Amber alert

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Beautiful drive to Baños. Very green with pine trees and eucalyptus. reminded us of New Zealand. It was rainy and misty as we entered volcano country, so we didn´t see any of the volcanoes. A few people on the truck started to feel unwell, including Pieter, so we were all happy when it was announced that we were just about there and a barbecue would be waiting for us at the campsite in Rio Verde. But then we came to a dead stop in the dark. There was a mudslide ahead that had descended from the volcano. Just a few minutes earlier we might have missed it or ended up going down the mountain side with the mud. Not too sure what to do we decided to wait. One hour turned into all night, which turned into 2 hours. In the end it was a 4 hour wait. We arrived very late and happily ate reheated barbecue.

Took the local bus to Baños. It was a hair-raising 20 minute trip. Buses go when they are full and they go like buggery so they can get to the other end and pick up another bus load. It is all about getting the maximum number of fares. But it was pretty drive following a gorge. There were numerous waterfalls and we drove through 5 tunnels.

We could see the smoke from Tungurahua volcano behind the town. It is on Amber alert which is why we didn´t stay in Baños. Insurance wouldn´t cover Dragoman. But is has been like that for a while so we weren´t too worried.

The basilica is beautiful outside and inside. Inside is a brightly coloured ceiling and archways, lots of flowery designs. And the walls and columns are tiled with small tiles half way up. That must have been a hard job to put those on! 50 cents to visit museum in the attached courtyard. All the usual religious stuff like virgin vestments and statues, as well as toy trucks, stuffed animals and snakes in bottles. Quite a collection. Rae just about walked into a room with no floor. Renovating. Reckon they should have shut the door.

Baños is spanish for bath and there are a number of hot pools in town. We went to the Piscina de la Virgin. Artificial pools of different temperatures caught water from the springs. It was a murky green. We soaked with a view over the town and a waterfall above us with butterflies flitting about the flowers on the cliff.

In the evening we hitched a lift in a jeep from the campsite owner to go to the town of Rio Verde (the campsite being just outside). We sat in the back with the 2 dogs (one has 3.5 legs) and had an exciting trip through a tunnel where the water dripped constantly from the ceiling. We were a bit wet on the other side. It was fun. Didn´t stay in Rio Verde very long and walked back to camp via a dirt road that went around the tunnel. And that was cool as well because we encountered a few fireflies.

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