Can the horse just take us?

As much of an adventure getting to Cotopaxi was, getting out proved equally challenging.
We decided to hitch a ride with a local heading out.
Andy, our new best mate from Australia, decided to tag along, as he was also headed in that general direction.
We had a few hours to kill, so we decided to give horse back riding across the high Andean plains a go...

Bangs are so hot right now...

The next few hours as a gong show of pickups, cars and buses... we hitched a ride from Cotopaxi to a petrol station along the Panamericas freeway, a major thoroughfare where we were assured that plenty of buses would drive by and just pick us up... umm nope.

So we hitched another ride from the gas station to a small town called Latacunga.

We were dropped in front of a video store, yep, a video store, they still exist and are going strong in Ecuador.

We finally managed to flag down the right bus, snagging the last 3 seats. Two hours and a badly dubbed Jackie Chan movie later, we arrived in Banos... love love love third world travel.

This is the third trip in a row when we have met and hung out with the coolest fellow travelers from down under... To whomever in Australia is in charge of building backpackers, keep doing what you are doing,(does it involve throwing another shrimp from the barbie?),,,