Alison Payne spent three months backpacking from Quito, Ecuador to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a side trip to the Galapagos Islands.  She often travelled alone and off the beaten path.  Latacunga is a plateau town 89km south of Quito on the Pan-American Highway. It is 2,760 metres above sea level and the climate is cold and windy. I went there to climb the Cotopaxi volcano, which is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world … Read entire article »