Banos, Ecuador

Day 6:

This morning we got up early to catch the bus south to Banos. Before we made our way to the main bus terminal in Quito we picked up another traveler we met on Lonely Planet´s travel forum. We noticed the traveler was going to Banos on the same day we were and after reading about the safety issues while on the bus we thought it would be best to travel together.

Originally, we purchased our tickets ($3.50 each) from a bus company called Banos Express. We thought that "Express" meant a non-stop trip to Banos. Little did we know that there is no such thing as an "Express" bus. It´s just a name and that the buses stop for anyone on the side of the road - the "pimp" and "hooker" routine (see Day 5).

We were put on a different bus, Amazons, because there were only 5 passenger leaving the main terminal. The bus was going to Ambato which is on the way to Banos. The bus quickly filled up after driving a couple miles outside the terminal as we stopped several times to pick up passengers on the side of the road.

When traveling on the buses you will encounter the vendors that hop on at any point to sell you food, chips, candy, ice cream, soda pop, etc.. It´s a non-stop infomercial riding the buses. The bus ride took 4 hours.

The bus ride to Banos was beautiful. You can see the devestation of Tungurahua volcano which erupted, and still is erupting, in August 2006. The best way to describe the beauty of Banos is comparing it to the valleys of Hawaii. Banos is very green with over 60 waterfalls. Simply amazing.

We checked into our hotel, Casa de la Abuela, which was a block away from a very big waterfall. Below the waterfall is one of the town´s hot springs. Ahhhhh. We couldn´t have asked for a better hotel with a view of the falls. The hosts at the hotel, Jim and Marcia, are very friendly and made us feel welcomed. Later that night they had an acoustic band from Argentina called Queixa playing in the main foyer. They were really good. Good enough that we bought their CD. We sipped wine while listening to the duo. WE LOVE BANOS!!!!!