Arrival in South America Quito to Banos, Ecuador

     D-day finally arrived on August 9th.  So many months of anticipation, planning and packing were all gone and the only thing left to do was get out of Dodge.  We had three flights to catch; Newark to Orlando, Orlando to Panama City, Panama City to Quito.  Between each flight was only a one hour layover.  With air travel being what it is nowadays I was not optimistic that we would get to our final destination with bags in tow.

     Apparently the travel gods were on our side that day and we arrived in Quito without a hitch.  Our first hostel was a nice, clean, but expensive little place on a lovely street in the center of the old city called "La Ronda".  We stayed for a breakfast of scrambled eggs and one slice of deli ham before setting off for cheaper  digs 

 

   
     As luck would have it we arrived on Ecuadorian independence day.  The streets were filled with people waving flags, playing music and celebrating.  We hoofed it to the far side of the old city to and found a great little ex-pat hostel called "The Secret Garden".  The roof deck of the hostel had beautiful views of the whole city.

   
     That day and the we wandered the city visiting churches and sampling the local fare.  Breakfast: $1, Lunch $1.50 not getting traveler's diarrhea from the Ecuadorian street food that we ate, Priceless.  We had a great, if exhausting time hiking up and down the hills of the city (the elevation 9200 feet) and I tried my hand at being a travel channel host:

     The next day we set off for Banos. Thieves are apparently quite prevalent on the buses in Ecuador so we had to sit with our bags in our laps for the entire ride, not a fun on a 4 hour bus ride over barely paved roads.  Dead legs not withstanding, it was a wonderful ride winding through tiny towns and past huge volcanoes.  It the small towns were a bit strange.  All of the buildings are made of cinder blocks that can be seen drying on the side of the road.  However each town was full of both abandoned buildings and new construction giving the impression that the people of the town are like human hermit crabs that build one house, live in it until their family gets too large and then move on to a bigger house.  For security each house is surrounded by "Ecuadorian Barbed Wire" which is basically shards of broken glass cemented into the top of the outer wall.

       Banos is a beautiful city nestled among jagged green hills between the Andes and the Amazon.  The town gets its name from the abundance of volcanic thermal hot springs that dot the surrounding area.  It is also famous for its taffy of all things.  In many doorways downtown you can see men pulling taffy of all the colors of the rainbow.  We took a room in a place called the Hostel Transylvania although I saw no sign of vampires or werewolves around.  The first day we spent hiking in the hills around the city.

  The next morning we were up at 5:30 trying to beat the crowds to hot springs called the Virgen de Aguas Santas.  No such luck.  By the time we arrived there were already 200 people splashing about in the steaming spring water.  There were 3 pools.  1 very hot, 1 pretty hot and one ICE cold.  There are also freezing showers that were fed by the water fall seen above.

   Later that day we rented bikes and took a wonderful ride down hill past five different waterfalls that fed the Rio Verde on its way to the Amazon.  At every stop there were hordes of people selling chicken, sugar cane juice and of course quy (roasted guinea pig).  The ride was amazing but I did get a wicked sunburn.  Who knew the sun was so strong on the equator?  That night I had a meal of grilled tripe from a woman grilling on the street.  It was the tastiest intestine I've ever had.

     On our final day in Banos we started off at another hot spring.  This one was the very definition of third world extravagance.  Throngs of people in makeshift bathing suits huddled shoulder to shoulder; children, grandparents, indigenous people and polio victims all clamoring for a place in the muddy water.  It was not exactly what we expected.  Tomorrow it's back to the nice hot spring near our hostel before we get on the bus for Ambato.
    When we got back into town I found a perfectly nice bridge, so I thought, Why not jump off?  There was a cord attached of course.  IT WAS AWESOME.  We finished the day by hiking up to a tiny town perched high above Banos with great views of the volcano.

Well its getting late and we need to be up early to catch the bus tomorrow.  With any luck we'll arrive with our luggage and our hind quarters intact.