Ambato and Banos, Ecuador by Kev

6.10.2025. Up early so we can head to the bus station and sort out some tickets. 12Go Asia has been useful in other countries but useless here. I read some stuff on the interwebs that bus tickets in South America usually can not be purchased online, only in person. So why do they sell the bloody things then! We bought tickets really easily and hopped on a bus almost straight away. Mel messaged 12go and told them we had tickets, they replied they would do a refund. The fact that Mel messaged multiple times over 4-5 days asking for our tickets and we kept getting told it's being worked out and just wait, instead of telling us that they couldn't secure tickets was very stressful. Anyway, we're off to Ambato. As we saw in Quito, the landscape here is fantastic. Tall mountains and winding roads. Lots of farms all the way up the sides of some mountains. Green everywhere, and small villages throughout. We got to Ambato way too early and couldn't check in yet. We found a small restaurant and got some food and a coffee. We sat there for ages before checking in. The apartment is pretty good. Two bedrooms, a loungeroom/kitchen/dining room, two bathrooms and even a media room. I'm sure shit will be spread all over the place soon enough. We headed back out and found an ATM, then a supermarket. After the supermarket we walked through a huge market that had every vege or fruit you could want. Naturally we got some extra stuff. We headed back afterwards and put everything away. The kitchen is new and really well laid out, but I only have one pot and one pan. I like having a few things on the go at once, I will mention it could be better equipped. Dinner was made and eaten, then off to bed so we can explore tomorrow.
7.10.2025. We're going out to see the city today. Well the bit that's near where we are staying anyway. Our first stop was a museum. Some paintings and portraits. Every country is different and every artist is different. We see the differences in the art from all the different countries. We then visited a “new” church. Well 1949 new, but it's architecture made it seem to me as though it were newer. The last “big” earthquake they had here was in 1949. It wiped out a lot of the city, including the church. They have obviously since rebuilt. We stopped at a small Ecuadorian boulangerie, I can't remember what they call it, and grabbed a couple things. Em got a person shaped snack with icing on it. Turns out it was full of caramel too. I grabbed what I thought was just a bread roll, but tasted kinda like a slightly salty croissant. Both were delicious. We stopped at another museum, this one showing the daily lives and clothing of the Ecuadorian people. There were painted murals all inside too. We were approached by a few people who asked us if we could help them make a promotional video. Apparently they are having a convention of sorts on the weekend and would like some English speaking people to help promote it. Why not, it's not like anyone is gonna see it. After our few words, we finished our visit and moved on. Next was yet another museum, this one was about Juan Montalvo. An Ecuadorian author, who was exiled from his country for speaking out against the government and its dictator. He later died in Paris after the second time he was exiled, this time for speaking out against the next dictator. Eventually his remains returned to Ambato, Ecuador, his home town. Where he was laid to rest in a mausoleum next to his house. The museum was set up in his old house. It was interesting and there were some very inspirational quotes of his around. A little too godly for me but the man seemed to have his head screwed on right. By now we're getting hungry, kids are starting to snarl and drool looking at each other. We wandered for a bit, and I led us to a market. Nope that's just a market, but hey what's that next to it? A cafeteria by the looks of it, set up for working Ecuadorians. Let's try, language barrier be damned! We managed to order almuerzo, which means lunch in Spanish. It usually consists of a soup, a main and a juice. That's what we got, we even managed to get across that Mel is vegetarian and they got a “special” lunch. There's meat in everything here, so you have to ask for vegetarian, usually. A really nice chicken soup followed by a good pork chop, salad and rice. The juice was good too, and is always different from restaurant to restaurant. By the end I was stuffed, I didn't even finish the kids leftovers, just my own food. Mel went to pay and when they got back said, $8. Wow, $8 for the four of us and it was pretty decent food. Once again, go where the locals go. After that we slowly wandered to our next stop. Another museum, this one was bigger and had lots of animals in it. It was also closed! We weren't the only ones trying to get in, so it wasn't just us who couldn't find the front door. Well what now? Back to the apartment, rest a bit, it was a pretty big day. Kids did some schoolwork and Mel and I looked at other stuff we could do.
