http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Ecuador , Centre , Baños en-us Thu, 23 May 2013 18:12:36 +0000 Thu, 23 May 2013 18:12:36 +0000 After dropping the volunteers from the Andean village project at the airport I made the rounds of Quito acquaintances to collect donations for the fundraising Garage Sale which is held semiannually to benefit the Childrens Library in Baos La Biblioteca Interactiva de Baos La BIB. I have helped to coordinate and organize six such garage sales over the past few years. Folks have been http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-786204.html At the beginning of the week I arrived in Baos the adventure capital of Ecuador. The small town is set in a valley that is surrounded by sheer mountains and even an active volcano. It is where the thrill seekers congregate to partake in the likes of white water rafting canyoning and bridge jumping. I set myself up a a new hostel just on the outskirts of town which in Baos means that it was http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-781049.html Looks like i lost blogs 7 8 so will redo from Malinguapamba MP.BANOS after my spanish classes i did quite a bit of hiking wanting to get ready for MP hiking and field work. Banos is lower than MP but similar steep country with centuries of agriculture in relative harmony with the landscape that it most of the ag is small human scale worked by hand with some amount of disking etc by smal http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-772563.html Spending middle part of my VolunTourism Sabbatical here in Banos taking Spanish classes at Raices Spanish School with Maestro Marco helping me focus in on Cientifico de la Cuenca Watershed Science including opportunities de practicar mis lecturas. Then afternoons walking and hiking marvelous area INCREDIBLE vertical everywhere hike to ridge and find higher ridge beyond then volcano beyo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-771818.html Friday 281212 We woke early ate left over pizza for breaky and prepared for the short ride to the city of Banos nestled in the valley below a volcano that started erupting just a few weeks ago. With fingers crossed the bikes fired up and we hit the road. A short one hour ride ended up stretching towards two hours when we missed the turn off to Banos and wrongly guessed the next road wo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-768488.html ltgtltxmlgt ltwWordDocumentgt ltwViewgtNormalltwViewgt ltwZoomgt0ltwZoomgt ltwTrackMovesgt ltwTrackFormattinggt ltwPunctuationKerninggt ltwValidateAgainstSchemasgt ltwSaveIfXMLInvalidgtfalseltwSaveIfXMLInvalidgt ltwIgnoreMixedContentgtfalseltwIgnoreMixedContentgt ltwAlwaysShowPlaceholderTextgtfalselt http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-767901.html Arriving at the campsite so late meant that it was a lovely surprise the next morning to wake to find that we were camped in a beautiful valley surrounded by waterfalls and lush forest. Rio Verde is a tiny little town and its main attraction is the proximity to Banos and the many adrenalin activities in the surrounding area.After days on the road and in the jungle a day of leisure was much in need http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-752713.html Middle Earth and SnakesWe were sad to leave Otavalo but time is flying by and so we headed back to Quito this time we stayed in the Hostal Mediterraneo cheap as chips and better telly Watched the Jets on Monday night NFL and Big Nick tried with reasonable success to teach Mrs P the rules ready for our trip to see them in NY in November. Mrs P was a little under the weather but recovered enou http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-751703.html I arrived 3 days ago in Baos which lays at the foot of the Tungurahua volcano YES the one that erupted about a month ago...The city itself is said to be breathtakingly beautiful but it39s too touristy everything is overpriced and more or less gringolandia.However the area around Baos is absolutely delightful it39s surrounded by mountains and vulcanos there are hundreds of waterfa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-744946.html We have blazed a trail south to Baos back into major civilization and a very touristy part of Ecuador popular for international backpackers and Ecuadorians alike. Baos baths in Spanish was named after the towns sacred hydrothermal springs. Additionally the town is situated below the Tungurahua Volcano. Tungurahua which means throat of fire in the indigenous language Quichua h http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-744028.html After bidding farewell to the volunteer Engineers I had a short visit in Banos before heading back down to the coast. I didnt want to make the drive alone so I put out the word that I was looking for riders. To my good fortune I met a lovely Austrian woman in hot baths. Veronica was going to the coast and her Argentine boyfriend Hugo came along. We had great fun together stopping to see a few http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-739333.html Ola daar zijn we weerOns laatste verhaal is geeindigd bij de plaats waar ons avontuur is begonnen. Inmiddels zijn we beland in Banos en we hebben in de tussentijd het een en ander meegemaakt.Na 2 nachten in een prima hostel in een iets minder prima stad Guayaquil de grootste stad van Ecuador waar ze dan wel weer heerlijke Colombiaanse koffie hebben hebben we de bus gepakt naar zee naar Mon http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-737832.html Day 12 Banos Day 3Well we woke up pretty early again hoping again to ride mountain bikes down the waterfall route but it was raining even heavier than yesterday. So it was raining so much we decided to have breakfast upstairs in the terrace cafe. Manoli and I each ordered a number 2 breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs bread and conditments juice and coffee. It wasn39t bad at al http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-733661.html Day 11 Banos Day 2We woke up this morning hoping to go mountain biking down the Waterfall Route but it was raining some from the time we woke up. It wasn39t even 7am yet so we took a walk up towards our nearby waterfall where the famous thermal springs are located. Unbelievably the main thermal springs near the waterfall were packed with people in their bathing suits in the cold and rain http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-733530.html Day 10 Latacunga to BanosAfter a hot shower interrupted by a brief period of ice cold water and an okay breakfast we pacekd up everything and checked out of the hostal. When they heard we were taking a bus to Banos they told us we shouldn39t go to the Terminal Terrestre liked we39d planned taking one bus to Ambato then another to Banos. Instead we were told to take a taxi for one do http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-733271.html We decided to spend out last weekend in Ecuador at Baos a city in the mountains known for its hot springs. I didnt realize until we got here though that it was also known for its waterfalls and various adrenalinepacked activities. Baos is located Northeast from Duran in the highlands.After a 6.5 hour overnight bus ride we arrived in Baos at 5am. Thankfully they let us into our hotel at http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-732272.html A four hour bus ride from Quito rewarded us with Banos a laid back town wedged among green mountains a snow capped volcano and a river flowing fast to the Amazon. The surrounding peaks valleys forest rivers and waterfalls makes Banos a perfect place to trek bike ride river raft and a host of other exciting outdoor activities. Our base was the Hostel Chimenea which got us a nice comfortable http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-727782.html Day 235 Saturday 2nd JuneThis is a nice hostal with a great shower with plenty of hot water and we wished we had not booked the other one but they have our bags so we need to go back. After breakfast we went back to the room to get ready and at 9.30am as we were packing we heard a woman saying No no no. We had earlier seen a woman in the hostel having an argument with her young child and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-722432.html Baos is a gem for the adventure seeker. Located in a valley surrounded by countless waterfalls and a volcano. Lush green. Temperate climate. Perfect for hiking mountain biking climbing horseback riding rafting bungee jumping paragliding etc. Mountain bikes can be rented for 5 dollars a day A tourist town with a laid back vibe. Not one native of Baos I meet is unhappy to be here. There http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-719238.html I eventually left Quito and got myself on a bus to Banos. It is situated 3 and a half hours south of Quito and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ecuador. One of the interesting facts about Banos is that is has an active volcano right on its door step called Tungurahua which means Throat of fire the last major eruption was in October 1999 but has had activity ever sinc http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-718909.html