We arrived in the cute, slightly touristy (for good reason) town of Baños at night. Baños a compact town at the base of many lush moutains... a paradise for anyone in search of outdoor adventure. The town is stocked full of small tourist operations offering everything from paraguilding to repelling down a waterfall. We headed straight for a hostel our Lonely Planet bible recommended. Hostel Plantas Y Blanco was quite literally a white building covered in plants. Since many travelers seem to share our faith in the Lonely Planet guide, the place was bustling with folks in fleeces and hiking boots.
With our desire to conquer the tumultuous rapids in Ecuador only deepened by our first failed attempt, we signed up for a rafting adventure scheduled to leave the next morning. We would go into more detail about our wild ride, but we'll let you see for yourself in custom video coming soon. In addition this unusual tour of the highlands surrounding Baños, we also met some really cool travellers from around the world.
To ease our sore muscles from clinging onto the raft, we decided to visit Baños' natural hot springs (just a quick 5 minute stroll from our hostel). The hot springs, which are located at the base of a waterfall, are changed daily by cool water that gets heated quickly by volcanic rock. Locals told us the proper way to soak- start in the HOT, dip in the COLD, and repeat as necessary. We have never experienced water temperatures at those extremes before, but apparently locals do 3-4 times a week.
The next morning we woke up to rain and decided over stacks of pancakes and fresh Ecuadorian fruit that it was time to move on towards Cuenca.
So glad you were able to do the rapids - can't wait to see the video! Love you and miss you! Mom
ReplyDeletei wonder where they got the name banos
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