BAÑOS!

After another four days of classes, which included more Biology and information about cloud forests in Ecuador, we were ready for a little vacation! We left Thursday afternoon for Baños, a beautiful but touristy town about 4 hours from Quito that lies at the base of Volcán Tungurahua. We arrived Thursday night and checked into Hostal Nomada (“Nomad”), a tiny family run place with a convenient location in town.

Friday morning we woke up early to eat breakfast before heading out on a rafting trip! The rapids were classes 3 and 4, making it challenging, but not too scary! No one in our boat (6 Washington students including me, plus a guide) fell out, but we all got very wet and at separate times two other boats lost all of their passengers! We took a break midway down the river to swim in a side stream and jump off a huge boulder into a small pool of water. Afterwards on the way back to Baños we stopped for lunch and chatted with our guides.

The remaining 4 students arrived just as we were returning and we set out on our next activity. We hiked on a trail that started just a few blocks away up the side of the volcano, and we were rewarded with gorgeous views of the town and the surrounding valleys. After descending, as it was getting dark, we checked out some of the actual “Baños of Baños”, the hot springs that the town in so famous for. Switching between the freezing cold-river temperature pool and the 118 F hot pool felt good on our tired muscles!

Even though we were feeling really relaxed after the soothing pools, the day was not over yet, and the group decided to test out the salsa dancing clubs of Baños. We all lasted pretty close to the 2:30 am closing time, and many of us agreed that Friday was one of our favorite days in Ecuador so far!

Saturday was our designated bike to Puyo day, a 60 km trek along the “Route of the Waterfalls” from the Andes to the Amazon. On bike you can pass along the side of cliffs on the outside of tunnels and get great views of all the waterfalls. We made sure to stop at the giant Pailon del Diablo waterfall to hike down to it and then literally underneath it! Back at the top of the hill we were amazed by delicious chocolate-banana empanadas!

In the afternoon we continued on, and I had doubts that the 10 of us riding as a group could make it all the way to Puyo. But the scenery was so beautiful and even with a drenching monsoon passing through about an hour from the end, 8 of the 10 Washingtonians made it all the way! The route is described to tourists as “completely downhill”, but we soon learned that the tourists only make it so far, so by the end we had climbed some impressive hills. We caught a bus back to Baños and it turned out to be one of the most beautiful bike rides of my life!

After a very traditional Ecuadorian dinner, complete with pig snout and chicken feet in the soup, we made it back to the hot springs again, but we didn’t have as much time as we hoped. We were much too tired Saturday night to go out again, but we sure slept well!

Sunday morning we found a fancier restaurant for breakfast with amazing homemade bread and an odd, but decent attempt at pancakes. The group split up afterwards and half headed back early, while the other half of us couldn’t pull ourselves away from the plentiful activities of Baños! We hiked up to a huge religious statue and then we kept going up up up with another group of students from the US from a different school. The hike treated us to more gorgeous views of the nearby valleys as well as taking us right by rural farms and back roads. Before leaving Baños on the bus we indulged ourselves with empanadas one more time!

The final hurrah of the trip was getting to see the top of Volcán Tungurahua on the bus ride home, completing the weekend of non-stop fun highlighted by getting to experience four of my favorite hobbies: hiking, biking, rafting and swimming! Hanging out with the other students in my program was very fun too and we were all ecstatic to share our first views of the Amazon!