The Next Step

I had booked my flight to Central Amercia and had a week left to spend in Ecuador. I dragged myself out of Montañitas with the town looking severly in need of a rest after the antics of New Years. I decided something completely different was needed and headed on an eight hour bus ride East into the mountains. One of my favourite aspects of travelling in Latin America is that many of the countries have a diversity in environment and climate that we do not have in Britain. Having left the hot, sweaty coast we rose slowly through windy roads into the foothills, hugging the valley sides and eventually into the dense green mountians. Having initially been a little offput by the large lady who kept falling asleep on my lap, I began to appreciate her company as the air temperature dropped. By nightfall my flip flops and shorts were inadequate for the climate of Baños.

I spent a very relaxing and enjoyable five days in Baños mostly consisting of walking, bike riding, thermal pools and steam rooms. Travelling for the first time by myself I was happy to meet some friendly and interesting room mates with whom to spend time. Baños is one of Ecuador´s prime tourist destinations for nationals and foreigners and quite rightly deserves to be so. The town is set in a valley with steep, dense mountian sides rising in all directions. There are two thermal pools in the town. My favourite was under the giant waterfall which I would visit at sunset. Diving to and from the 42 degree Celcius pool to the 8 degree celcius pool, was enough to get the body tingling and the head feeling very light. I also hope I felt the more traditional benefits such as inmproved circulation and digestion. Behind Baños is the active volcano Tungurahua(Throat of Fire in the indigenous language). Unfortunately during my days in Baños the peak was cloudy and I could not see the smoke or glow of lava at nightime. However, I was lucky enough to hear the rumble of the volcano and know that the Earth was alive.

The highlight of my time there was:
-Meeting José and our nightly chats on the street corner where he sold various hand made clothes. José in from a nearby indigenous tribe and was a great source of information on how life has changed for the local tribe. He also had a great cheeky smile and a wry laugh.

-Visiting the Pailon de Diablo waterfall. I cycled down on the five dollar (what a bargain) rented bike, on my way crossing the river valley on trolleys (see photos) eventually arriving at the entrance to the valley of Pailon de Diablo. A fourty minute walk to the valley floor and a quick scarmble to the waterfall. So there I stood underneath a 100m waterfall with the water plummeting violently down just in front of me. With no one else there I had a special few minutes getting extremely wet and enjoying my contact with Mother Earth.

On the Sat I caught a plane to Nicaragua via Panama where I have now been for two weeks. I´ll write more about Nicaragua later but so far my time has been fantastic. Great people, beautiful countryside and cheap to live.