AVENUE OF THE VOLCANOES 2D/1N
AVENUE OF THE VOLCANOES 3D/2N

AVENUE OF THE VOLCANOES 2D/1N

Day 01: Transfer In: Quito - Luna Runtun. Private car, English speaking guide

• Visit to one indian market or local community
• Lunch in a hacienda / hostería on the way
  Welcome cocktail and check in
• Dinner
• Overnight at Luna Runtun

Day 02: American breakfast

“The Priests and the Witches” Lunch included. An original city tour which starts with a hike from Luna Runtun to the city along the Inca Emperor Huayna Capac trail. Enjoy the sights and sounds of numerous birds and of the impressive scenery of the highlands.

Visit the Cathedral, a 1920s gothic construction built with volcanic stone by the Belgian Father Tomas Halflans, and the Museum of the Virgin of the Holy Water, which displays the clothes and jewelry given by the devout for blessings received. Here, you’ll discover the miracles of the Virgin and her influence over the catholic population over the past centuries.

Ambato street offers an excellent opportunity to meet the famous sugar cane candy makers and taste the delicious “Melcocha”, Ecuador’s most well known candy. Visit the tagua (“vegetable ivory”) and balsa wood handicraft makers, art galleries, handicraft shops, and, afterwards, the Saint Martin Canyon, the zoo (one Ecuador’s most impressive), and much more. Great shopping opportunities.

Check out and transfer back to Quito

AVENUE OF THE VOLCANOES 3D/2N

Day 01: Transfer In: Quito - Luna Runtun. Private car, English speaking guide

• Visit to one indian market or local community
• Lunch in a hacienda / hosteria on the way
• Welcome cocktail and check in

Dinner and overnight at Luna Runtun.

Day 02: American breakfast
Hiking tour according to passengers’ interest and/or weather conditions.

For instance: Smugglers’ Hike, or The Inca Trail of Huayna Capac, or The Devil’s Cauldron Waterfall Hike (La Cascada del Pailón del Diablo).

The Smugglers’ hike
Full day hike, including picnic. Depart from Luna Runtun by minivan before taking a world-class 7-km hike along the same trail used by the rum smugglers in the twenties,. This trail was perhaps most often trodden by Mr. Fidel Fiallos, Carmen Luna’s grandfather, who was known as the most famous smuggler of all times.

After crossing crystal clear rivers, hiking past banana and mandarine plantations, and taking a delicious picnic, we hike down to admire the “Manto de la Novia” Waterfall.

Breathtaking views of the Llanganates National Park, the inaccessible mountains that hide the lost gold of Inca Emperor Atahualpa.

Afterwards, we cross a swinging bridge and hike up to la Merced, where transportation meets us to bring us back to the hotel. Eighty percent of the hike is on flat ground.

OR The Inca Trail of Huayna Capac (Rural Tourism)
Lunch included. Runtun is the name given to the area located at the base of the Tungurahua volcano. History tells us that before the discovery of America, the Inca Emperor Huayna Capac partook in voluptuous orgies in Luna Runtun at the shore of Lake Runtun (long since disappeared) with the most beautiful of his wives.

Enjoy a magnificent view of the active volcano, of Llanganates National Park, and of the entrance to the Amazon Rainforest. If you are lucky, you will see and hear the periodical steam explosions of the volcano: a truly natural show, free of risk. Discover a new style of life and meet local farmers living in the mountains with their cows, guinea-pigs, chickens, and llamas. The hike is 50% uphill and 50% downhill.

OR The Devil’s Cauldron Waterfall Hike (La Cascada del Pailón del Diablo)
Half-day. Lunch included. Depart from Luna Runtun by car.

Baños is the Golden Door to the Amazon rainforest. In about 17 km., we find the beautiful “Pailon del Diablo” waterfall, known as the most impressive waterfall in the area as well as for being the world’s 10th highest water drops in the world.

You can enjoy the end of the world’s longest balsalt “capes” which starts 30 km away at the union of the Chambo and Patate rivers. A short trail from Río Verde (Green River) leads downhill through scrubby vegetation to a hanging bridge over the river below the falls. Before the bridge there is a very short trail that leads to an overlook above the deep bowl into which the waterfalls pours – this is an excellent photo opportunity. Many might recognize the scenery as it was the setting o the Hollywood blockbuster “ Proof of Life” directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, and David Morse. Keep your eyes peeled for the face of the Devil on a stone located at the bottom of the waterfall!

Dinner and overnight at Luna Runtun.

Day 03: American breakfast

The Priests and the Witches
Lunch included. An original city tour which starts with a hike from Luna Runtun to the city along the Inca Emperor Huayna Capac trail. Enjoy the sights and sounds of numerous birds and of the impressive scenery of the highlands.

Visit the Cathedral, a 1920s gothic construction built with volcanic stone by the Belgian Father Tomas Halflans, and the Museum of the Virgin of the Holy Water, which displays the clothes and jewelry given by the devout for blessings received. Here, you’ll discover the miracles of the Virgin and her influence over the catholic population over the past centuries.

Ambato street offers an excellent opportunity to meet the famous sugar cane candy makers and taste the delicious “Melcocha”, Ecuador’s most well known candy. Visit the tagua (“vegetable ivory”) and balsa wood handicraft makers, art galleries, handicraft shops, and, afterwards, the Saint Martin Canyon, the zoo (one Ecuador’s most impressive), and much more. Great shopping opportunities.

Check out and transfer back to Quito