06.-10.08. - Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador

On Sunday, August 6th, not much happened. We walked around the city, ate cheaply, and didn't do much else.

On August 7th, we traveled to the 'Bäder des Heiligen Wassers' (Baños de Agua Santa), of course by bus. The ride cost a little over $2 and took just over two hours. We had a super cool bus driver who took a shortcut on an unpaved gravel road right next to a 200m deep abyss and is so narrow that two cars can't pass each other. On this Monday, we took a walk through the small and picturesque town and gathered information about possible tours. There are at least (!) 100 tour providers here, offering tours to the Casa del Árbol, various swings over 100m deep abysses, parks, etc. In addition, there are rafting and canyoning tours, and you can rent quads, jeeps, and all kinds of other vehicles. The prices are agreed upon among all the tour providers, and if one is more expensive than the other, there is easily $20 leeway.

We also took it easy on Tuesday, August 8th. We had crepes for breakfast and also took a city tour. Baños has an extremely large number of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs that needed to be explored accordingly.

On Wednesday, August 9th, we went on a hike. First, we climbed about 200 meters to the 'Mirador La Virgen.' The 200 meters consisted of exactly 703 steps, which made it more strenuous than if it had been an easy path. Then we walked another 600 meters uphill to the Casa del Árbol. The Casa del Árbol (Tree House) is a small park with swings, a zip line, and many photo spots. Of course, you can also take the bus there, and there are many tours that you can book to get there. Afterwards, we walked down the road and visited the largest swing over the abyss, but we just watched. Since we didn't want to walk the 800 meters downhill (it was pouring rain), we stood by the road and waited for the bus. Next to us, construction workers were busy, and after a short conversation, they mentioned that the bus only comes once an hour, so we would have to wait an hour (the last one had just left). When I asked what our alternatives were, he offered to take us with them in their truck. So we just rode back to Baños with the construction workers.

For August 10th, we booked a tour of the Ruta de las Cascadas. It cost $5 and lasted 2-3 hours. Cascada is Spanish for waterfall, so on this tour, you visit several impressive waterfalls. The most impressive of these waterfalls is probably the Pailón del Diablo. We had never seen a waterfall like this before. It was so impressive that we felt like we couldn't capture it properly in photos. The main waterfall is about 80m tall, and a considerable amount of water rushes down the mountain here. Absolutely cool. We also visited a number of other waterfalls, and we even drove through some of them with our open-sided (!) bus because they fell directly onto the road. One of these waterfalls was on the other side of the gorge, and you could take a sort of cable car (if you can call it that) to get there. There was a gondola that could fit about 12-15 people, and the ride cost $2. It was operated by a modified truck engine. Someone had to control it, with a clutch, gas, and brakes (steering was of course not necessary). There were only two gears (forward and reverse), and the more gas you gave, the faster the gondola went. Did the Ecuadorian TÜV approve of this? Fortunately, no German TÜV inspector was present, as they probably would have passed out on the spot.