Latacunga - Moving Ecuador

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Cotopaxi

Latacunga

Cotopaxi

Destination details

City

Latacunga

If you’re looking for somewhere to party, Cotopaxi province’s capital city is not where you want to be. But Latacunga is a friendly, quiet town that is a great place to rest up before or after trekking Volcan Cotopaxi or visiting Zumbahua, Lago Quilotoa, or any of the province’s other small mountain villages. The town is also home to the famous Mama Negra festivals and a heart stopping gastronomic concoction called the chugchucara.

When you first get dropped off at the bus terminal on the Panamericana, especially if its nighttime, Latacunga may seem a bit seedy, isolated, and run down, and you may wonder just what it is that you’re doing there. But once you cross the Rio Cutuchi you’ve entered the real Latacunga – a sleepy town that seems dead after 8 o’clock, even on a Friday or Saturday night. Even Parque Vincente Leon, the town’s main plaza, is locked shut every night promptly at seven.

On a clear day Latacunga can be quite a striking picture with the monstrous Volcan Cotopaxi looming in the distance. The sight is all the more dramatic considering that the volcano has obliterated Latacunga three times (but not once since 1877!), thus explaining the town’s lack of colonial architecture.

Places to stay and eat

Accommodation:

As a stopover hub for trips to Cotopaxi and Quilotoa, budget and midrange choices abound in Latacunga. Budget highlights include Hotel Cotopaxi, located across the street from Parque Vincente Leon, where extremely friendly service, a bed, a television, and a piping hot shower can be had for $8. Just around the corner, Hotel Rosim is a slightly more dressed up option where clean rooms with televisions and hot showers go for $10 a night. For those with more money to spend, Hotel Rodelu is located just a couple doors down from Rosim. Rodelu’s rooms feature wood paneling, private bathrooms, televisions and telephones for $18 per night, and the hotel has a restaurant downstairs as well.

Restaurants:

The plato tipico of Latacunga is called the chugchucarra. A huge plate comprised of fried chunks of pork, fried pork skin, fried banana, fried potato, cheese empanandas, popcorn, and toasted corn will leave you satisfied but may take some months off your life. Chugchucaras La Mama Negra is the most well known of the many chugchucara restaurants located on Quijano y Ordonez street, just one block south of the town plaza. Chugchucaras go for about $5 here, while Don Goyo comes highy recommended as one of the more modest establishments offering the artery-clogging plates for under $4. Don’t wait too long though, because all of the chugchucara Outside the realm of the chugchucara, Buon Giorno Pizzeria, located on the Southeast corner of the plaza, serves personal pizzas ($7-10) and huge portions of lasagna ($3-5), while Sanduches Guillo ($1-3) on Quijano y Ordonez is a good lower budget option. joints are closed by 7:30 p.m.

How to get there

Latacunga is a two-hour ($1.50-$2.00) bus ride south on the Panamerican Highway from Quito. Latacunga bound busses stop at the terminal on the Panamericana, or you can take an Ambato or Riobamba bound bus that will drop you off a short walk from downtown. Ambato is a 45-minute ($1) bus ride from the terminal, while busses also head west to Zumbahua (2 hours, $2) and on to Quevedo ($4, 5.5 hours). The terminal is about a 15-20 minute walk from downtown, a trip that at night may be worth the $1 cost of a cab.