Banos and Beyond

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The first stop on our road trip south was Banos - about 4 hours south of Quito. The bus would pass down the "Avenue of the Volcanoes" and maybe even afford a tantalising glimpse of Cotopaxi.

However, in the event, even this was denied to us - the weather closed in, bringing rain and minimal visibility. The journey itself - my first on a bus for some considerable time - was uneventful and we arrived in Banos in the late afternoon. Our focus had been all Galapagos and judging by the apparent emptiness of Mariscal (Saturday night excepted) we'd decided that to we should be able to sort out accommodation on arrival in Banos. And so it proved. We ignored the scrum of touts that met the bus and walked along to the top rated hostel on Tripadvisor, where we were able to secure a triple room to ourselves, complete with en suite, for the princely sum of $8 (USD). Just as well since after the hammering the budget had taken over Galapagos it was time to economise.

The Lonely Planet suggested that Banos was at best an indifferent town in a beautiful setting. Whilst the latter is certainly true - the town is surrounded by steep, verdant valleys, abundant waterflows and fast flowing rivers, I would beg to differ about the former. Banos seemed a perfectly acceptable little town, with a couple couple of attractive squares and a number of decent restaurants (although sometimes appearances can be deceiving) and bars as well as the thermal pools which give the town its name. The town itself is the main jumping off point for trips east into the jungle and a major centre for everything from hiking to canyoning, and anything in between, although this usually seemed to involve throwing yourself off bridges or across canyons attached to a small piece of wire or down rivers in rubber dinghies.

In addition to fuel for the adrenaline junkies the town also sits in the lee of Ecuador's most active volcano - Tungurahua - which translates as "Fiery Throat". I had a slightly equivocal response to this piece of information, particlarly when I heard that despite no "serious" eruption since 2006, the volcano has been particularly active of late and as recently as April caused the evacuation of Banos when it spewed smoke and ash some 10 kilometres into the sky. I resolved to keep my camera close and my running shoes closer.

John had researched an excellent looking bike ride - 61 kilometres (mostly downhill) to the town of Puyo - out of the hills into the lowland jungle, following the enticingly named "Ruta De Las Cascades". The route of our cycle ride followed the road as it largely countoured around the valley, with occasional diversions to avoid tunnels. We had hired some pretty decent spec mountain bikes and set off in good spirits to enjoy the spectacular scenery. Whilst there was the occasional climb we were able to build up a pretty good head of steam freewheeling down the long curving, descents.

In the end the route defeated us but I like to think that this said more about our willingness to get off our bikes and trek down the hillside to take a closer look at the waterfalls. In total there must have been at least half a dozen spectacular view points overlooking different waterfalls, the most impressive of which was the aptly named "Devil's Cauldron" - which was by turns very scenic, and then up close (minimal health and safety in Ecuador) fearsomely impressive. Our progress on the bikes was pretty good but the climb down to and then back up from the waterfalls was necessarily slow going, and by the time lunch time rolled around we were only about half way to ultimate destination so showing excellent commonsense we rewarded ourselves with a couple of beers and allowed a friendly local to make a few bucks by putting our bikes in the back of his pick up and accepting a lift back to Banos. It had been a really enjoyable day out into the country. I had resisted the lure of ziplining (surprisingly easy) - taking the rickety old, open cable car across the hundred metre drop into the valley had been quite vertigo-induding enough.

We decided to allow ourselves a second day in Banos. I'd baulked at zipling - the idea of spending money to terrify myself just seemed a poor return, however, at least with white water rafting, there was the guarantee of a softer landing and the protective clothing actually seemed to serve a purpose. I was unable to persuade John or Penny to join me so set out with a small, youngish group to raft the same river we'd passed along the day before. It was a grade 4 river, which for a novice like me meant very little except for in the boat or out of it I would get pretty wet. In the event it was an adrenaline-fuelled hour and a half and miraculously only one of our boat fell in and if that was me I can only say in my defence that this is testimony to the fact that I was following instructions and actually leaning out of the boat and trying to paddle! It was an intense, really enjoyable experience but at the end of it I was quite satisfied I'd had enough excitement for one destination.

By way of a contrast in the evening Penny and I took ourselves off to the thermal baths. It was an interesting experience. The baths were full of mostly local families, who seemed to relish the scalding temperatures, whilst we winced and baulked at exposing yesterday's sunburn to the hot waters. I tried to follow the local example and move from the hot to the very hot pool but there was no fun in it and I was very happy to seek relief in cold pool.

