Hotel Puerta Del Sol Banos

... gripped tightly to the buckle on the saddle. <br><br>We stopped at a waterfall and climbed to the top via a small amount of abseiling. The lady said we could go for a swim but the water was about minus 4 degrees and I didn´t really fancy caving my lungs into a half breathing mess so I skipped it and pussyfooted my feet around. They went numb after a minute and I was glad I´d given the swimming a miss.<br><br>We were soon back on the horse after jumping the ...

... a valley surrounded by hills and an imposing volcano, the town has - over the past 50 years - turned itself into a town focused on all things beauty and health related. Going to a town like this was, for me - and is for perhaps most males - a tad disconcerting. For starters you`re confronted with signs for "manicures" and "pedicures". I only found out the difference between these two terms after Renee sat me down 4 years ago and drew numerous pictures. Secondly ...

<br><br>G's report<br><br>Every new destination starts with some kind of escapade on the Ecuadorian buses. As South American buses go, there is nothing wrong with the Ecuadorian version, but I still have to be fully psyched up for it - starting with the arrival at the bus station where countless hombres milling about the terminal shout the destinations at you ("Quito, Quito, Quito" in your ear). Then you have to pick which bus company to travel with, despite there not being any ...

... they were very refreshing and I am glad we went at night. Our guide earlier in the day advised us that we should go at 6, this is when they change out the water from the afternoon, a nice tip to anyone wanting to sit in a nice broth of people. We never made it into the warmer of the to pools, I have since found out that it is around 110 degerees. No thanks, I will stick to hot tubs and the occasional polar bear!!<br>

... first big set of rapids to make sure we all got wet. Again, good work with the safety procedures! <br>I think the class of the rapids varied from 3-4, so not the most dangerous you can get, but still bloody good fun.<br>After the rafting we stopped in for lunch, some trout, then dropped one or two maggots in town and the rest of us went canyoning, which is basically abseilling down waterfalls. It was pretty and all, but ive abseiled before and it didnt get me overally ...

... came and lugged yet further cold water on me whilst I was told to rub my tummy clockwise (good for the bowels apparently). I was then reunited with Alex in the furnace before a bucket of cold water was chucked over our heads and then one last furnace before the fire-hose was pulled out to finish us off. Somehow we survived and thought this was a marvellous experience. The afternoon was taken up by us setting off on a riverwalk but seeing little of the ...

... so didn´t join Phil and Lina on their white-water rafting trip. Instead, I took a morning hike up one of the small mountains/big hills surrounding Baños, which provided some great pictures of the city below. Later, Andreas, Julieann, and I took a visit to one of the other thermal baths in town. <br><br> That pretty much wrapped up our stay in Baños. Although the town was beautiful and had tons to do, it was a little too insanely touristy for my tastes. Definitely a good time, though.

... later. There are<br>several tunnels on the way up, but they have paths round the side for<br>bikes. The first one on the way up is a dirt track, the others are<br>paved 'paseos'. The last one didn't have one at all, and there are<br>two tunnels one for traffic going up and the other coming down. We<br>couldn't see any light in the tunnel we should have taken, very<br>dangerous, so we took the other one, at least we could see the light<br>at the end. I think we scared a few ...

... the truck again, but stood the whole way as it had higher railings. Standing in the back of the truck and sharing traveling stories, going through the dark tunnels and hitting crazy bumps was almost as fun as the bike ride!<br><br>That night we ate at a great Mexican restaurant, Pancho Villa. The food here is really different than in Mexico and I was excited to eat Mexican food again. <br ...

... tougher, where you actually had to stand in the flowing water and jump into a pool at the bottom. The third was basically a way to get you down to the best one of all: waterfall #4. This one was a 45m straight drop off, no wall behind you. We couldn´t see where we were going until you were dangling from your rope under the dripping of the falls. It was a little scary, but extremely pretty. Sadly, I don ...