After humming an hawing as to whether or not to attempt this trip from Latacunga, through the small towns and unreliable buses to Lake Quilotoa, we finally settled on a $35 tour- which was direct and a great decision. The only major complaint would be the speed-demon driver (note the photo of Hannah and I after we almost rolled off a cliff when the driver of the 10 passenger van got out of the vehicle without putting the car into park properly). The lake itself was stunning with its perfect blue-green water the reflects both the clouds and the phenomenal sunny sky above- well worth the nauseating route to get there. The crater lake was picture perfect! We hiked down the sandy slopes in 1 hr and 45 mins and then spent some time relaxing by the lake with a couple of alpacas before trucking back up to the small, windy town for lunch in under 45 minutes (go us!) Lake Quilotoa was up pretty high on my bucket list for this trip and it was everything I hoped for!