Stay in Baños

After volunteering for 3 weeks in Mompiche, we had some activity times in Baños. Baños is located south from Quito in a valley between some mountains and volcanos. It's a totally touristic town, because there is a lot of stuff to do. Even though it's really nice staying there. It's completely safe, has some vegan and vegetarian restaurants, has a beautiful city center and a very nice atmosphere because of the constant beautiful surrounding. 

We stayed in a cosy hostel which had a little backyard with a kitchen, a big avocado tree and a little cute turtle named Manuela. Feeding her with strawberries, bananas and oat was hilarious! The avocado tree gave me one of the biggest shock of my life, when one of its avocados fell down on the tin roof. The sound was like a gun shot right next to me.

So we decided to do some low budget activities around town. The first day we rented bikes for 5$ a day and ride them down the hill through the valley to a waterfall. 

Another day we went to a swing which is located on top of a mountain, to get some little adrenaline kicks swinging over the edge of the mountain. From there we also had a great view on the active volcano Tungurahua (from Quechua: Throat of Fire), which erupted the last time in 2014. After hiking down we spent some time in the hot springs of the town. Changing from very hot to very cold water again and again let our muscles recover. At one point I got a bit dizzy and I had to take a little break.

On our last day we still decided us against all the guided tours and activities like bungee jumping, rafting, zip lining, guided treks, etc. and just walked over the bridge out of town and tried to go up a mountain. There were no informations, if it's even possible or worth it and we didn't get any tip of other travelers. So it was quite a spontaneous thing and like we all know these are mostly the best ones! And it turned out to be quite nice. No one else on the trek, best weather (it can get rainy in Baños), not very exhausting and a beautiful view from the top, of the city and the volcano! Nice finish of the town Baños, which we both very liked and where we felt very comfortable. I can totally recommend this town for everybody who is going to visit Ecuador. Don't miss Baños! ... Even if it means toilets in Spanish ;-) !