, but under those conditions my motivation to get up to 5000m was not very high.
I went to the bus terminal to see what other options there where.
By accident I came by a bus to a village called Zumbahua, the entering point to the Quilotoa loop, a crater lake.
The bus was about to leave, and I had to take a fast decision.
I ran back to the hotel, cleaned out my room and left my backpack at the reception. I wrote a fast message to my couchsurfing host-to-be that I would arrive earlier than planned, and then ran back to the bus terminal.
Of course the bus left late so I had PLENTY of time.
The ride was short, and the landscape - or what I was able to see through the fog - beautiful.
In the village I had to take a truck, which took me directly to the lake.
There was a lookout point where one could see the whole crater. There was a trail around it and one that lead down to the shore.
I didn't have time to go around it (it was a 5 hour hike), and the weather was still terrible. But I did go down to the shore where I ate a snack before going back up.
It was easy finding transport back to Zumbahua, and I ejoyed my time there, Most of all because it was market day, and there was a huge market with food, clothes and everything else.
I bought some food, a beautiful handmade headband and then sat down to eat.
The food was cheap and good, and I was happy that I had been able to see a more traditional part of Ecuador.
In the afternoon I took a bus back to Latacunga, got my stuff from the hotel and started my way to Quito.
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