Mar. 16-18 - Beautiful Baños

The bus ride from Riobamba to Baños was interesting. As we left Riobamba we were able to catch a good look at Chimborazo as we drove by, but lost site of it as we turned off the highway onto a secondary road. From there it appeared as if each road we turned onto diminished in quality until we were on probably the smallest country road in the world. Anna and I were starting to wonder if this bus was even heading to Baños when we caught sight of Volcán Tungurahua puffing away in the distance, before arriving in Baños.

Baños is a small town situated in a valley at the base of Tungurahua (there is a small hill between the town and the volcano that protects the town from eruptions ... but the tourist maps still outline evacuation routes and eruption meeting points). It is the entry point for the Amazon and an adventure sport paradise with hiking, climbing, rafting, bungee jumping and even repelling down waterfalls.

Our first night in town we opted to do some looking around and get a feeling for the town. Baños is a rather small town with some very lovely parks and a cathedral that lights up beautifully at night. After dinner Anna and I headed to the roof of the hostel to enjoy the beautiful night, stars and cool air.

The next morning we slept in before heading out on a biking adventure. From Baños we started on our bike ride down towards Puyo, over 60km of downhill (road) biking. I think that by the time we reached the end of our ride, there were maybe three uphill stretches, but they were so minimal they very well might have been flat stretches. This bike ride is along on of the most beautiful stretches in Ecuador. Clinging on to the side of the cliffs of a ravine you wind your way around the hills from the sierra to the jungle. Along the way there are numerous tunnels for the cars to go through, but since there are no lights in the tunnels, they suggest that bikes take detours around the tunnels on the secondary road (except for the first tunnel ... there is no detour so you have to just giv’er and pray there are no cars). These detours were the best part of the ride since they were on the most precarious of cliffs. One of these detours actually required we bike under a waterfall…but none of us complained about a little shower to help cool off.

Aside from the scenery, waterfalls were the main attraction for the ride. As we had seen so many waterfalls, we were a little tired of them so decided to skip most of them and head directly to Pailón del Diablo. These are the most spectacular waterfalls around Baños and are the site of a photo that inspired me to come to South America. These waterfalls are located at the bottom of a ravine where you have to cross a wooden suspension bridge that hangs over the river below. From there you are able to see the magnificent Pailón del Diablo. I must have taken about 100 pictures of that waterfall as I wanted to capture the feeling I saw in that picture while still in Canada. On the other side of the bridge was a cabana with a restaurant that provided a wonderful view of the waterfall, where we ate lunch and watched the condor pass by.

We decided to take a cambioneta back to Baños instead of a bus so as to better enjoy the views, and in this particular one we were able to stand up for a better view (I did keep in mind the story about the Japanese tourists in Riobamba). Once back in Baños I treated myself to a relaxing massage before heading to the hot springs for a wonderful evening.

In the morning I opted to stay in town, instead of going for a hike with the rest, as I was feeling a little under the weather. Once they all returned we got a bus to our next stop, the Quilotoa Loop.