Plants and White Hostel (Hostal Plantas y Blanco) Banos

Here in Baņos where the altitude is lower and the temperature is much higher! Woo hoo!!! I can say goodbye to my thermals, gloves and hat!!! (for now at least.) I realize that I am getting very far behind in my journal writing... I donīt think I have told you about the Cotopaxi hike or the Quilotola Loop yet!!! And every day that passes I do oodles and oodles of stuff which then means loads and loads more stories. So let me try to catch up a wee bit. COTOPAXI HIKE: Our group of 5 couldnīt hav...

***Just a fair warning that this entry is NOT for everyone- especially those that have a sensitive soul! I decided to post this simply to document my cultural experience. The pictures posted might be a bit too graphic for some of you! *** July 26th 2008 I awoke this morning to the blaring sound of a stereo being played way too loud- the bass crinkling as the speaker strained to keep up with the booming beats- the lyrics indiscernible due to the obnoxious static from the over strained speakers...

From our hostel we could see the main church in Banos, lit up with purple spires, quite impressive. The surrounding streets are pretty touristy with tour companies, bike/quad/motorbike hire, and then the more adventourous sports such as rafting, canoning, bungying etc... all is possible in Banos... ooh and of course the thermal baths! Surrounding Banos are many mountains, volcanoes (one which last errupted in 2008, terror!) and waterfalls. Although we only had one full day here (as we...

After a relaxing week in the Galapagos, we decided to go all action. Our last full day in Quito turned into the search for the perfect view of the Old Town. We started at the Little Bread Loaf (El Panecillo) next to yet another Virgin Mary statue and then climbed to the top of the Basillica, which is an enormous gothic church with the least safe set of stairs and rickety wooden walkway up into the top of the spires. Guaranteed to pass no safety standards in most countries! Finally some lunch ...

Following our jaunt into jungle climes, we travelled to a place called Banos which – as the name suggests – is famous for its spas. It also includes a good selection of waterfalls and so we took the obligatory bus tour with some rather "weathered" Swedes.

Banos is also home to a large selection of adrenaline sports but Oliver's hypnosis failed to work their magic this time. Hence, I abstained from trying out the popular sport of “puenting” which involves jumpi...

After the indigenous, cold and remote Quilatoa region, i decided to head to Banos - which is a bit warmer and utterly utterly touristy. But nice all the same, nestled in a lush valley beneath an active volcano with lots of things to do.

Rainforestur grabbed me on the way from the station and tried to talk me into going white-water rafting the next morning for $35. I tried to pry them down to $30, and, despite their protests that they couldn'tīt do this for a IV trip, just the III, they...

After charming Cuenca, our next stop was Banos (or Bath if you translate it from Spanish!). Banos is located in cloud forest, on a plateau in between mountains and next to a canyon. Its location means that it is ideal for hiking, mountain biking, quad biking, horse riding, rafting or just enjoying the hot springs. Whilst Paul made the most of this environment I decided (mostly) to relax and take things easy! Paul did a couple of hikes including one to the near by Mirador (view point) which in...

Harry (23, England), Anabel (25, England), Brandon (35, Texas), Silvio (27, Switzerland), Steene (21, Denmark), Paola (21, Denmark) and I met at the Terminal Terestra to catch the 5 pm bus to Banos together. The four-hour ride wasn't so bad. I spent most of the time writing in my journal and snoozing, while the others watched some quality Spanish soap operas and a terrible action flick dubbed in Spanish of course. As soon as we arrived, we made our way to Plantos y Blanco's, a cute little hos...

I am so relieved to be out of Quito and in Baņos. It is like a breath of fresh air! It is a little town that has thermal baths and attracts both foreign tourists and maybe Ecuadorians, looking to get away for the weekend. My friend Marion was waiting for me at the bus and we found a nice hostel that has a terrace with a beautiful view of the mountains. It is gorgeous here, mountains all around the little town, (one is actually a volcano that had its last eruption a year or two ago...luckily n...

Updates!

So after our Cotopaxi adventures, Julieann, Phil, Lina, Kristy, and I caught a bus headed to Baņos - yes, Baņos as in bathrooms. The city is named after the numerous waterfalls cascading down into the town from the surrounding hills and the adjacent volcano, Tungurahua. We rolled in Thursday night, too late to do anything but check into our lovely hostel, Plantas y Blanco, and grab some dinner before passing out.
Come Friday morning, we set out to explore the new town. ...