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Ecuador
Satelliitti

Ecuador
Baños de Agua Santa

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    • Ellen NijhofAustralië & Zuid Amerika
      111
      Päivä 246

      Adiós Ecuador, Buenas días Colombia :-)

      18. maaliskuuta 2019, Ecuador ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      We kwamen 's avonds laat aan in ons hostel in Baños, wel een leuk hostel met een binnenplaats en een schildpad. De volgende ochtend rustig aan gedaan en in de middag naar Pailon del Diablo (.... of the devil..) waterval geweest. Hier kwam zoveel water met zoveel kracht uit, super indrukwekkend. Deed mij denken aan een brandweerslang maar dan 20 keer zo groot.

      De volgende ochtend zijn we wezen wildwaterraften. Super leuk. Had het nooit eerder gedaan, maar zou het zeker nog wel keertje willen doen. In de middag besloten een korte wandeling te maken door de vallei, dacht ik... helaas had ik het verkeerd begrepen en was het een wandeling van 2uur met uitzicht over de vallei... dus eerst een flinke klim, maar wel mooi uitzicht over de stad en lekker gelopen.
      De volgende ochtend naar Casa de Arbol geweest. Hier hebben ze schommels met een gaaf uitzicht. Bij één schommel werd je geduwt, dus dat ging super hard en hoog, super leuk.

      Vervolgens de bus genomen naar Quito, hier hadden we wederom een couchsurfingsadresje geregeld bij Ricardo. Toen wij 's avonds laat aankomen, maakte hij nog eten voor ons, heel lief. De volgende ochtend ook weer ontbijt, dus we werden verwend ☺. Ricardo is een advocaat, maar hij werkte niet veel in de dagen dat wij er waren. De 2e avond vloog hij naar Guayaquil voor een concert. Dus we hadden het huis alleen. Ook wel lekker. In Quito hebben we rondgelopen door het historisch centrum, dit was niet super spectaculair. En zij we op trip geweest naar Mt. Cotopaxi. Die wilde ik heel graag zien, en dat was het ook zeker waard.

      Vanuit Quito doorgegaan naar Mindo. Dit stond bekend om de vele vogels, dus hier wilde ik graag heen. Rondom het hostel waren inderdaad veel colibries, maar verder weinig vogels gezien. Zijn nog naar 7 verschillende watervallen gelopen, 's ochtends toen we bult op moesten was het bloedheet in de zon. Maar na de lunch begon het te regenen. Dus uiteindelijk zeiknat en stond te soppen in mijn schoenen terug gekomen. Maar de laatste waterval was het zeker waard. En gelukkig is het een regenwoud en dus niet koud.

      Gisterochtend zijn Michaela en ik opgesplitst. Michaela wilde heel graag naar de kust om te surfen, ik wilde graag naar colombia en nog wat Spaanse lessen nemen. Dus ik ben via Tulcán (nog net voor de grens) naar Ipiales (net over de grens) gegaan. Hier wordt je voor de grens afgezet, moet je eerst je uitstempel van Ecuador halen, dan loop je de brug over en haal je je aankomst stempel van Colombia. Geen tassencontrole niets. Valt me op dat ik dat bij nog geen enkele grensovergang mijn tassen gecontroleerd zijn.
      Vanuit Ipiales heb ik de bus naar Popayan gepakt. Hier zal ik een weekje blijven, wat Spaanse lessen nemen en werken voor accomodatie en vanaf daar zien welke kant ik eerst op ga. Michaela en ik gaan mekaar waarschijnlijk weer ergens ontmoeten in Colombia.

      Hierbij de foto's van Baños      Lue lisää

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    • On se Pérou
      Päivä 79

      À la recherche de la paix intérieure

      1. kesäkuuta 2022, Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      Ce matin le repos et le calme sont à l'ordre du jour. C'est un peu journée méditation. Pour ceux qui suivent les dictons "si c'est le 1er juin ne fait rien le matin". On s'exécute. On règle quelques points administratifs et on appelle nos proches.

