Bathrooms

Cycling the Ruta de las Cascadas with a mountain bike is a great pleasure and not particularly strenuous because you mostly ride downhill along the Rio Verdes on the road. This bike tour is healthy only for the eyes, not for the ears or lungs - the traffic on the road is relatively heavy and I don't want to know how many soot particles I inhaled today. But never mind - the sight of the many beautiful waterfalls was definitely worth it. I can't remember the names of the 7 Cascadas that line this route, but the highlight and endpoint was the Cascada di Diabolo, which can only be reached via a long hiking trail through a wooded gorge. Allegedly, the paths and steps that lead to this waterfall, as well as the restaurant on the opposite side that can only be reached via a suspension bridge, were built by hand without machines. The trail and the restaurant are definitely worthwhile and the waterfall, which can be reached crawling through a cave passage, is gigantic.

By the way, on the way back to Baños, we didn't have to pedal, but were taken along with our bikes in an open truck bed. That was almost as tiring as the outward journey because the vehicle obviously doesn't have any shock absorbers and we were shaken up quite a bit.