8.10.2025. We're headed to some historical houses today, along with that comes some really big gardens to explore as well. We headed across a bridge near our apartment, something we haven't done yet and headed towards our destination. A bit later we got to the first of the houses but it didn't seem we could get in. Something was happening there and there were security guards that told us to keep heading along the road to the entrance. So that's what we did, kept walking. We eventually got to the entrance, paid our fees and went in. Lots of paths, lots of plants and lots of flowers. Ambato is called the city of fruits and flowers and after being in the market and now visiting here I believe it. We walked for a while just enjoying our surroundings. We found some huge flowers that were almost as tough as leather. You could see through one that had fallen and the kids had fun doing that. There were flowers of all sizes and aromas all around us. We visited the first of two historical houses in the gardens, this one had lots of paintings and mannequins dressed up. On the way we found a wooden car the kids mucked around on and a swing with hummingbirds. Once we got to the end and the other historical house we found it was hosting some kind of event and we couldn't go in. Oh well. We could have exited there, but we decided to go back through the garden again, much better than walking along a road. After we left the gardens we found a small place for lunch. Where we had lunch was right next to a park so the kids had a good play before we headed back to the apartment. While resting I boiled some water. We've been told not to drink the tap water here, so I boil some for us to drink. We bought a big bottle when we first arrived and I now just top it up. The rest of the night went as usual, keep reading for tomorrow.
9.10.2025. Today we're heading to Baños, a smaller town not far from Ambato. Up early, quick breakfast and into a taxi. Out of the taxi and onto a bus. About an hour later we are in Baños. Of course we're early, we always are. Early for what you ask? Why early for all the activities we booked today! But as I said, we're early, so we stopped at a coffee shop. Mostly to kill time, but also because I like coffee. It's now 9am and we're off to start our first activity, biking roughly 17klm, stopping at waterfalls on the way. Our guide, Roberto, wasn't sure Emma was up for it, so he pushed a bit for us to take a car. We wanted to ride as Emma had expressed that she was missing her bike. Emma rode, but we did agree to pay a little more for a car to follow us just in case. Which turned out to be a good choice as Emma's bike wasn't the greatest and she did indeed use the car a couple times. I'm not criticising her effort at all. Emma pushed herself and was knackered by the end of it. We all were. Along the way we stopped at a few waterfalls, a cable car and a huge zipline. Andrew and I decided to do the zipline. This one you lay down in “superman” position and go headfirst. I should have kept my glasses on as my eyes were watering from the wind. It was over 1klm long and up to 110klm/hr. I was told to put my hands out to slow myself down once over the river. I still had to be stopped at the end. Andrew got the early lead, but because I was heavier I soon overtook him. We kept riding, the cable car was pretty cool. Although the guy controlling it did a few sudden stops which made some of us, not mentioning any names, shit themselves just a little. More riding. We went through a tunnel in the mountain, Andrew did not like the tunnel and was happy to be out the other side. When we made it to the end of our trip, we all felt a great sense of accomplishment. I reckon Emma rode at least 2/3rds of it, which was an achievement in itself as Mel said her bike didn't roll that well and she even had to pedal downhill, when the rest of us got to roll and rest. I am proud of my family. The last stop was Pailón del Diablo. In English, Cauldron of the Devil. A beautiful waterfall running along greyish/black volcanic rock, towards an 80m drop into the cauldron. Some suspension bridges and walkways for the tourists were crossed. It truly was a lovely place to visit, opening up into a canyon in the forest. On the way out we stopped at a couple of shops, yep there's shops to buy trinkets here. There's shops to buy trinkets everywhere. We were then taken for lunch. A restaurant near the falls, where we had fresh grilled trout caught from the river, with rice and salad and of course a juice. It was delicious, the fish was cooked perfectly. Next stop is a place called The Casa del Arbor. The Treehouse. On the top of a mountain, with