      A midi on finit les restes de riz cantonais, on prend le temps de digérer notre repas mais aussi notre repos. La paix intérieur ne se trouve pas facilement.

      Attention on arrive au pic cardio de la journée :

      Top !
      On se saisit de nos sacs direction le bus.
      C'est fini !

      On s'installe très confortablement dans le bus pour Baños. La paix intérieure ne serait-elle pas sous le siège ? Anecdote en espagnol baños ça veut dire à la fois bain et à la fois toilettes. Direction les Toilettes donc (Je vous rassure la ville est connue pour ces bains thermaux).

      On termine cette courte journée chez Don ASH, un restaurant de poulet rôti où vont les locaux. Pour $3 on nous sert une soupe de poulet, un verre de boisson à l'avoine et une assiette avec du poulet des frites, du riz, des lentilles et des crudités. Miam !

      Tom

      PS : si vous passez par Baños je vous ai mis le code wifi de La casa del molino Blanco. J'ai le cœur sur la main !      Lue lisää

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    • MatkaajaWir teffen uns wieder
      Päivä 111

      Baños Termales

      11. heinäkuuta 2022, Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Heute geht es in die Thermalquellen von Baños. Die schwefelhaltigen heißen Quellen entspringen hier direkt am Ort. Es gibt extrem heiße, gespeist durch den Vulkan, und kalte Bäder. Zutritt ist nur mit Badekappe gestattet. Nach der Entspannung geht es noch in die Stadt und in eine Rooftop Bar.Lue lisää

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    • Melanie MarksEcuador Longwood 2022

      Zip lining

      4. elokuuta 2022, Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

      Students all took advantage of the opportunity to cross the river by cables. It was impressive that they were willing to tolerate a little rain and cold. Note the cave at the end of the zip. And yes, they are climbing up a ladder on the side of a cliff in that last picture…with the appropriate safety harnesses.Lue lisää

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    • MatkaajaSüdamerika
      Päivä 26

      Baños

      22. syyskuuta 2014, Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      Im Nachhinein war Baños ein Riesenumweg und ich saß um dort hin zu gelangen mehr im Bus als ich eigentlich dort war. Obwohl Ecuador das kleinste Land auf der Reise ist, sind die Wege selbst hier nicht zu unterschätzen.

      Geplant war eigentlich eine Mountainbike-Tour entlang einer Straße mit ganz vielen schönen Wasserfällen. Montañita oder die lange Busfahrt hatten aber Spuren hinterlassen und ich bin einfach nicht rechtzeitig aus dem Bett gekommen. Kommt auch auf Reisen vor.

      Dafür wollte ich dann unbedingt zur "Casa del Arbol" mit der Schaukel am "Ende der Welt". Für den drei stündigen Aufstieg hatte ich mich noch nicht so fit gefühlt und der Bus fuhr Sonntags schon um zwölf statt um zwei, was ich natürlich erst um halb zwei erfahren habe ;) Also ein teures Taxi hoch und überlegt wie ich das mit dem Foto mache, als gerade vorne in der Schlange die beiden deutschen Mädels aus meinem Hostel standen. Glück gehabt :)

      Dafür bin ich dann runter gelaufen, ca. zwei Stunden und ich schau noch mal nach, aber glaube um die 1.000 Höhenmeter.. Die Schaukel befindet sich im Übrigen auf einem Berg gegenüber eines aktiven Vulkans. Bei uns war er leider in Wolken verhangen.

