Zumbahua is a small picturesque and cold highland town which hosts a colourful Saturday market, which is fun in the mornings, but can degenerate into a drunken display of bad humour by the afternoons.

The road north from here goes to Quilotoa crater and many attractive small villages, lots of good hiking trails and a reasonable selection of nice country hostals.

Tigua is the name given to this county and a small river flowing south to north. The village of Chimbacucho on the main road from Latacunga is often referred to as Tigua as it has one of the best displays of “Tigua art” in the roadside gallery.

Tigua naïf paintings on leather are famed around Ecuador and produced by painters in most of the local hamlets and villages. Traditional festival wooden masks are also colourfully painted here.

Getting there
Buses from Latacunga to Quevedo pass hourly on the main road above the village, some direct buses to Quilotoa pass through each day.