Flor de Oriente Banos

... then copied what the locals did, and had a cold shower from the water of the waterfall right next to the baths (and boy it was cold), then back into the hot pool... two repititions of this was enough for us but it was really great way to start a day.<br><br>That afternoon we decided to rent bikes and head to some of the waterfalls just outside the town. However, just as we set off the rain started coming down, and was pretty much on and off for our whole ...

... very relaxing...but for the most part Baños is a hive of activity, there are many action sports to choose from, Canoning, Swing Bridge Jumping, Canopy Flying Foxes...however my choice was easy. White water rafting. I`ve never been before and always wanted to do it.<br><br>I can recall it being around the $200-$300 mark in NZ which I find crazy since I paid $40 for a full day including lunch ...

... br><br>We then spent the rest of the trip hiking through the jungle. It was quite exciting hacking our way off the trails the first time, ok the second time but by the third day we had all had enough. It was very tiring and falling over all the time god knows putting my hand in what all got very frustrating. There were good moments: understanding how to live off the jungle, gorge walking to waterfalls, meeting indigenous ...

... dressed, in three layers of clothing for the whole session.<br><br>I needn`t of worried. There was plenty to be getting on with other than womanly health activities. Like, for example, the multitude of hot pools scattered around the town. Touting numerous health benefits like liver restoration - something I think we can all admit is high on our list of vital organs to restore - the hot pools are filled with the thermal waters flowing under the nearby volcano. So ...

... but the seats reclined. That was something - until the lady in front of hers reclined hers fully, and it ended up literally 3 inches from my nose, with about a square inch of leg room (we had plenty time during the 7 hours to measure). Peter was all for getting off at the next stop, which would have meant getting chucked off at the side of the road in the back of beyond. To cut a long story short, we survived the 7 hours, we managed to find a connection, and ended up in ...

... this time either. But for the price it had to be done!<br>I got back to the hostel and had a prope hot shower, good to be out of the mountains with the freezing cold showers they had there and got some tea and flaked out at the hostel. Banos is meant to be a party town, but of course I arrive on a Sunday night!<br><br>29th September 2009<br>Up to do the bike ride of death. 60km if you do the whole think, about 48km for me in the end because I bailled at the second last ...

... which allegedly is a national favorite, though I´ve only seen it this one time), they do it right - remove the hair, remove the innards, stick a spit up the ****, and roast the sucker over a grill. I´ll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one. Since Phil had not eaten breakfast at the hostel with the rest of us, he ordered a plate of cuy, from which we all snagged bites of rodent. The portion of meat he received was a leg unceremoniously torn off a poor ...

... the town´s name...). I wasn´t that keen when I saw it - a disgusting brown green colour. It was unlike the other thermal baths I have experienced before, in Costa Rica, Budapest and even in Moree so I was a bit hesitant. But we´d already arrived and its another of the main things that people do in Baños so I wasn´t leaving without at least getting in for a moment. Once I was in I have to admit it wasn´t that bad, I´ll just say it was ´minerally ...

... a 7 hour ride followed by a changeover and another 1 hour bus ride. The 7 hour ride was actually ok, the bus driver seemed to take his time thank god. By the time we got the last hour bus we were wrecked-the bus was so warm and sticky and even though it was only an hour it felt like ages. We finally got to Banos and at this stage have finished with long bus journeys for a good few months-Only one more bus in south america to Quito and that should only take 3 ...

... around of whom I could ask directions!<br><br>I made a few forays into the undergrowth on the stream boundary and then heard the sound of water trickling over a small waterfall. I remembered crossing the stream at such a place, so I struck out in that direction, slipping over in the mud and on the wet branches, and getting dirty and scratched up in the process. Eventually I found the source of the sound of the babbling brook, only to find that it wasn't the same place ...