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Published: December 1st 2010
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From The Secret Garden, we took a private ride from a man who worked at the hostel; he dropped us to the side of a road where we could apparently catch a connecting bus to Banos. We had thought we were headed to a bus terminal, but it doesn't really seem to work this way in Ecuador. We were harassed and lied to by numerous 'bus boys' before we finally made our decision to hop onto a bus which had no mention of Banos on the front, but we we had been assured by the driver's little helper that it was indeed a 'directo' service to Banos.
We arrived in Banos around three hours later, after driving around the houses. Banos is a cute little town surrounded by steep green mountains. It is famous mostly for its natural thermal springs, but is also visited for the numerous outdoor activities that you are able to do around the town. For example you can go canyoning, bike riding, hire 4x4s or motorcross bikes, white water rafting and many other activities.
We had decided to stay at Plantas y Blanco at the recommendation of some people we had met at Cotopaxi. We
booked a lovely private room for 15USD a night- it was really nice and clean, and the hostel had a roof terrace with great views. Pretty much as soon as we arrived there was a torrential rain stormhowever which ruined our plans of a night on the town. We waited until the rain had cleared then headed out for something to eat. The main food that seems to be available in Ecuador is: chicken/sausage/hamburger with chips/rice. We decided to go for the hamburger and chip option, which didn't disappoint. It seemed that there wasn't a lot going on in Banos as a lot of shutters were down and many of the bars were completely empty. A little disappointed we returned to our room, determined to get up early the following day to do do something fun.
The following morning we were heading out the door when a Finnish guy stopped us and asked if we'd like to go white water rafting with him and his friend. We agreed and went to book the trip. We were picked up around 20 minutes later, after a swift breakfast of sausage and chips. Yuk but all we could get at such short
notice. Because of the rain, we were unable to take the best route on the river as apparently it was too dangerous. We ended up taking a pretty relaxed trip down the river which didn't really constitute white water rafting- anyhow it should have been called brown water rafting.
During our rafting trip our guide asked us whether we were going to see the erupting volcano. 'What??!' So apparently he tells us that a volcano has been erupting for the past few days, and we are at the bottom of it. However, if we drive up to the San Fransisco Bridge (in Banos, not San Fransisco) then we can get a good look at what's happening. So this hadn't been mentioned to us when we checked into our hostel.
Anyway, after our included lunch (of chicken and rice) we headed back to the hostel. As giant Pilsners were only 1USD on the roof terrace we decided to sit and have a few drinks, and ended up playing cards with some other travellers, all four of them English. We spent the evening drinking, then went out for something to eat. We were really excited as we managed to get
steak in mushroom sauce, and carbonara. We had decided to try and head down to the border the following day, and then get the overnight bus into Peru, as we wanted to be out of Ecuador before Sunday. This was because they were holding a national census, and by law everyone had to remain inside between 7am and 5pm. We did not want to have to wait around for this, so we were desperate to leave as early as possible.
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zee
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oooerrr
when i read 'brown water rafting' i thought it sounded a bit dodge!! Wow, that view from your terrace literally must take your breath awayy!!! Amazing. Also... mayonnaise crisps - genius! Although I'd love to try garlic mayonnaise crisps...! <3