And southward I go

Basílica de la Virgen de Agua Santa

Baños was an interesting place to visit- it´s a small town but one of the bigger, better connected towns in the area. So in addition to a lot of tourists (especially on Saturday and Sunday) you get people coming in to sell produce, pick up supplies, meet up with friends.  If you come here, you´ll have no trouble keeping busy - you can tour the jungle, hike about a volcano, white water raft, get a massage and eat your weight in rotissierie chicken (I´ve never seen so many chicken places).  That said, you can probably fit everything there is to do into two to three days (unless you aim to camp overnight).  Make it a weekend - things get very quiet on Monday. Also, make sure you come to the right one: Baños de Agua Santa, Tungurahua, Ecuador -- there´s another Baños near Cuenca.

From Baños, I travelled by bus (two actually) to Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador and home to some fine examples of colonial architecture, Incan ruins, a university, and several Spanish-language schools. It´s also a good jumping off point for a visit to Cajas National Park.  (I only arrived yesterday so I really don´t know much about the place beyond what you can read about in a guidebook). I do know however the the human physical limit for bus riding is seven hours. At least that´s mine. Don´t get me wrong- the buses and roads on my journey to Cuenca were in fine condition and I barely feared for my life at all*, but right around hour six I was desparately searching for signs of Cuenca. That said, while you can fly between Quito and Cuenca, I´d recommend the bus - it´s a beautiful country and I think you´d miss out on that from the air. Also, you´d miss cows on leashes.

*Again, Ecuador is very hilly so, should you be blessed with a window seat during your trip you will periodically find yourself winging around a turn about two feet from a fifty foot vertical drop. With no guard rail. Like a guard rail would help. You (like me) may find this terrifying. No one else on the bus will even  notice.

(I´ll post some more pictures when I find better internet).