Panorama Photo

The tiny village of Chugchilan (about 3200m) in the fertile landscape of the Western Cordilleras offers wonderful tranquility, scenic beauty and three hotels with lovely cottages to the traveller. Chugchilan sits on the edge of the Toachi canyon with the Toachi river, which has carved it's way through the soft volcanic rocks through the centuries. Between the fields and trees you can see some of the small local houses, which mostly indigenous people are inhabiting. Even in this altitude they are cultivating the fields and keep cows, sheep, alpakas and lamas. The weather is pleasant through out the year. On the very right there must have been a minor landslide not too long ago, where you can see the various layers of lava and ashes, which formed these mountains throughout the years.
Only now the government is building the first paved road from Quilotoa. Before Chugchilan could be reached only on dirt roads.
If you want to see a fairly unspoiled original Andean scenery I suggest you take the route via Sigchos off the panamericana highway which takes about three hours but offers countless breathtaking views across the valleys and juicy green slopes.