nice gardens and paths. Also really big swings that go out over the edges of the mountain. The kids loved the swings, Mel not so much but they had a go. There were even some flying foxes. The kids had a lot of goes on them. Alright, we need to keep moving as we have another activity. On the way out of the treehouse we saw hummingbirds. We even got a close up look at one as it rested on a branch. Mel managed to get a pic of one in flight. Next stop, ziplines! We got to the next place and got geared up. We're off to have some fun! Emma is so much better at ziplines now. This time she had to go by herself, and in superman position. She was a bit scared, but there was no real hesitation from her. Em just got the job done. She is definitely more comfortable with ziplines now, which is great for us as we don't like having to convince her everytime. In between ziplines we had to walk a fair bit up the mountains. After already biking a fair bit today and running with the kids when they did the flying fox at the treehouse, my legs were starting to complain a bit. It was cool up in the mountains, but that didn't stop me from sweating it up and huffing and puffing a bit. After that we got dropped back to the company office and then taken over to our hostal for the night. It was a room to ourselves and had enough beds for everyone. It was also included in the price of the activities and included breakfast tomorrow, so win win. We had a rest and a freshen up, then went out to have a look around for some dinner. I found a vegetarian place on GMaps. There's not much of that here so we hit it up. The service was a bit slow and the price was a little more than we originally wanted to spend. But it was huge and pretty damn delicious. Plus beer is vegan/vegetarian so I felt obliged to have a couple. We wandered back, and pretty soon everyone was asleep.
10.10.2025. We woke up and went outside where we were led to another place for breakfast. Fresh fruit with cereal on it, bread and jam, coffee and eggs. Not bad for an included breakfast. Our last activity in Baños isn't until later this afternoon so we have a bit of time to walk around and see the town. Mel had found a fantasy place that you could visit, but turns out it didn't open until after our activity started. We decided to visit the church in town. Built from black volcanic rock, there was a mass going on when we got there so we didn't go in, but instead visited a museum they had there. Lots of old toys, some dead animals and a fair few clothes. After the museum the mass had finished so we went in and had a look inside. It's a church, paintings, carvings, really high, moving on. We wandered for a bit and found a different fantasy themed place. It was opening in 30mins so we got tickets and went to have a look. Once inside we noticed quite a lot of Harry Potter themed stuff. The kids and Mel posed with cloaks on with Hagrid. The kids sat on broomsticks and we took photos with all sorts of characters and animals. Afterwards we looked for somewhere to have lunch. Not far from the entrance was a local restaurant serving almuerzo, lunch. The guy even spoke some English, so we were able to get Mel something vegetarian. Lunch was huge! A really nice soup, pork with rice and salad, finished up with a pineapple jelly dessert thing. Oh and a juice, it was all really good and I was stuffed. Once again I didn't eat the kids' leftovers. We still had a little time until our activity so we stopped at a cafe and grabbed a coffee. As soon as we sat down after ordering, Mel received a message asking if we could come to the office at 2pm instead of 2:30. We rushed our coffee a bit and didn't finish it, then headed over. What are we doing this arvo? Why paragliding of course. Something none of us have done. Andrew and Mel are booked in to have a go at it. Back at the office they organised a driver to take us to the place. An Ecuadorian bloke named Johnathan, cheery and talkative. He told us how things were going to happen and was happy to answer our questions about Baños and Ecuador. Once there we saw paragliders in the air and I could tell Andrew's excitement was growing. Because the wind was a bit strong he had to wait, Mel went first. Quickly they were clipped in and while not quite ready and understandably a bit concerned, they were off. Because of the wind we had to move location. Johnathan packed some gear and we got back in the car for a short drive. Unfortunately we didn't get there in time to see Mel land. I did meet another Aussie there while waiting. Shona from Bathurst, who was also travelling South America. We had a chat and since Shona had caught Mel's takeoff