      Zur Belohnung gab es dann noch ein super leckeres Eis :) Im Hostel haben wir dann noch zusammen gekocht und Uno gespielt. Sind aber dann früh ins Bett nach dem anstrengenden Abstieg ;)      Lue lisää

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    • MatkaajaEcuador
      Päivä 7

      Baños

      24. maaliskuuta 2015, Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      3 Tage Baños. Baños ist eine kleine touristische Stadt in den Bergen. Baños bietet viele Aktivitäten, wie Wandern, Rafting, Canopy, Reiten ...
      Foto1: Blick auf Baños von der Berspietze
      Foto2: Friedhof
      Foto3: Kirche      Lue lisää

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    • Caroline CorriganTrip of Dreams 2015
      Päivä 95

      Banos, Ecuador

      7. joulukuuta 2015, Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      After crossing the border to Ecuador, we took a short taxi ride to the town of Tulcan before our five hour bus to the capital Quito and stayed in the lovely BoutiQuito Design hostel. We visited some of the beautiful buildings of the city in the Parque Garcia Monero, La Basilica, Monasteries De San Francisco and the Plaza Grande. At one point I was asked by some local nursing students to help them with their college assignment, where they interviewed an English speaking person (absolutely mortified!).
      Next day we headed to the Mitad del Mundo (Centre of the World) for an incredible day at the equator. We hopped on the local public transport, where the hour and half bus journey cost us a whooping $0.45 (nearly breaking the bank!). The lovely sunny day allowed us to explore the grounds of the site and pose for photos along the equator. Edel purchased an egg from the shop and we conquered the mind blowing experiment of balancing the egg on the head of a nail. Then we headed up the 30m high monument tower where we learned about the French exploration to discover the equator in 1736 and entered the museum with some experiments we could partake in. At the top of the tower, there was an amazing view of the snowcapped Cayambe mountain, (the only point on the equator that drops below zero degrees Celsius) and the Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador's most active volcano). This was such an amazing day and a great start to our time in Ecuador.
      Our next stop after Quito was the highly anticipated trip to the Amazon Rainforest. We took a eight hour night bus from Quito to Lago Agrio. We stopped here for two hours and slept in the hammocks before the confusion hit! The organisers didn't seem to know what was happening so it was 'bags on bags off', 'get on get off' various buses before we were finally ready for the two hour bus journey to edge of the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. Here we had lunch and then embarked on our canoe ride down the Cuyabeno river to the ecofriendly Caiman Lodge. We saw various wildlife along the three hour journey, including flying monkeys, long nosed owls, spider monkeys, anacondas and herons. We arrived in where we snoozed before getting back on the canoe to go to the lagoon. That evening we swam in the water as we watched the beautiful sunset. Then torches at the ready, we scanned the waters edge for the reflection of the red eye of caiman. Before going back to the lodge for dinner.
      Next day we visited the indigenous people of the Siona Community. Our guide Miguel showed us the large Cliba tree where the locals come to get phone signal. One of the Swedish girls on the our tour actually received some messages on her phone! Miguel then let us taste lemongrass, ginger and chilli which are all grown on the land. Next it was time to earn out keep. Nina and Edel harvested a large yuka from the ground. This is a root like vegetable which tastes like a turnip when raw. We pealed and washed the yuka before grating it and draining the liquid off using a wooden woven type hammock. The remaining powder like substance was sieved before cooked on a hot plate into a tasty pancake like flat bread (casave). We ate it for lunch with a rice salad and for dessert with jam. This was such as treat and it was so interesting to see the way they use all of the materials and leave nothing to waste.
      After lunch we visited a Sharman in the Siona tribe. The leader told us about the history of the rituals of healing of locals from various illnesses and gave us an explanation of their dress. To finish off this wonderful day we swam in the lagoon to see another beautiful sunset before we went on a nighttime hike through the forest. Again with our torches in hand, we discovered various species of spiders, crickets, ants and boa constrictors. Then it was back to the lodge for dinner before hitting the hay for an early night as our alarms were set for 5.30 the next morning.
      I awoke next morning to the rain hammering off the roof of the lodge, and as thought Miguel came to confirm that it was too wet and cloudy to watch the sunrise. Disappointed, we turned over and got a few more hours sleep.
      After breakfast we donned our hiking shoes and ponchos for a daytime walk through the forest. This time we saw the forest differently and came across a wide variety of ants, bees, spiders and frogs. Miguel spotted the fresh droppings of a wild boar so we went on the lookout for it but we were unable to find it.
