Blogs from Baños, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 10

Middle Earth and Snakes!! We 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 enough to visit the Mitad Del Mundo, 30km North of Quito. There is a huge stone monument to mark the ecuator. The area has been turned into a bit of a tourist hotspot but is still worth a visit to stand on the ecuator. Plans are in the pipeline to build a new monument on the true site which ... read more

Geo: -1.47201, -78.327This is a quick entry. We spent a couple of days in Banos. Tried out the thermal baths for which the town is named. I have to say it is a bit creepy bathing with a crowd of strangers (we all had bathing suits on)!We are on a constant search for good coffee and mostly, cannot find it. Although in Banos, we not only found decent coffee we also found the best breakfast ever - fruit, yoghurt, pancakes and cane syrup served on a rooftop terrace surrounding by mountains with Volcano Tungarahua (http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/tungurahua/news.html + http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067811/Four-villages-evacuated-volcano-begins-erupt-Ecuador.html) looming in the background. Our main adventure here was taking a local bus up, up, up past the small village of Runtun to a lookout that offered clear views of the volcano which is usually shrouded in clouds but ... read more

Ola, daar zijn we weer! Ons 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 Montanita. Een klein en erg sfeervol surfdorpje aan de Grote Oceaan. Als je geluk hebt zie je walvissen voor de kust (gezien!). Pelikanen vliegen af en aan en er zijn constant voldoende golven om te kunnen surfen. Mooi dan! De 1e nacht hadden we een best apart hostel. We hebben de hele nacht wakker gelegen omdat we naast het toilet sliepen. De wanden waren gemaakt ... read more

Day 10: Latacunga to Banos: After 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 shouldn't go to the Terminal Terrestre liked we'd planned, taking one bus to Ambato then another to Banos. Instead, we were told to take a taxi for one dollar to the Puente de San Felipe bus stop to get a direct bus to Banos. That definitely made things easier for us. The taxi driver was very friendly, so we gave him two dollars instead. Within minutes, we boarded the bus to Banos, paying two dollars each. The bus didn't stop all that many times, but we still had to listen ... read more

We decided to spend out last weekend in Ecuador at Baños, a city in the mountains known for its hot springs. I didn´t realize until we got here though, that it was also known for its waterfalls and various adrenaline-packed activities. Baños is located Northeast from Duran in the highlands. After a 6.5 hour overnight bus ride we arrived in Baños at 5am. Thankfully they let us into our hotel at that time and we slept for a little while. When we woke up we had breakfast on the roof and saw for the first time how different this area is from Duran. There are 250 days of rain here per year (we experienced 2) so there is a lot of greenery, something that is surely lacking in dry Duran. Baños is situated in a valley ... read more