Where the heck are we now?: Banos...a delightful visit

After our trip in the Amazon it was time to move on so we went back into the bus station to catch a ride to Banos. As in most bus stations in Latin America it is a great place to people watch. Here are a couple of photos from the bus station while we were waiting...

We saw a lot of people in traditional dress such as this woman with all of her produce.

The women here all carry their babies in slings..

Here is Don enlightening our travel companions on the ways of the world!

Everywhere we travelled in Ecuador we are either going up or coming down a mountain and everywhere there are amazing views...

Banos is quite high up at 1800 meters and is located on the foothills of the Tungurahua volcano that is still quite active. All over town we saw signs about evacuation in case of an eruption.

We were staying there for three nights so it was a chance to get some laundry done, do some errands and just chill out. We stayed at a great little hotel not far off the main street and enjoyed our time here.

Banos is a tourist centre for Ecuadorians and international tourists because of its reputation as a base for outdoor activities.

So there are many companies here selling tours of all kinds.

The first day we arrived we decided to hire taxies to check out some of the sights around town...

We went to visit some waterfalls as there are over 60 just around Banos...

See the red cable car going over the high ravine to the waterfall...

Well here we are...quite a ride!

We also visited another huge waterfall where we hiked down about 20 minutes...it was huge and very powerful!

Here are Katie and Nicole just specks against it.

A group shot...

The hike back up was definitely more than 20 minutes so we stopped on our way to get freshly squeezed orange juice from this guy, it gave us the energy to get back to the top! In fact the jugo natural here in Ecuador is amazing. Everywhere you can buy fresh juice for less than 2 dollars with a variety of flavours. My favourite is mora, or blackberry. Don's favourite is cervaza!

We also visited a viewpoint that showed the town below surrounded by valleys. It is not a very big town and is quite walkable from end to end.

Here we are with the town below us...

Some of the other views...

This country has a beautiful view everywhere we look!

There is also a great view from a place called 'The swing at the end of the world", a place that we had not heard about but our young companions were eager to visit.

And yes the view from the swing was fabulous...

Being a tourist town there were lots of great places to eat both international and local food...

Here are Katie and Nicole again at Cafe Hood which had a great menu so we ate lunch and supper there during our stay.

There was a great mercado with local food stands so Don tried pulled pork from this pig.

Guinea pig is a common food in Ecuador so we went to a local restaurant to try it as well....

They roast them all day on an open grill and serve them either whole or in pieces...

Here we are enjoying our little cuy!

Another place we always visit in any town is the local church which was crowded on the day we were there. There were many people selling candles outside so we bought some and went in to see if we could figure out what was going on.

There was a man reading out a list of names and when they were called people would leave and go next door to pray to the saint and light a candle for their loved ones. Apparently this church is a place people come to pray to the Virgen de Aqua Santa who represents the Virgin Mary who appeared at a nearby waterfall. The people there were very reverent as we have seen at many of the churches we have visited.

There are lots of activities to do here but besides our waterfall hikes the most active thing we did was a horseback ride. We took the horses up through the town and into the base of the volcano where there were mineral springs that tasted like Perrier water.

Up we go...

Across the river...

Here we are on our horses...
Beautiful views all the way...

Banos is a party town as well so one night we all went out on the town, starting in a little bar and then ending up at a great place with a fire going in the centre as well as drinks that were on fire!