      In the afternoon we went for a final swim in the lagoon and what a treat it was! About 10 metres away from us was a family of pink dolphins happily enjoying the warmth of the water. It was incredible to share the water with these amazing animals and it was a definite highlight of the trip.
      After all this excitement we went back to the lodge where a group of monkeys were playing in the trees close by. Edel and I were given some bananas to feed them. The monkeys took a shining to Edel and happily took the bananas from her. As for me, they just ran away from me, probably thinking I was a bit dodgy looking up and rightly so!
      That evening we got in a paddle boat and rowed to the Laguna Grande to see another beautiful sunset. We then went in search of more caiman and nocturnal birds. We spotted the red eye of a caiman and paddled up close to it. Just as we silently approached it, Edel accidently knocked over her oat and frightened us all and the caiman fled the scene. We headed home with a magical thunder and lightning storm ahead of us, with beautiful fork lightening illuminating the sky. However we still managed to get a little lost on our way home.
      After dinner we were given a presentation about the Cuyabeno reserve and what type of flora and fauna you'd expect to see here at various times of the year. To finish off the night, we lined up before the local guides, who gave us natural henna tattoos from the actual seeds of the henna plant (don't worry Dad, they aren't real tattoos!).
      The heavy rain returned the next morning so unfortunately we had another failed attempt to see the sunrise. After breakfast we donned the ponchos for one final time for our canoe ride back to the bus to Loja Agrio, where we got on an overnight bus to Banos.
      We stayed in Hostel D'Mathias just around corner from the bus terminal and a perfect location for exploring the city. After catching up on some sleep, showers and laundry, we took an evening bus tour of Banos where we saw the sites of the city and the surrounding waterfalls. Our first stop was San Martin Parque Aventura, where we got a Tarabita (cable car) across the gorge and viewed the beautiful river and waterfalls below. Next we were brought to the most dangerous stretch of road in the area which is now closed for traffic due to the large number of vehicles skidding on the slippery road and falling over the cliff edge. On this same stretch of road there is a bit of road jutting out of the cliff, which looks like the face of Jesus. Visitors from all over the world come to visit on a pilgrimage to this part of the cliff.
      Our final stop was the amazing Cascada Pailon del Diablo (Devils Couldron). In the dark we walked along the side of the river and across the free swinging bridge where we saw the water cascading down over the cliff into the invisible pool below.
      To finish off the day we headed to the Termas De la Virgin hot springs. We had heard so much about the famous hot baths in Banos (where is gets its name) that we had to try them out. The water for the baths is heated by the local active volcano Tungurahua. Not really sure what we were meant to do, we headed straight for the hot bath. But a quick dip of the toe proved to be too much for us. The locals reacted to our screaming and shouting and directed us to the showers first to acclimatise ourselves, however the water was still roasting so we decided to bite the bullet and get in the hot pool. After about 5 minutes it was time to move to the cold bath, to cool down. We alternated between the two baths for a few cycles before we started to feel a little faint, and had to stop. It was a weird but wonderful experience and I think we provided a bit of entertainment for the locals.
      The following day was another day of site seeing with the first stop being La Casa del Arbol (the swing to end of the world). The swing was situated 2600m above sea level over looking Banos, however on the day we went it was very overcast so we couldn't see anything beyond 100m in front of us. Better luck next time!
      I also went to visit the cathedral in the city (Bascillica De Virgin De Agua Santa), which was completed in 1944 after 40 years of construction. It was a statue of the Virgin Mary which is to commerate the believed sighting of Mary and to where many ecuadorians also come to visit every year.
      The following day we had better luck with the weather with not a cloud in the sky and the sun shining, which meant that it was paragliding day! Our guide Henry picked us up from the hostel and drove us to his office where we were given a short briefing and practised the take off and landing in the harness hanging from the roof. Once we had mastered this we got back in the car for our 45 minute drive up to mountain to our starting point. When we got there the wind was too strong for us to safely fly so we had to sit and wait for it to die down. To pass the time Henry showed us some acroyoga which he says he does to 'warm up'. After about an hour and a half the wind had calmed down to the safe mark of 30kph, so we were given the green light to go. We donned our space suits and we each got 15 minutes flying time with amazing views of volcano Tungurahua and the sun setting over the valley. It was an incredible experience despite the motion sickness but a super end to our time in Ecuador.
      The next few days consisted of various bus journeys to the towns of Cuenca and Loja, before we headed to Peru for more exciting and interesting experiences.      Lue lisää

