Leave me breathless

Our camping trip to Cotopaxi National Park was......yeah, the words don´t exist. I´m tempted to go with incredible, insane, amazing, breath-taking, but those don´t even come close to justifying the experience we had.

We weren´t exactly well-prepared for this trip. After some speedy grocery shopping and packing, we finally made it to the bus station on Friday evening (we were supposed to leave at 2:30, but apparently that translated to 4, Ecuadorian time). So we hopped a bus headed for Cotopaxi National Park, kind of, and traveled through some ridiculous traffic.....FINALLY we were nearing the end of the ride, however there was no station in sight. So obviously, we just got dropped off in the middle of the PanAmerica highway in the middle of the night with all of our camping gear on our backs....and nowhere to camp. The park closes at 3 (it was around 7), and we were an hour drive away from the entrance. We took out a flashlight and started walking....I don´t know what I was hoping to find, but it was definitely scary. We saw some light, and walked toward it. We ended up talking to people and finding out that we were, in fact, very far away from the park, and that we would have to wait til the morning to get there. So we asked them if there was anywhere to camp, and they said they would let us camp on their land for five bucks....obviously we said ok.

Yeah, um, it was a farm. We literally set up our tent on a farm next to a pig pen, complete with a cute little piglet, and cows, and sheep and a really scary dog that barked all night. Whatever, it was perfect. We made some peanut butter and jelly and toasted some marshmallows over our campfire. We literally sat around the fire and sang whatever songs we could come up with...it was so fun. Then we went to sleep because we knew we needed to get up early the next morning to get to the park....and by went to sleep, I mean I stayed wide awake all night. Apparently a few of my friends are snory mcsnorepants, and between that and the dog and goats and the pigs, I had a little trouble falling asleep. Oh yeah...we were also close to a road and everytime a truck drove by, there was a terremoto (earthquake). So after a good night´s awake, we packed up our stuff and hired a driver to take us to the entrance of the park.

The drive to the entrance was amazing, bumpy, but amazing nonetheless. We decided to have him drop us off a little higher up so that we didn´t have to hike as far (THANK GOD) We stopped at this little plateau in the middle of the volcano and layered up. If any of us were missing the cold Wisconsin weather....we weren´t any longer. It was cold! I had to put on two pairs of pants and four shirts, plus mittens, a scarf, and my hood. Then the hike up to the glacier began...I wasn´t really exactly sure what we were in for...what I was in for was the most physically taxing, emotionally rewarding, and spiritually uplifting experience of my life. The altitude was nutso...I could barely breathe just standing there...oxygen wanted nothing to do with us at this point. We took like 7 steps up this vertical trek, and had to stop to take a break. And then another seven or eight steps, and another break. My lungs were screaming and I´ve never felt more out of shape in my entire life. This continued for the next hour and half or so til we reached the refuge...at 4,800 meters....then we went even higher and at more of an angle through a zona de avalanches (avalanche zone...ahh) until we reached the ice and snow at the glacier. Once again, there are no words...the view was insane, there were 360 degrees of pure beauty. We were above the clouds, we could see mountains, and snow, and volcanic ash, and gosh I don´t even know what I was looking at. I just know that I was literally breathless, and overwhelmed with so many thoughts going through my head. I just sat there and stared.

We were kind of rushed to make it back down in time to meet our driver who had ALL of our stuff, so it was pretty important that we were punctual, though I doubt he would have left us stranded. The way down was significantly easier, you just had to dig your heels in the ash. Needless to say my knees were totally shot-downhill/downstairs always kills them--I just tried not to recognize this, though. Once we reached the bottom, we clearly had to celebrate...and what better way than with some tequila...hahaha.

Finally we made it back down to the base of the volcano and hiked another half hour til we found somewhere to camp. Apparently we were camping illegally, but I´m finding this to be an extremely relative term here in Ecuador. We were in Laguna, or what I like to affectionately refer to as the Valley of Poop because honestly everywhere you stepped there was some form of animal feces....que yummy! Whatev...we set up camp and made a fire. We ate tasty little packets of vegetables, which were so good because we were so hungry. Then we managed to entertain ourselves by playing monkey in the middle with an apple, followed by some apple baseball. After the sun went down (and it was even colder) we went in the tent where the charades commenced...no literally...we played charades for hours...it was a blast. Oh, and I have to talk about the stars. I´ve never felt closer to the sky...the stars were like BAM in my face....super bright, just nutso. It was just so peaceful to be there...there was literally no one else around for miles, and it was amazing.

Okay, this is soooooo lengthy, I´m sorry. We packed up the next morning and our driver met us to take us to the train station to head back to Quito....so we got on the train, well actually it was the roof of the train. We put all our stuff inside, and climbed up to the roof of the train--are you serious??? It was so fun. So we´re just sitting like happy little gringos on the roof of a train and we go under a bridge...on top of the bridge was a little jokester with a bucket of water. As we passed, he dumped the whole bucket on us. We were both stupefied and entertained. I thought it was hilarious, and a little chilly, this ended up happening many more times as we passed through little towns where the people were getting the Carnaval kicks by throwing water on the roof-top riders. How funny! Carnaval is next weekend, and it is traditional to throw water on any and everyone. So we thought this was just ridiculous, and thought, well we should probably celebrate the insanity with some tequila....you´ll notice a common theme in our celebrations...all in fun though.

Alas, we arrived back to Quito after an incredible trip. Side note....none of the aforementioned things were planned...we really had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. The tranquility and easy-going nature of the country makes my heart very happy. Plus, I am very proud of my group of friends. We are always able to laugh and make the best of every situation. We have some crazy teamwork chemistry...always a bonus. Okay....enough enough...love you and miss you all...keep in touch! LOVE!