The food in Banos had been generally unspectacular but good. However, in the interests of editorial balance I feel duty-bound to report that we did manage to find the one restaurant with little or no redeeming features - when the three mains you order arrive at 15 minute intervals and the beer is warmer than the chips you know that your dining experience is going to stay in the memory for all the wrong reasons, and you can only keep your fingers crossed that you take away from the experience nothing worse than a wry story to tell.

Our plan was to move on from Banos to Alausi in Southern Ecuador the following morning, however, overnight I was laid low by a bug or virus, which had kept me up most of the night and left me feeling barely able to leave my room. However, dosed up on super-strength paracetamol and an over the counter remedy from the local pharmacy (I'd had to resort to rather pathetic mime) and thanks in no small part to the help and forbearance of Penny and John, I made it through the two bus journeys, although largely oblivious to my surroundings, and safely to Alausi - small town, rural Ecuador.

We were in Alausi for the world famous Devil's Nose train journey. I awoke the following morning feeling cautiously better, and the three of us set out to catch the 8 o'clock train. The track is an impressive feat of engineering, navigating the almost vertical Chanchan Gorge using a series swichbacks, which the train passes and the reverses down to ascend/descend several hundred metres in less than 6 kilometres. It took 30 years to complete the line and cost over 2,500 lives, mainly through tropical diseases or dynamite blasting accidents on this section of the line. It was this high level of fatalities together with its cone shape that led the workers to name the mountain "The Devil's Nose".

The train passes through some breathtaking scenery. The vertiginious green mountains that surround the track supporting the slightly bizarre claim by the national tourist board that "Ecuador is the Switzerland of South America". Even on my brief exposure I'd have to say that it is much, much more than that, although the point about it being largely mountainous is taken. It had been a rather touristy trip, complete with the spectacle of traditional local dancing when we got to Sibambe, but still thoroughly enjoyable.

In deciding to take the early morning train I'd been aware that this would mean missing the majority of the play-off final - having ascertained that the only way of following the game would be via internet updates, it seemed the sensible course to spare myself that purgatory. As things panned out I got online with about 15 mins to go.

I was greeted by the the news that 10 man QPR were grimly hanging on but that their only chance would be to somehow hold out for the remaining 15 minutes and then through extra time to take the game to the lottery of penalties. It was nail-biting stuff, and made the news of the winning goal in the the final minute all the sweeter. Perhaps my favourite football memory, certainly up there with David Platt v Belgium in the last 16 of Italia 90.

Alausi was an interesting, if slightly schizophrenic place to spend a day or two, Despite the presence of the railway it seemed sleepy in the extreme, Not so much tucked away as completely off the tourist map. On Friday and Saturday nights we pretty much had the main street to ourselves and struggled not just for variety of restaurant but also once we'd decided where to eat to find someone to serve us. And then on Sunday morning the weekly market pulled in locals in their hundreds and the town was transformed. The women wore traditional dress; brown felt hats, colourful shawls and bright skirts. The band played and the town seemed a busy, thriving, commercial centre. For us though it was time to move on to Guayaquil and Galapagos...

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Photos

One of the many waterfalls on La Ruta De Las Cacades
Perhaps it was being surrounded by all this cool, running water that made cycling seem such thirsty work.

Rafting at Banos
Alas, the photographer was not on hand to capture my unscheduled dip

Rafting
The team celebrating our survival

The Devil's Nose - Looking back down the track
More evidence in support of Ecuador{s claim to be "the Switzerland of South America"

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Survival
Survival is good. We've done a lot of whitewater rafting in West Virginia, U.S.A. The rush is amazing.

[Barbara Sklar]

HI. We are leaving for Quito in a couple of weeks and Baños is one of the places we would like to go. Could you possibly tell me the name of the hostel that you stayed at, as well as the bike rental place. Any other tips - of things not to miss. We are not planning to go to the Galapagos , but will hopefully get to the coast for Isla de la Plata. Thanks!

[fromthebottomup]

Hi Barbara, We stayed in the Hostel Princesa Maria. From memory it was the top pick on Tripadvisor. The guy who runs it doesn't speak much English but is very friendly and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it if you're looking for a cheap, pretty basic hostel. It's a 5 min walk from the square with the tourist information office in it. The bike place (also does very good, cheap rafting) was called Geotrips or Geotrekking. From the hostel walk down to the square, cross it diagonally, the agency is another 30 yards on the right. Hope you enjoy Banos - we thought it was a really good base in which to hang out for a few days.