The night before last we arrived in Banos by bus. It was a long six and a half hour ride with not a tourist or white person in sight. Our bus driver was apparently slow and enjoyed taking his time because we had many angry Ecuadorians protesting his driving skills by yelling and banging on the sides of the bus the entire trip down. Ironically, I found it amusing and it helped to pass the time.
None the less we arrived safe and sound at the side of the road bus terminal around 10 and we were immediately fished out of our bus ride by a very anxious and persuading woman who owned a hostel... As we looked around us at the deserted bus stop we realized our choices were slim so in a quick moment we decided to go with her. Little did we know that we would be staying with her and her family in their home that they have converted into hostel like rooms. It all worked out in the end because we have the most comfortable room that we have had yet.
The town of Banos sits at the foothills of the Andes mountains and is two hours west of the Amazon. Looming above the city is the Tunguahura Volcano that erupted last only two months ago. There are several houses that sprinkle the sides of the mountain that lie under the volcano yet despite all the smoke and threating lava, those people never evacuate their homes.
So on our first day here in Banos we woke up and stepped outside and looked up only to see the largest mountains looking back at us. We are literally sleeping on the foothills of what seemed like the Koolau´s! Walking further into town we immediately fell in love with everything we passed. To our left there is a waterfall that falls directly down into the town that the Ecuadorian´s have found ways to prosper on by building aquaducts and pipelines that pour into a several showers and three pools, all loaded to the brim with people. The town is filled with beautifully architectured churches, colorful parks and small gardens that line the street sides. It captured Sean and I so much that we have decided just to stay put for the next ten days until Jono arrives and we head back to city life. And there is enough to keep us busy and beyond for the entire length of time since the streets are filled with outdoor activities and Amazon treks (in which we will begin with one tomorrow)!
Yesterday was a lesiurely day for us, we hung around the streets walking up and down soaking it all in and deciding what we would do. Then we met a friend; she is really the first person we have had an indepth conversation with (and hung out with for longer than a couple hours) since we left. Overwhelmed to talk to someone else other than eachother we mobbed this girl and made her our friend... Her name is Treveena :-)
Today (after a night of convincing her that we were cool) we all decided to rent one of the beefy, decked out, mean machine, dune buggy that are abundant in this town. After making some sandwiches, obtaining a terrible map and getting our hands on the keys of this beefed out buggy we took off on the highway and headed for the spot on the map where there was a waterfall and some hot water springs. We ended up on the top of a hill where we could look down on the lush green-farm based-hardly populated city. Also at the top of this hill, past a three minute walk up a steep mountain was a tree house that sat on the edge of a cliff accompained with a swing that swung you over a 10, 20, then 30 foot drop below you... It was scary, fun and incredible all at once. We never did find a waterfall and the hot water springs had been turned into crazy tourist attractions but all in all it was a great day.
Tomorrow we are heading into the Amazon for a couple of days on a tour, I am really looking forward to it!
Hasta luego mis amigos!
lyndsay and sean
PS sorry for not posting pictures, we were short on time... We will load you up upon our return on Friday!
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