Taking an overnight bus from Quito to Lago Agrio (Ecuador)

Here’s something I learned about myself while taking an overnight bus from Quito to Lago Agrio: I'm whiny, and I can't get over it.

ANOTHER OLD TRAVEL JOURNAL

The Place: An overnight bus from Quito to Lago Agrio, where my Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve tour started

The Date: Feb. 17-18, 2008

Journal Date: Feb. 25, 2008

A street in Lago Agrio.

“That 7½-hour overnight ride to Lago Agrio was one of the worst bus rides in my life. It was so damn cold and I had packed both my blanket and my socks away. And since I kept thinking about how cold I was, I couldn’t even begin to concentrate on sleeping. It turns out that when something is bothering me, no power on earth can get me to stop inwardly whining about it. After several hours I finally stuffed my right foot into my cloth-wallet-turned-camera case, and my left into a plastic bag, and jammed them both into my black shoes. After that I managed to sleep about one hour before we arrived in Lago Agrio.

It’s an oil city that for some reason reminds me of the Old West. I guess because Lonely Planet describes it as having prostitution and other such lawlessness. I bought an Adidas hair band, though I was pretty close to buying one that said, “I Love You” all over it.”

What You Should Know: The bus leaves Quito’s main bus station and cost about $8.

You can buy milk to drink straight from the goat.

TRIP FLASHBACK: Ecuador

Basilica de Voto Nacional

The place: Ecuador (Quito, Lago Agrio, Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, the Quilotoa Loop, Chugchilan, Lake Quilotoa and Baños)

The dates: Feb. 16-25, 2008

Approximate cost: $830 for 10 days. Main components: $370 airfare from Washington, D.C., $41 Quito airport departure tax, $180 for four-day jungle tour, $25 for half-day of white-water rafting; hostels anywhere from $6-10/night

Highlights: Visiting the women’s prison. The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve jungle. Riding in the back of a pickup truck through the Andes on the Quilotoa Loop. Quilotoa’s beautiful crater lake. Baños. Joking with the drivers and ayudante on the bus ride back to Quito.

Timeline:

2/16 (Sat): Arrived in Quito, visited Basilica de Voto Nacional, Old Town, other sites.

2/17: Arranged jungle tour for next day, visited women’s prison, took overnight bus to Lago Agrio for jungle tour.

Fishing in the Cuyabeno Reserve.

2/18-2/21: Spent three nights in jungle of Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. On Feb. 21, left Lago Agrio by public bus and arrived in Quito by midnight.

2/22: Started Quilotoa Loop. Took public bus to Chugchilan, a mountain town.

Kids on the Quilotoa Loop.

2/23: With the dirt roads of the Quilotoa Loop impassable by bus due to rain, bargained for a pickup truck ride to Quilotoa’s crater lake. Hiked paths around the lake and then hitched a ride in a private van with a group of older English tourists who dropped me off 15 miles from Baños. Flagged a public bus to go the rest of the way.

2/24: Went white-water rafting and biking around Baños. Sang karaoke with locals.

2/25: Hopped on a bus back to Quito to catch a same-day flight that afternoon.

Click here to see more pictures from this trip.