Baños is a beautiful town situated in the central highlands of Ecuador at 1820m above sea level in a valley overlooked by steep hills and Volcan Tungurhuaa which has recently had some activity so evacuation procedures are in place. The town is bustling with tourists as this is a common spot for hiking, climbing, horse riding, white water rafting, canyoning and more.
We were camping in Rio Verde just outside of Baños. There are several tours similar to the Dragoman tour all touring at the same time at the moment as the full tours are planned to arrive in Rio (Brazil) for the Carnival. We are often a day behind or infront of the others but it is not unusual to be staying in the same places and at Rio Verde we found ourselves meeting up with lots of others who had been at shangrila.
I tried canyoning which involved getting extremely wet whilst abseiling down the face of a waterfall, atleat this time we were harnessed and roped! Here is where I realised water sports and contact lenses dont really mix. Nonetheless it was good fun and we got some interesting photos and video footage.
One thing I really enjoyed about Ecuador is the way you can just grab a lift in the back of a pick up truck. It feels like horse riding without a hat on, ok you are not so safe but you can feel the wind in your hair and it is only as risky as crossing the road. Actually crossing the road over here is probably more dangerous! So 4 of us girls had been offered a ride by a passer by heading in that direction so we hopped on the back of his truck for the speedy 20 minute ride down the windey roads and through the numerous leaky tunnels. The driver and his wife turned out to be tourists from the States. It was all quite random but they were nice people and we had a lovely afternoon in Baños.
That evening we jumped into the back of another truck, this one prebooked from our campsite. Posing as a taxi but really a vegetable truck by day and and a party truck by night. Yes the precariously mounted speakers in the back of the small pick up truck were booming out cheesy dance anthems all the way to the thermal baths. At the baths I was initially quite surprised at the amount of locals using the baths and most of us gringos suddenly became quite self conscious. We went straight for the really hot one and wow, it was great. Steaming natural hot spring on a cool night, under a clear sky and a full moon.....magical. I even enjoyed interchanging between the hot and the very cold baths and I hate cold water usually!
On leaving Rio Verde we stopped to take some photos of the volcano (which since then has had more activity and the town has been evacuated!). We travelled on in our truck over the Andes taking in the beautiful scenery and observing the Andean communities going about their daily lives. Many continue to wear traditional costume. The people are shorter than me, the ladies wear a skirt with a colourful poncho, a hat and wellies and can often be seen either carrying a baby or goods such as shopping or farming goods on their back in a satchel /sling made from plain material.
At higher altitude the vegetation is a little sparse and dull but it every now and then you will pass a fertile valley where there are agricultural fields neatly organised in patchwork design up the hillsides surrounded by houses. You catch a glimpse of a colourful poncho in the distance as a women works the land by hand with her satchel on her back. I watched a man in a large field continually throwing a fairly large boulder to the ground in his field to break up the largr clumps of earth and at one point I wathched a shepherd walk downhill out of thick cloud towards the small town leading 2 sheep with 2 lamb following closely by their sides. I also saw larger family groups farming together.
After 10 hours of driving we arrived at Cuenca, a beautiful colonial city which has a real cosmopolitan feel to it with great restaraunts. We ate well!
I took myself off to Museo del Banco Pumapungo and archeological site which I have to say was fantastic. The museum was the best I had visited so far with exhibits of colonial art, crafts, folk celebrations, and the way of life of the different groups of inhabitants in Ecuador through the various ages in their diverse zones of environment up to the present day and included displays of indigenous costumes and masks and a stunning display of shrunken heads from the Shuar culture. The crafts varied in materials including silver, material, wood, straw, leather and stone. Every corner I turned, there was more to see.
The archeological site comprised of the foundations of the most important inca city of Tomebamba which overlooks the city. Below the ruins there are modern gardens with interpretation and examples of how the inca people would have used the land and what they would have grown.
Next blog: The journey across the border and into Peru
We were camping in Rio Verde just outside of Baños. There are several tours similar to the Dragoman tour all touring at the same time at the moment as the full tours are planned to arrive in Rio (Brazil) for the Carnival. We are often a day behind or infront of the others but it is not unusual to be staying in the same places and at Rio Verde we found ourselves meeting up with lots of others who had been at shangrila.
I tried canyoning which involved getting extremely wet whilst abseiling down the face of a waterfall, atleat this time we were harnessed and roped! Here is where I realised water sports and contact lenses dont really mix. Nonetheless it was good fun and we got some interesting photos and video footage.
One thing I really enjoyed about Ecuador is the way you can just grab a lift in the back of a pick up truck. It feels like horse riding without a hat on, ok you are not so safe but you can feel the wind in your hair and it is only as risky as crossing the road. Actually crossing the road over here is probably more dangerous! So 4 of us girls had been offered a ride by a passer by heading in that direction so we hopped on the back of his truck for the speedy 20 minute ride down the windey roads and through the numerous leaky tunnels. The driver and his wife turned out to be tourists from the States. It was all quite random but they were nice people and we had a lovely afternoon in Baños.
That evening we jumped into the back of another truck, this one prebooked from our campsite. Posing as a taxi but really a vegetable truck by day and and a party truck by night. Yes the precariously mounted speakers in the back of the small pick up truck were booming out cheesy dance anthems all the way to the thermal baths. At the baths I was initially quite surprised at the amount of locals using the baths and most of us gringos suddenly became quite self conscious. We went straight for the really hot one and wow, it was great. Steaming natural hot spring on a cool night, under a clear sky and a full moon.....magical. I even enjoyed interchanging between the hot and the very cold baths and I hate cold water usually!
On leaving Rio Verde we stopped to take some photos of the volcano (which since then has had more activity and the town has been evacuated!). We travelled on in our truck over the Andes taking in the beautiful scenery and observing the Andean communities going about their daily lives. Many continue to wear traditional costume. The people are shorter than me, the ladies wear a skirt with a colourful poncho, a hat and wellies and can often be seen either carrying a baby or goods such as shopping or farming goods on their back in a satchel /sling made from plain material.
At higher altitude the vegetation is a little sparse and dull but it every now and then you will pass a fertile valley where there are agricultural fields neatly organised in patchwork design up the hillsides surrounded by houses. You catch a glimpse of a colourful poncho in the distance as a women works the land by hand with her satchel on her back. I watched a man in a large field continually throwing a fairly large boulder to the ground in his field to break up the largr clumps of earth and at one point I wathched a shepherd walk downhill out of thick cloud towards the small town leading 2 sheep with 2 lamb following closely by their sides. I also saw larger family groups farming together.
After 10 hours of driving we arrived at Cuenca, a beautiful colonial city which has a real cosmopolitan feel to it with great restaraunts. We ate well!
I took myself off to Museo del Banco Pumapungo and archeological site which I have to say was fantastic. The museum was the best I had visited so far with exhibits of colonial art, crafts, folk celebrations, and the way of life of the different groups of inhabitants in Ecuador through the various ages in their diverse zones of environment up to the present day and included displays of indigenous costumes and masks and a stunning display of shrunken heads from the Shuar culture. The crafts varied in materials including silver, material, wood, straw, leather and stone. Every corner I turned, there was more to see.
The archeological site comprised of the foundations of the most important inca city of Tomebamba which overlooks the city. Below the ruins there are modern gardens with interpretation and examples of how the inca people would have used the land and what they would have grown.
Next blog: The journey across the border and into Peru
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