26.08. - 29.08.11

BANOS

On Friday, 26.08.11 Frederik from Germany and I took the bus from LATACUNGA to BANJOS. After we checked out the "Plantas & Blancas Hostel" we decided to walk over the "Hostel Los Pinos" as some other travellers recommended it to us…….and as we were quite happy with it we decided to stay there.

After we had a great lunch at the "Mercado" we wanted to do some sightseeing around the beautiful town….but we couldn't believe it when when we came outside the mercardo and it was raining, so we just walked back to our hostel and had an afternoon nap.

While I was updating my travel blog in the garden of the hostel, Dan, another traveller from England asked me if I would like to join him to go to the "Thermal baths" at 6pm. What a question…..for sure I am coming!!!! Later on some other travellers joined us and we had a great time at the pools. Even though that is was very, very busy and the water was boiling hot..... but it was exactly what I needed for my stiff muscles!

The next day, 27.08.11 we woke up and it was raining! Oh no….not again! My plan was to go hiking up to the cross and the little village of "Runtun" but as it didn't stop raining I changed my mind and just stayed in the hostel and answered some emails.

At around 2pm Frederik and I went to the nice restaurant "Casa Hood" where we had a quick but yummy lunch. From there we walked to the "San Franzisco Bridge" where we saw a mad Ecuadorian guy jumping from the bridge. No, no he wasn't committing suicide; it was just one of the hundreds of activities they offer in Banos.....Swing-Jumping!

We continued hiking up to a town called "Sauces" from where we had a beautiful view over the town…..and then back down to Banos. Unfortunately it started raining again but we still enjoyed the nice 2 hour walk around Banos.

Back in town, I walked over to the tour company "GEOtours" and booked a Rafting Trip for 30 USD the next day.

On Sunday morning, 28.08.11 I walked over to the tour company "GEOtours" where I met the rafting guide William, the safety kayaker Andres and Luis and the rest of the group…..a couple from Columbia and three people from the USA!

At 10 am we drove to the "Rio Pastaza" were we changed into our wetsuits, life wests and helmets. After that we had a safety talk and William showed us how to paddle and explained the rafting commands! And then…..we finally took the raft into the water. Puuhh…..as no one of us was experienced we were all quite nervous.

The water level of the river was quite low and therefore the rapids quite strong. After half an hour we all felt quite confident and had lots of fun……but suddenly we paddled into really strong rapids and the raft, including all of us captured. William was the only one who managed to stay in the raft!!!

Wow…as I was drifting down the fast moving river I actually got quite scared and swallowed tonnes of water ….but thank god we had to safety kayaks with us and both of them managed to get us back into the boat within 5 Minutes.

Half an hour later we nearly captured again and the Columbian guy and I had to be rescued again. Puuhh….how exiting and after 1 ½ hours when we finished everyone was quite exhausted.

Andres, one of the safety kayakers took quite a few photos of us. So check them out on my travel blog and search for the photo album: Rafting in Banos!!!

On the way back to Banos we stopped at a restaurant where we got a fresh cooked trout for lunch. We couldn't believe how hungry we all were after only 1 ½ hours rafting!

Back in Banos I spent the afternoon with uploading my photos and later on I checked the buses for my next destination to TENA in "the Orient" of Ecuador.