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    • Martin SchmidAmerica del sur
      Päivä 13

      Regentag numero 1

      19. syyskuuta 2016, Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Ja, was wenn ich heute nur erzähle das Müllwagen in baños wie ein Original Eiswagen klingt?
      Und hier kann es ganz ordentlich regnen. Aber vielleicht auch mal ganz gut, da kann ich mal wieder was schreiben und schön in meinem Lernbuch rum malen.
      Und mich voll fressen und meine Insektenstiche kurieren. Wer zum Teufel hat schon mal welche auf 2800 m bekommen? Da gibts in Europa nicht mal Bäume...      Lue lisää

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    • MatkaajaSüdamerika, Ecuador bis Chile
      Päivä 17

      Baños

      26. tammikuuta 2017, Ecuador ⋅ 🌙 35 °C

      Die zwei letzten Nächte waren die ruhigsten, die wir seit Beginn unserer Reise hatten! Keine Hähne, kein Gehupe, keine Auto-Alarmanlage, nur ein bisschen Hundegebell hat uns vom Schlafen abgehalten. Außerdem hatten wir ein Hochbett, sodass sich David nicht über meine Lage im Bett beschweren konnte... Es war traumhaft! Also haben wir das heute noch mal ausgenutzt und erst spät gefrühstückt. Völlig entspannt sind wir dann zum Busbahnhof gelaufen und wurden prompt von jemandem in den richtigen Bus gesetzt.. So läuft das hier. Man kommt irgendwo an und wird umringt von Menschen, die einem jegliche Ziele der Umgebung an den Kopf werfen dann pickt man sich den richtigen Ort aus und wird direkt mitgenommen - ein Toilettenstop inklusive! In Ambato läuft das Umsteigen dann genau so ab, sodass wir quasi ohne Umhergeirre in Baños angekommen sind - umringt von Menschen, die uns Hostels oder andere Unterkünfte anbieten wollten. Darum hatten wir uns aber gestern abend schon gekümmert und sind in einem sehr niedlichen, liebevoll geführtem Hostel gelandet! Victor wies uns ein und gab uns jegliche Informationen, was man hier alles so veranstalten kann - man könnte hier auch ohne Reiseführer oder Tourioffice zurecht kommen.. Aus der Mittagspause riss uns ein Spielmannszug, dessen Musik wir folgten - ein Umzug einer Schule. Was das ganze sollte, wissen wir leider nicht. Nach einem kleinen Rundgang durch die Stadt, sind wir in einem Restaurant eingekehrt um, vor allem für David, mal wieder lecker vegetarisch zu essen. Hat geklappt! Leider ist das sonst nicht so einfach hier - Davids letztes vegetarisches Gericht bestand aus gekochtem Brot mit ein bisschen Gemüse und Reis. Ein Besuch im Supermarkt machte uns auf sehr günstige Chia-Samen, etwa 10 verschiedene Sorten Mais und super niedlich verpacktes Mehl aufmerksam - wir kauften Müsli und Milch.
      Nun wird noch ein Tatort geschaut. Gute Nacht!
      Anmerkung David: Bild 4 ist die (ehemalige?) Waschstelle des Dorfes.      Lue lisää

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    • MatkaajaMeine kleine Weltreise
      Päivä 240

