We had arranged the previous night to ride in a truck/ute to Quilatoa Lake (Laguna Quilatoa) the next morning so again woke early and arranged to have breakfast on arrival. The breakfast turned out to be one of the worst of the trip - consisting of stale bread, a cup of warm water to make tea and a few pieces of mushy bruised fruit.
The lake is in the crator of a Vulcano at around 3800m. There had been a major eruption around 1797 that had created a beautiful gorge/valley from the lava flows. There were two options - to descend to the lake from the rim which took a half hour or so with a two hour ascent (or faster if you hired a donkey) or your you take a trek around the rim of crater which was estimated at 5-6 hours.
Transport was very limited around the Quilatoa loop, there was only one public bus per day leaving for our next planned stop (about $2.00) or you could hire or share a van. We being "hard tough and wiry" decided to trek the rim at the risk of missing the bus. It was a very tough trek in our condition and at that altitude, but it was worth it for the spectacular views and wonderful sense of achievement. It took us between 6 and 7 hours in the end and completely exhausted us - meaning we had to stay the night in the fairly basic hostal there.
The room was OK - we had a late afternnoon nap, before dinner in the "dining room" which wa also the owning families lounge room. It was nice and warm with a pot belly wood fire in the middle and a blaring television show that seemed to be a game show full of scantily clad large breasted women.