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Banos, 'bathroom' in Spanish and nestled south of Quito, is very much a Gringo-centric location. This isn't necessarily a negative as it makes it easier to book tours and converse in the mother tongue. We hired bikes for a 20k bike ride downhill(!) to waterfalls and trekked up hills to find shrines and crosses scattering the landscape. Whilst trecking military helicopters circled the mountains and soldiers scoured the earth to try and locate a missing 18 year old American who had disappeared whilst hiking with his family...
From Banos we travelled to Alausi, a small town with access to the 'Devil's Nose', a train journey through hills in the countryside to a small station at the bottom of the valley. This journey used to be high-risk, enabling tourists to sit on the roof of the train and cling on for their dear lives. 'Unfortunately' a few years back, a Japanese tourist, presumably partaking in the national pastime of phototaking, wasn't too balanced and tumbled to his death. Ecuadorian H&S HQ woke up its sole employee and the assessment was that it would be safer inside. Hence we sat inside, SAGA-style, for a beautiful if not tame ride through the countryside.
Prompted by some French neighbours deciding that making smoothies at 6.30am in the kitchen next to our beds would be welcomed, we resolved to get up and hike around Cajas national park (nr Cuenca). This further nail in the coffin of Anglo-Franco relations did however enable us to visit a stunning part of the country at a time of the day when the sun did not wholly destroy all in its path.
We travelled to Vilcabamba in part because it had a good reputation for hiking but also because of one hostel, Ischiluma, that we had seen plastered on every corner of Ecuador. Ran by two German brothers, this was a little corner of paradise with pool, buffet breakfast and games tables. They designed their own hikes around the local area and we even went to one of the brother's birthday party, complete with open bar. In fact, Dieter (the birthday boy) had to be stepped over on the way to breakfast the next day, having partied (and drank) until 8.30 that morning...
Ecuador is a beautiful country and one we're sad to leave. But onwards to Peru, the land of llamas, incas and more chicken and rice...
Oh, and the missing 18 year old in Banos? He decided holidaying with the family was too mundane, picked up a taxi, got on a coach and spent a week in the Amazon taking drugs with a Shaman... We suspect that his family and the Ecuadorian armed forces had a few words on his return...
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