Ecuador is the most efficient country in South America for backpackers. In two weeks and on maybe $450 you can stand on the equator, walk the rim of a flooded volcano, soak in hot springs under a waterfall, and paddle a blackwater river in the Amazon — and almost every leg between them costs about a dollar an hour on a local bus.
Quito and Otavalo
We started with three nights in Quito's old town, which is the best-preserved colonial center on the continent and sits at 2,850 meters, so those first days double as acclimatization. Dorms run $10–14. Take the TelefériQO cable car ($9) up Pichincha on a clear morning and you'll see the row of volcanoes you're about to travel down. On Saturday, do the two-hour bus ride north to Otavalo ($3) for the textile market — go early, before the tour buses, when the plaza smells of grilled corn and the weavers are still setting up. You can day-trip it or sleep there and hike around Laguna Cuicocha.
Cotopaxi and the Quilotoa Loop
Back through Quito and south to Latacunga (2 hours, $2.50), the scruffy, friendly base town for two very different mountains. Cotopaxi's refuge hike is an easy day tour ($45–55 with lunch and mountain bikes for the descent), and even from the parking lot the perfect snow cone fills half the sky.
The Quilotoa Loop is the real reason to come. It's a two-to-four-day village-to-village hike — Sigchos to Isinliví to Chugchilán to Quilotoa is the classic direction — sleeping in family-run hostals that charge $18–25 including dinner and breakfast. Llullu Llama in Isinliví has a wood stove and a resident llama and is worth booking ahead. The final morning you crest a ridge and the crater lake appears below you, an unreasonable green-blue, 3 kilometers across. Leave your big bag at Hostal Café Tiana in Latacunga ($1/day) and carry a daypack.
Baños
From Latacunga it's two hours south then east ($2.50, change in Ambato) to Baños, Ecuador's adventure-sports capital, wedged in a green canyon under the active Tungurahua volcano. Rent a bike ($8/day) and coast downhill along the Ruta de las Cascadas to the Pailón del Diablo waterfall, where you pay $2 to climb behind a curtain of water that soaks you completely. Evenings are for the municipal hot baths ($4, go at night when the locals do) and cheap almuerzos at the market. Budget two or three days; it's an easy place to get stuck.
Down into the Amazon
The road east from Baños drops 2,000 meters in a couple of hours, and the air turns thick and sweet. Buses run through Puyo to Tena (about 3 hours, $4), the best budget base for the upper Amazon. From Tena you can organize a two-day stay in a Kichwa community lodge on the Napo river for $60–90 all-in — canoe trips, cacao farms, swimming holes — or just take a $1 camioneta to the beaches at Misahuallí, where capuchin monkeys will absolutely steal your snacks.
Finishing in Cuenca
We closed the loop with the long haul south to Cuenca (an overnight or a full day of buses via Ambato and Riobamba, around $12), Ecuador's most livable colonial city — cathedral domes, $2.50 set lunches, and day hikes among the lakes of Cajas National Park. From Cuenca it's four hours to the Peru-bound border crossings if you're continuing south.
Practical notes
Ecuador uses the US dollar; carry small bills, since nobody can change a twenty. June to September is driest in the sierra; the Amazon is wet year-round, so pack accordingly. Buses are frequent and unreservable — just show up at the terminal terrestre and shout your destination. Keep your daypack on your lap, not in the rack, and you'll have no trouble at all.
