Latacunga to Zambahua is a journey
huge inclines and deep ravines that take
Everybody's breath away and not least mine
From the moment the engines splutter theres no break
Up and down and through some gorgeous gorges
A patchwork quilt of fields where ere you go
The driver needing utter concentration
For 2/3 hours all your juices flow

Scenery that knocks spots off all others
and bends and deep ravines that frighten most
How a coach can negotiate such steep terrain
with 40 or so eager souls to boast
Zumbahua is a dusty empty staging post
it costs some 20 dollars to the lake
The great caldera up at Cotopaxi
For there you see the cream and eat the cake
It takes about a half an hour through flatter land
Already of course great troughs and ravines present
Massive cliffs of lime and chalk
Impossible to climb or walk
Just to take it in, you feel content

$2 each to get you to the area
Run by local families avidly
A little restaurant serving a set meal but clearly they
Provide old fashioned service in a really lovely way

A lovely natural lass serves simple food and drinks
$20 or thereabouts, from the, first floor me thinks
The bluest of caldera lakes you'll probably ever see
A great expanse of nature
Right in front of thee
Its breathtakingly beautiful
it should I think soon be
Voted the 9th wonder of the world
yes easily!

And the ride well those big dippers
have nothing on this trip
it is for real I can't conceal
How it made me flip
And all along the way are sad reminders that some do
End up crashing down the cliffs,their white crosses on view

But your with a crowd of strangers
and each bites the bullet hard
Babies, Children Everyone,its Sunday and the bard
Must contemplate an ode to Cotopaxi and explain
The unbelievable treasure that can only be our gain

And all along the way souls get on and off and fly
Wearing very colourful clothes, stockinged feet, I sigh
They clamber up the steep inclines or down to hamlets where
Rough hewn wind swept basic places where I just must stare
a pig, a cow, some dogs and noisy chickens
a mud affair like some great termites cave
A dusty harsh demanding bunch of cottages
and from these cottages step'eth the brave

Clearly tough and helpful such kind people
eke out an existence from the soil
Pumice, corn, and wheat and growing vegetables, their animals cause hours and hours of toil
Finally the descent was on a Sunday
and somebody had a party in the square
3 or 4 bands playing Andean Music
and food and drink and dance that won't prepare
You, or anyone else for the din and mayhem
Colourful souls, already in trance mode
Falling over some were paralytic
flat out on the dusty dangerous road

Squiffy that for most and understatement
But great enjoyment had by all around
And of course the beat, the heat and the rowdy callers
And some with kids had fallen on the ground
Latacunga so back down the mountain
and our guy drove at such an awesome pace
Trying to drive the worst part in the daylight
Fast fading now providing little trace
Rolling crimson clouds like misty angels
A phenomena that I just thought was ace

By this time some too frightened to watch the edges, or overcome by booze or altitude
Slept through the amazing trip the ups and downs of travelling actually I just remained so glued
Every crevice, gorge, ravine, I saw it
Took it in and tasted it, for I
know I'll never see another journey
that guarantees that I can touch the sky

Back to Latacunga a metropolis
7.00pm and mayhem everywhere
Lots wanting to get back into Quito
And thankfully my good friend Cris was there
She knew the place to stand across the rail tracks
And 2 or 3 went by full to the brim
Then one came, and we both sat, by the driver
A birdseye view and a study made of him

Cool, collected he was very passive
Smiled and joked with his conductor man
We got into the Terminal at 9.15pm
And a taxi ride for $5 was the jam
A private taxi not one of the yellow types
But a fitting end to the mind
blowing of days
It had been a wonderful experience an interlude that truly did amaze

From Banos to Latacunga and to Quito all that way
Back to latacunga we did it in a day
Tired we just collapsed to dream and ponder
The several days before,saw wonders new
Experience crammed into a great weekend
Which will remain with me all my life through