Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi - another secret garden hostel - 10/10.
Lovely views, Log fires, good atmosphere and the guys who work here Remy and Victor are bang on.
Becs has second thoughts when we are shown to our tent cabin which was alright if it was hot but we are on the side of a mountain and its not so hot.
The tent was comfty had a thick matress and loads of blankets but to hear all the other rooms had a log fire in them wasn't what you wanted to hear.

Then we went for a 2 hour hike to the waterfalls which was good as I was unprepared I had borrowed a pair of leave behind hiking boots (terry) As we going along i decided to go for it at one point only to lose my footing and ended up one foot in freezing cold stream. Nevermind it was only one foot and someone elses boot, becs on the other hand found it far too amusing reminding me at every chance how much of a plum i was for taking that on step too far.
There are a couple of dogs at the hostel and they come on the walk and hard to believe but they know the way and keep up with all the climbing and jumping from rock to rock.
The food here is good 3 meals a day and snacks cant go wrong. Now we are back we jump straight into the Jazucci. WOW what a feeling looking out at mountain landscape sitting in a roasting hot tub with an ice cold beer thats what I'm talking about the time spent saving at home is already paying off.....

day 2 at cotopaxi and we decided to go for a 7 hour hike to the summit on the second highest mountian behind the volcano.
This was like a practice run if you thought you were good enough to attempt the summit of cotopaxi (which Terry was thinking he was prior to this trek). the hiking included grassland, sand, marsh areas, and rocks. after 3 hours we were close to approching the summit. unfortunately the elements were not on our side - and very suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a snow blizard. the wind was so cold and strong, the snow so heavy you couldn't see where we were going and the rocks so slippery you could no longer hold on. Rimi, our guide gave us a choice whether or not to continue - but advised that we might be mad to carry on! the way down was not easy, given the adverse weather conditions. my hands were so cold and we had icicles hanging from our noses. later on it brightened up, and the rest of the hike was only painful because of the pressure downhill walking puts on your knees. at times the only thing that kept me going was the thought of the hot tub on our return. to my utter disaapointment the hot tub was out of action as it was being cleaned. a hot shower had to do instead.

day 3 and terry still undecided whether to do the climb to the summit of the volcano. we thought it would be a nice way to see more of the countryside to go on a 4 hour horse ride. the ride was really good once i have learnt how to control my horse which appeared to have a mind of its own and like to walk me into the branches of some really prickly trees. being a beginner at horse riding and wearing no helmet - was a little nervous of going too fast. this was not helped by terry, who every time he made his horse run - mine would try and compete and go just as fast. i thought i was going to die at one point when my horse decided to gallop - there was terry shouting to pull the reigns - but this was difficult when you are holding on for dear life!! i didnt die and fast learnt how to control the horse after that! in hindsight wearing denim shorts was not a clever idea. as i sit here writing, i have a huge graze on each buttock, wich is very sore and hurts to sit down - i cant wait fot the bus journey later!!

after the horse riding we relaxed in the hot tub and watched more people arrive. the evening was good. good food, good wine and good chat sitting round the log fire chatting to the new arrivals.
As the evening went on terry and i began to ache more and more from the last few days activities - as it was quite clear terry was going to wimp out of the summit - bless him he could hardly walk.
With Rimi telling tales of pumas and wolves, togther with the hurrican wind outside and the aching muscles - that nights sleep in our tent was ot good to say the least!. i was glad when 7am came so we could get up have breakfast and be surrounded by 4 walls again!! After a bit of lunch its now time to head to Banos....