on their phone as well, they exchanged WhatsApp with Mel and she sent the video. Johnathan was also a photographer and was taking photos and videos for us. Andrew had to wait because of the wind, which was driving him mad. He came up to me and said “I don't think I'm going to get to do it”. I could see it on his face and heard in his voice, he was worried. It was something he had been looking forward to since we booked it, and now he was thinking it wasn't going to happen. I reminded him that we had time and that we had to wait for the wind for him to be safe. The pilot? I dunno what you call the person flying the paraglider. His name was Dario and he had been flying for over 20 years and he knew the wind. He came over and asked me how much Andrew weighed. I said 30-32kgs. He looked thoughtful for a bit, then left and talked with some other people. Everyone on the mountain seemed to know each other and helped each other out. He came back with a 10lt pouch full of water. He said with this and the fact the wind had dropped a bit, Andrew could do it. The look on Andrew's face when he found out he was going. It changed from a look of resigned disappointment to sheer joy in an instant. He was clipped in and the water bag was loaded in behind him. They clipped him to Dario, the paraglider filled with air and it took two people to hold the two of them down. Then with Dario's say so, they were off, soaring through the air. I was happy Andrew got to do it. He would have been terribly disappointed if not. Once he was back on solid ground you couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Since the water bottle was still in the harness we asked if Emma wanted to do it. We had only booked Mel and Andrew because we thought someone would have to stay with Em. We didn't know it would all happen on the same mountain. Emma was still reluctant to have a go though. Johnathan said to me that because it would not be through the company it would be cheaper for us to do it now. Eh why not, let's have a go. The water bottle was removed and I got hooked up. Soon I was soaring through the air. It was quite peaceful and the view was spectacular. We swooped in low and I heard Emma call out “dad I have decided to do it”! Good one Em. My time was up and I landed. Emma, still a little worried but determined, got clipped in and soon was off with the birds. Once back on the ground, her smile was from ear to ear and I was so proud of her for having the courage. We were done, everything got packed up and we started to head back. We had talked to Johnathan on the way there, he was not going to take us all the way back to Baños, but to a spot on the highway where we could catch the bus back to Ambato. It just so happened that the spot also had a small restaurant right there on the side of the road. We had talked to him earlier about wanting to try all the local foods, so he took us in there. We got served some of the best food we have eaten in Ecuador so far. The empanadas were absolutely delicious and we tried a bread wrapped in leaves. While waiting for the bus we had dinner, coffee, hot chocolate and grabbed some more of the bread for breakfast tomorrow. All for $8.25. Once again, I had the best tasting empanadas so far on the side of the road. Which after all the travelling I have done so far, doesn't surprise me at all. Johnathan and Dario stopped the bus and helped us on. We were on our way back to Ambato. Once there we grabbed a taxi and got back to the apartment. A little wind down, then off to bed.
11.10.2025. Kids did some schoolwork this morning, then we headed out to grab some lunch, money and some supplies. Also we are heading back to the museum where we did the promotional video, just to see what's what. It was a much smaller convention than I thought it would be, no wonder they wanted to promote it. It was mostly manga stuff, with shirts and jewellery. We got Andrew a One Piece picture thing and Emma got a necklace. After that, with our wallets and bellies full, we headed back to the apartment. The kids and I went to the bottom floor of the complex. There's a small playground there. They played for an hour or so, then we came back up and they blogged for a bit. Some of the supplies I mentioned before included beer. Now that they were a bit cooler they started to disappear. Dinner was made, a movie was watched then bed.
12.10.2025. Today we are finishing our blogs for Ambato. We'll head out for some lunch after that is done. In the afternoon packing our bags will happen. Probably have another movie after dinner this evening then off to bed. See ya in Cuenca!
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