      IV. SA Ecuador/W1, 6d: Vilcabamba-BañosE

      26. huhtikuuta 2017, Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Tu, 25.04. Chachapoyas-Border La Balsa-Vilcabamba
      Tuesday was again another travel day - as there was still no possibility to visit and in general to travel along the coast north of Lima (Trujillo-Chiclayo-Piura-Tumbes) due to the national crisis and century inondations I spent the fifth and last week in Peru's Selva or Amazon Rainforest and then tried to cross the border to Ecuador at La Balsa via Chachapoyas-Bagua Grande-Jaén-San Ignacio. I started at 4am; like almost everywhere in northern Peru the colectivos have fix prices that cannot be haggled - I thus could not save some money here but on the other hand it is finally fair and everbody pays the same price. The route itself was very exhausting with rollercoaster rides along very bendy tiny roads, very interesting takeovers (you don't have to see something, blowing the horn is enough :O) and a lot of changings in the respective towns. The vehicles itself again didn't have seatbelts and partially damaged windscreens - but they work, it is about the way and the main thing is the end is to arrive - they constantly stop anyway to let people out or to squeeze even more in thanks to unfoldable seats :P As usual, it can take up to an h to fill them and finally hit the road and as usual I was the only foreigner amongst many locals which was especially striking during the many police controls (me being the only one with a passport). However, the landscape was really nice during the whole time, more Cierra = mountains and less Selva = rainforest including cows and sheep on the road as well as super nice people; it was really fun ;)
      The last part in Peru from San Ignacio to La Balsa was in the absolute sun getting roasted in a car but along super nice scenery and through small cute villages where we saw a lot of nuts being dried in front of the houses. It was also here where you could see the heavy rainfalls of the last few weeks and days - there were stones, branches as well as whole rocks, trees and huge earth slides everywhere on the street; but we fortunately could make our way through. The border La Balsa is indeed only about some houses within really nice landscape, there was nobody in the office and I really had the feeling of being the only tourist and backpacker. I never had such a relaxed border crossing (there are only 20-30 people crossing every day), had a lot of fun with the officials, got some tips for Ecuador and the best: free WiFi :)
      Talking about finances, I changed my last Soles into $12 and could manage 5w Peru and already 10w SA in total so well and even better below budget that I might be able to use the saved money for a trip to the super expensive Galapagos Islands - but let's wait and see :)
      Btw, it is allowed to bring some small amounts of coca leaves for your own use to Ecuador. From La Balsa I continued with a so called Ranchera, a truck with up to 30 seats or rather wooden benches - 1,5h unsealed gravel road, the biggest holes and thus rollercoaster ride through nice scenery, sunset inclusive, up to the small town Zumba. There I waited until midnight to save on an accommodation and then took the bus to Vilcabamba where I arrived around 5:30am and was picked up by Natalia and Jarol.

      Since 2000 Ecuador's local currency is the USD which makes travelling unfortunately more expensive. In general bus rides are rather cheap with $1-2 per hour but accommodation and food is more expensive and the current exchange rate EUR=USD. The sockets are American style so you have to use an adapter again. Oh and what is also good: there is 40m free WiFi on all public places :)))

      We, 26.04. Vilcabamba/Malacatos
      During my last hostel stay in Chachapoyas I met Joris who gave me a super recommendation and contact for an accommodation in the 6,000 habitants village Malacatos. The couple Natalia and Jarol make a hostel out of their parents' farm - most of it was still under construction and there was no WiFi yet but it was really nicely located near Cerro Minas and other mountains with view to Malacatos and just the perfect place to relax after such an exhausting journey: super personal and nice people, very quiet, nice view and nature, 5 dogs Maja, Negro, Sam, Negro and Nena as well as super delicious organic food (humitas for breakfast, yuca soup and tilapia fish with rice and picante as well as vegan, gluten, lactosis and sugar free carrot-orange bread for dinner, home made by their daughter).
      I first had a shower and then a mega relaxing nap from 7-11am in my big room with wide bed and ensuite bathroom and finally also did some laundry in the afternoon - another luxury when travelling ;)
      Malacatos is nicely surrounded by mountains, above all Cierro Minas; it is super hot and especially known for the cultivation of sweet lemon and lima which only grow here. Together with the son Jarol I went to the village passing sweetcorn and sugar cane fields and we visited Plaza de Armas with a nice church.
      After that we took the 50ct bus to San Pedro where you can get a good view of Vilcabamba. Vilcabamba itself is very touristy and with the sentence 'El único lugar en el mundo dónde es posible dar más años a la vida y más vida a los años' (The only place in the world where it is possible to give life more years and the years more life) is very famous for a healthy, conscious life in clean, fresh nature with a warm climate - there are many people living more than 100y. There is also a Plaza de Armas with a nice church and good free WiFi ;) From there you also get a good view of Mondango Mountain, also known as Sleeping Inka which is said to protect the area against earthquakes and other natural disasters.
      Typical dish here is btw also Cecina, dried meat.

