Banos

Yesterday we were up early to get the 6 a.m. bus to Ambato. Made it there to the bus station with time to spare, bought our ticket, and waited. At 6 we found out the bus was cancelled (mechanical problems they said) so we got our tickets refunded and took the 7 a.m. bus on another bus line. It was a long trip, and it was an old, smelly bus. Of course, they stop along the way from time to time so people can sell snacks or food to passengers. The guy Greg sat beside bought this greasy bowl of choclo (corn) with roasted pig, with a big chunk of thick deep fried pig skin. He chowed down on that for about an hour and then he fell asleep. We finally made it to Ambato at 2 p.m. There was, of course, beautiful mountains to enjoy along the way, so who's complaining? From Ambato we got a van to Banos, and the driver was a maniac on the road, not to mention a good part of the road was under construction.

We arrived at our hosteria, the Chimena, around 3 p.m. Not a bad place for $8.50 per night per person, although the pool was not in use. We walked around the town and it is a very touristy place. It is a lot nicer than many of the other towns we drove through on the way, like Riobamba or Ambatos which were very run down. There are tons of hostels, hotels and restaurants in Banos and this is the low season so not a lot of tourists. We would say this is the Banff of Ecuador, with hot springs and mountains all around and we are happy to be here.

I have taken a lot of pictures but not able to post them here so I will try to do a bit of writing and fill in with pictures and more details when we get back to Cuenca.

On the road from Cuenca to Ambato ....







There was a papaya tree outside our hostel and this is the flower.