In addition to the cities, we wanted to get a sense of the rural and wilderness areas of this fascinating country. While we were in Baños, I read about a popular three-day hike called the Quilotoa Loop (which is only a "loop" because of bus rides at either end). The route was only 25 miles long but it took us from an elevation of 9,265 feet to 12,700 feet, which was high enough to cause us some shortness of breath, fatigue, and sometimes some mild dizziness.
Starting out in Sigchos, we found out quickly that some of the trails were very difficult to follow, even with GPS maps. We ended up adding significant mileage to each day as a result of missed turns. Fortunately, we were able to travel light and didn't have to pack tents, sleeping bags, or cookware. There were nice hostels at Isinliví and Chugchilán that also served us a (vegan!) breakfast and dinner, all for around $16/person.
On our final day, a very sweet stray dog "adopted" us and hiked all the way to our final destination at Quilotoa Lake. We were worried that he was becoming too attached to us but once we got into the little lakeside town, he happily wandered off with some other dogs. The lake itself was quite remarkable, and similar in origin to our very own Crater Lake in Oregon.
This was a great finale to our trip.
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Photos: More Olympus e500.