Baños and Tungurahua

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Banos is a lovely little town at the foot of the Tungurahua volcano. At an altitude of 1820 m and a very pleasant climate with temperature at around 25°C it is great for relaxing after some tough hiking. It has various thermal springs and one can have massages, facials, pedicure and other good things at various places in town. As it was carneval weekend, the town was packed with local and international tourists.

Tungurahua (5016 m) has been very active recently, always spitting out ash. With a few Americans from Kodiak, Alaska, I went to a volcano watching point high up on the opposite hill. We went in the morning and then again in the evening. In the morning it was very impressive to watch the continuously rising ash mushroom growing in black out of the white clouds. At night there was less to see, but we heard some big bangs of the explosions and saw the ash glowing.

Another day I went for a hike up to La Virgen, Runtun and a mirador (lookout) much closer to the volcano. It was awe inspiring and I just sat there for a long time and stared high up at this threatening monster.

Just a day after I left Baños there was a huge eruption with a number of deaths and people being evacuated.

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