Viva las Américas!: Banos, Baby!!!

We were completely fried after our 3-day hike of Quilotoa, so luckily the journey to our next stop, Banos would not be too long. 2 hours, we were told, and we’d be bathing in the thermal baths of the town that literally means “toilet”. OK, so “baths” if you want to get particular about it, but when you’re asking a waiter “dondé estan los banos?”, you’re not asking where the baths are………..just sayin’.

So following a change of buses in Ambato, where we were passed around ticket desks more times than marijuana, we arrived in Banos after about 2.5 hours, with enough time to have a ramble around the town. It is quite a small town, but it’s setting amongst forest-covered mountains and at the foot of an active volcano, Tungurahua, make it very picturesque. One of the first things we noticed were the “evacuation route” signs painted on the road, you know, just in case the volcano blows, but we were told that the volcano had been very quiet for the past few months with not a shcreed of lava at all.

Banos centre

Volcanic eruption evacuation signs

We had picked out a hostel noted in the Lonely Planet, Hostel Rosita. We navigated our way around the town, found the hostel, which was run by a woman who looked to be about 104. She led us to the room, which, being a mere $5 each per night was horrendously like the kind of place where prostitutes would entertain their clients, so needless to say we left as quick as we could, considering we were waiting for a fossil to descend the stairs before us. But across the road, like a beacon on shining light was Hostal Plantas y Blanco, which we bagged for $9 per night; private room and private bathroom. The hostel and lovely common areas with wood fires as well as having a separate building with a roof terrace for chilling and serving breakfast, its own bakery (fabulous fruit bread) and another building with a roof terrace with small paddling pool and a Turkish bath. Quite luxurious when compared to the brothel we had just been shown.

The next morning we decided to check out the thermal baths, in the hope that they wouldn’t be full of sulphur and cause the stingy-eye syndrome that the baths in Popayan caused…..They were located at the edge of town right beside a tall waterfall, from which water is taken for use in the natural, and freezing-cold showers showers. As I was looking like a bit of a leper with skin peeling off in distinct patches following the sunburn we received on the Fuya Fuya climb, I took advantage of the hot hot water and proceeded to discreetly self-exfoliate my skin, in the hope that the locals wouldn’t mind bathing in a bath with some skin flake floaters…..lovely. But at least now I’m all the one colour again. The baths are well worth the visit, for the $2 entry and just for the fun of the locals taking the piss out of you cos you’re too chicken sh*t to get into the plunge pool after the hot bath…..

Thermal Baths Agua de la Virgen

On our third day in Banos, we decided to let the hair down a little bit and get adventurous! We had met up with Penny and George and Bleddyn and Jamie again, so we bargained for the rent of 3 buggies and drove them down the “Waterfall Route”; a 4-hour round trip from Banos to Machay, visiting a few waterfalls on the way and taking in the beautiful scenery. There are options all along the route to do Canopying, basically zip-lining over a plummeting canyon, for the brave I’d imagine! The drive was great fun, in and out of mountain tunnels and dodging the trucks and buses that were blowing us off the road. To visit the first waterfall, we had to get a fairly rickety-looking cable car across the canyon to the other side and trek downhill about 800m. It was a spectacular view, both on the cable car ride (which had us roaring with nervous laughter and pissing our pants simultaneously!) and when we got to the waterfall, trying to peer over the edge to get a view of the massive drop of the waterfall. Further down the road at Machay, we were required to hike down from street level to the canyon floor to see the other waterfall, costing us a dollar and considering the ass-breaking climb back up in the heat, we struggled to think that it was worth the effort! It’s a great trip for 4 hours though, and we bargained them to $30 per buggy, so it’s one of the more affordable trips you can do in Banos.

Buggying!!

one of the many waterfalls we saw

fantastic scenery

On our last day, we stepped it up a notch a bit and went Canyoning, which is pretty much a legalised version of throwing yourself down a waterfall. It’s basically abseiling, while battling a fear of heights and the torrent of river water in your face. Great fun! We practiced firstly on smaller waterfalls, about 10m in height, getting the technique right and learning to put your life in the hands of some guy called “Nacho” (naturally he became “Guacamole”). By the end of the 3 hours we were launching ourselves down a 40m waterfall, considering though for most of it you’re just dangling from the rope like a spider from a web as we lower you slowly, sometimes rapidly down to the bottom. Great fun and great therapy for a fear of heights!!