Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Thursday Morning we headed off down south accompanied by our lovely charming private driver Carlos! An hour south of Quito is Cotopaxi National Park, home to the highest Active Volvano in the world. Not equipped or fit enough to hike up to the summit we settled for a nice calm walk around some of the internal lagoons. Afterwards we headed to the Hacienda Cieneca for lunch, a beautiful old estate still relishing in its former glory. I never knew but Ecuador is one of largest exporters of Roses in the World. Carlos, because ' we were so special' arranged for us to go visit the plantation on the estate. We found out later that we weren't so special as he asked us for $5 for the guy who showed us around, a days wages to him! Anyway it was wonderful to see the spectacular array of colours. I joked and took the email address. If i ever get married I would email directly an order!! They retail here for 25cents a piece, a far cry from the 50euro we pay at home for a bouquet.
Our final destination , 2 and half hours further south was Banos. Suurounded by Volcanos it offers a choice of thermal bath resorts but at present the nearby Tungurahua Volcano is bubbling mad and making its presence felt. Appartently there have been reports on TV that the town has been evacuated but this is not the case. We chose the Luna Rutun resort perched above the town and after a long day travelling we were delightd to be greeted with the news that because things are quieter than normal we got upgraded to the Presidential Suite! As you can see from the photo's we have a beautiful view and a lovely fireplace which we have fallen asleep next to for the past few nights.
We have had a really chilled couple of days here. The hotel has a good spa so we treated ourselves to a few masages and treatments. Yesterday morning in an attempt to do some excercise we paid a visit to the nearby Devils Waterfall and hiked down to get a better view. Last night we decided to sample a local restaurant so we made a reservation for 7.30. We arrived alittle late to find the place full and literally the whole place just stared at us as if two aliens from Mars had just been beamed down from some other planet !We didn't know here to look! a very kind couple offered to share their table with us and so we were rescued from the curious gazes of all the locals. At $2 for a crepe, it was a real bargain and seriously yummy!
In the morning we off south again to the little city of Cuenca. Another week begins.. XX
- comments