VOLCANO COTOPAXI 18. September 2010

Saturday, I join a tour to Cotopaxi that was organized by the language school. A small, yellow school bus picked us up at 8 am. On the way to the Cotopaxi National Park we had a good view over Quito and passed through some some villages. The bus had to work hard to drive up to he mountain. We stopped a few times in between for good views of the snow-caped Cotopaxi and to buy gloves made of Alpaca wool.

When we got out out of the bus at 4,500 m (15,000 ft) it was cold and very windy. We got ourselves ready to walk up to the refugio (refuge) at 4,810 m (15,900 ft). We wind was very strong and it was quite difficult to walk against the wind. Forget about the altitude. Breathing was ok, but my heart was working hard. We all walk very slow but still had to stop every few steps. We really didn't walk that far but it took around an hour. It was an interesting experience and the view from the refuge was worth it. Once I got out of the freezing wind I noticed how cold I was. Somehow, walking uphill in the wind I didn't feel the cold too much. After lunch with a sandwich and hot chocolate at the refuge we made our way back down. It started snowing lightly but going down was very easy and fast. And much more fun than going uphill. On the way back we drove through some smaller streets in Quito's south. I'm sure it wasn't the fastest way but it was interesting to look at all the little stores, houses and people.

Views of Cotopaxi

 

Hiking up the steep trail to the refuge 

 

 

View over the valley

I made it to the refuge (not to the summit though, that's another 1000 m higher)

Random street scenes