Banos

We adopted the hostal's dog, Gringa, and took her for several walks into the mountains and up to the various viewpoints to look out onto the town and the huge volcano that looms over it. We were only partially able to see the volcano though as it was permanently shrouded in mist.

One of the baths we visited is illuminated at night to show the waterfall next to it.

The 21km bike ride consisted of cycling through the surrounding countryside to Rio Verde, the site of the 'Pailon del Diablo', a massive waterfall. We saw several waterfalls on the way. As well as getting used to riding a bike again (Sophie) we had to negotiate two long dark tunnels with lorries and buses passing us. Saw people bungee-jumping of a bridge and also travelling across a gorge by way of a flimsy high speed cable car. On arrival at the Rio Verde we hiked to the biggest waterfall. We got so close to the waterfall we were soaked. We then crawled through a cave so that we could stand directly behind the 'Pailon del Diablo'.

For photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/trevallion74/Banos

For video - http://www.dailymotion.com/trevallion/video/x65wu6_in-front-of-the-pailon-del-diablo-w_travel and http://www.dailymotion.com/trevallion/video/x65wvv_behind-the-pailon-del-diablo-waterf_travel

written by  billyandsophie on July 13, 2008 from Banos, Ecuador
from the travel blog: South America
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