Baños, Ecuador

Baños, Ecuador

We said goodbye to Colombia and took the night bus to Ecuador. Of course, we boarded the bus wearing flip-flops, shorts, and tank tops, not knowing what the weather in Ecuador would be like. There was almost no space in the bus, most of the seats were already taken or broken. I barely found a seat, with only 5 cm of space between the seat in front and my chest. Surprisingly, I think I slept better than ever, even though the driver was driving as if he was being chased by 28 police cars and was a huge criminal. After 2 hours, we had to get off the bus to get our passports stamped at the border. Despite that, we had already arrived in Ecuador, the 7th country on our journey. The entire bus ride took 14 hours.

However, after 7 hours, we had to change buses. I, in my flip-flops and shorts, was almost freezing. Our backpack with warm clothes was locked in the luggage compartment because it would be loaded onto the next bus after 1 hour. Everyone else had caps and winter jackets on and looked at me as if I had escaped from a mental institution. We were really driving through the mountains, a breathtaking landscape. It felt like Switzerland. A mixture of the Jura mountains (relatively flat landscapes with fir trees), Appenzell, and Toggenburg because of the hilly and green scenery.

We immediately liked it from the start. We arrived in Baños, a beautiful town located in a valley. Apparently, the weather is mostly bad during the rainy season, but we were lucky to have had great weather throughout our stay.

We found our way to the hostel. It is a peaceful little town. The people are friendly and everyone knows each other. We had a fantastic hostel. Clean, spacious, comfortable beds. We paid 8 CHF per night, including breakfast with delicious bread (a mixture of braided bread and croissant) and dinner. Mostly simple meals like risotto or pasta.

It was already midday on the 16th when we didn't do much. We played cards with some cool people until it was time for dinner.

This is how Muriel eats dinner... :-)

On the second day, we woke up relatively late and indulged in the delicious braided bread croissants and homemade blackberry jam, mhhhhhhh. Then we went into town and rented bicycles. Muriel wasn't too happy because she hates cycling, and I was starting to feel it, just like when we go hiking.

But I slowly got used to it, and in the end, she always enjoys it. We then went on the 28-kilometer route that passes by various waterfalls.

In between the waterfalls, we also stopped at another special attraction. This is called "Zip-Lining". We hang on a metal roll attached to a zip line and zoom across a gorge. At first, I watched, but then I decided to do it. For 15 dollars, you can go from one side of the gorge to the other and back. I climbed up the tower with my harness and the metal parts that we use to attach ourselves to the line and waited for the guide. He came, without saying anything, attached himself to the line, and was off. I stood there, not knowing what to do. Muriel suggested that it wasn't a good idea for me to do it on my own. After 5 minutes, someone came and pushed me. He tied me to the metal structure with an old rope, without asking if it was safe enough, and gave me a push, and off I went, flying over the valley like a bird or Superman.

After reaching the other side, I had to climb up a mountain, and from there, someone pushed me again. It was really cool, especially since it was so spontaneous. We got back on our bikes and continued our journey. I have to admit...I was a bit nervous. The last waterfall was the most famous one. We had to walk down a canyon for about 20 minutes. From there, we could walk behind the waterfall. However, we got soaked and it was really tight. We had different perspectives and took many photos, marveling at the amount of water.

It felt like a deep bass sound, the water crashing down. We then had to climb back up, and suddenly it took us 40 minutes. Once we reached the top, we could walk on the other side of the canyon. We did that, and the view was even better. We walked along a beautiful path by the river and saw incredible nature.

When we saw the waterfalls from a distance, we took a transporter to Baños. It was a simple delivery van with bikes on the loading dock. We sat on loose wooden benches. It felt like being a pig on the way to the slaughterhouse. That's how the driver drove.

The next morning, we filled our stomachs with those incredible butter braided bread croissants and blackberry jam, mmmmhhh... We packed our bags and headed to the bus station. Our next destination was the capital city, Quito. We don't know how long we will stay there, we'll see.

Next Stop: Quito

See you soon,

Ernesto and Muriel