6 days

Walking across the border from Colombia to Ecuador was super easy and quick. One of the best parts of being in Ecuador is that they use the USD so it was easy to figure out how much cash to withdraw at the ATM.

Otavalo

Eat:

• Balcon de Imbabura – SUCH SWEET PEOPLE!
• The Pie Shop – O.M.G. I’ll be dreaming about these pies for the rest of my life.
• At night, the market square (where the Plaza de Ponchos is) turns into the local grub spot where food venders set up for the night and they have some good street food options.
• Pachimama: quinoa encrusted shrimp and natural sweet and sour sauce made of piña
• Taco Bello
• La Taberna
• Hacienda Pinsaqui Hosteria – this hacienda is a historical site with great food, tons of horses and ducks. Definitely on the fancy side.

Stay: at the Flying Donkey

Love:

• Plaza de Ponchos – Otavalo Market. This is where we did all of our souvenir shopping since it was the end of our 4.5 month trip and there wasn’t too much travelling left to do.
• We looooved the vibe of the market square at night! There are people playing Andean music, there’s street food, families out with their babies wrapped up in Andean sweaters and beanies and lots of cute dogs running around.
• If you are in the market for some leather, you can take a cab to Cotacachi for Calle 10

Banos

This is your destination if you are seeking adventure and action. There are tons of activities to do like white water rafting, waterfall rappelling, etc. But when we were there, we did the exact opposite.

Each morning we had tea and relaxed at Arte cafe & te. This was a cute cafe that served all kinds of teas. They also had pastries, little desserts and chocolates. Different books to read and good wi-fi.

This town had a lot of massage spots so we chose a couples massage over river rafting. And spent some time in the hot springs near the mountain. The best time to go is super early in the morning or at night.

We loved hanging out at the Stray Dog. This bar had funny home brews, good bar food and was the only place in town playing the MBA finals. We met a lot of Americans here including someone who lived in Long Beach!

The Leprechaun Bar is fun at night because they have a giant fire pit in the courtyard, food and is where most of the backpackers party.

We stayed at the Erupcion Hostel which was on a corner and overlooked the town. It was connected to a restaurant as well which had pretty good food.

On the main street you’ll find most of your food options and there was one spot a few blocks away that was always packed but I didn’t write down the name…

On our last night in Banos we ate at the Bambu steak house that had excellent service and tasty food to match.

Quilotoa

Quilotoa lake is at the bottom of an extinct volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes. Aim to get here early in the day so that you can take your time here and leave before sundown because it is freezing!

We left our stuff at a hostel/restaurant while we hiked down the volcano which took 45 minutes, I think. Then, you can either hike back up or ride a mule to the top.

We had a warm dinner at Hostal Chukiawa, where we left our bags, before we took the next bus to Quito.

 Quito

We were not in Quito for long but we had a ton of fun exploring this town! We stayed at the Magic Bean which was a really nice hostel with giant wooden bunks and dressers. They also had a pretty good restaurant attached to it with good breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

Foch Square is super fun with lots of sports bars that had open, outdoor seating and cute shops and restaurants.

We found a free walking tour with another popular hostel in the other side of Quito (old town) where you can visit the President’s house, La Ronda and most importantly, visit the giant food market. This market had produce on the first floor and amazing Ecuadorian food on the second floor. We ordered from the spot in the back corner and their fish soup is a MUST. There were also lots of fresh jugos and unique flavors like moro y coco. Super delish.