      Th, 27.04. Vilcabamba/Malacotos-Lojas-Cuenca
      After relaxing pretty well at Santana Farm I had a delicious breakfast with home made vegan bread and then continued further on to the 265,000 habitants town of Lojas located at an altitude of 2,100m - only 30km away from Malacatos but 1h drive thanks to pretty bendy roads. Lojas is known as music and culture town, has a mild Andean climate and with 500y belongs to one of Ecuador's oldest cities. From there I headed further on to Cuenca, 120km=4h bus ride with Viajeros Internacional for $7.50 (unfortunately bus prices are fix here and cannot be haggled) along even more bendy roads and super green hills.

      Cuenca is located at an altitude of 2,250m and is the 3rd biggest city in Ecuador, counting 277,000 habitants. The colonial city is in particular known for its many churches, art galleries and museums and it is often also named as Ecuador's most beautiful city. In my opinion this is also true: I am not a fan of big cities but I really liked Cuenca - super green with a lot of parks especially along the river, beautiful colonial style buildings, street artists and musicians everywhere, a dozen karaoke bars (karaoke seems to be quite popular in Ecuador), nice Plaza de Armas = Plaza Abdón Calderón with old and new church (Iglesia del Sagrario and Catedral de la Inmaculada) and in general it is very calm, I felt really safe there. However, it was pretty chilly in the mornings and evenings and also used to rain a bit.

      Food is similar to Peru and Bolivia with many pollo fast food restaurants and picanterias. There are many Ecuadorian dishes such as Madura con queso (cooked banana with cheese), Salchipapa (French fries with sausages), Llapingacho (potatoe flan), Humitas/Bolones/Tamales de Verde, Locro (potatoe soup with cheese and avocado) and Encebollado (fish soup). However, Cuenca's most popular dish is Mote pillo/sucio, sweetcorn with egg - very delicious and I got a huge portion with chicken in a small restaurant for just $1; Ecuador can also be cheap ;)

      Fr, 28.04. Cuenca: Cajas NP & Pumapunga
      As I always need exercise and nature after long travel days and only short time in a city I went to Cajas NP - in my opinion the absolute must see in Cuenca.
      Cajas is about 28.808 ha located at an altitude of 3,100 - 4,450m and only 1h drive (for just about $2) west of Cuenca in Ecuador's highlands. The landscape is unique, very hilly tundra style and there are 270 lakes and lagoons. The weather is thus pretty chilly and rainy. I did a 5h hike through beautiful scenery consisting of mountains, forests and lagoons. However, the signs were not that good so that I got lost quite often and had to climb over rocks and walk on really slippery paths - but it was pretty worth it with views you probably won't get on the tourist path ;)
      Back in Cuenca I visited the Museo Pumapunga and Ciudad de Tumipampa, Cuenca's pre-Inkan culture. That was really interesting, there were a lot of ruins and stones - but especially nice views and a park with cool plants and a lot of birds; and all that for free :)
      Around 11pm I then took the 7h night bus to Baños via Riobamba and Ambato, arriving around 6am in the morning.

      Sa, 29.04. Baños
      Baños or Baños de Agua Santa (Springs of the Sacred Water) has about 18,000 habitants located at an altitude of 1,820m on the food of volcano Tungurahua with 5,016m. It is Ecuador's adventure, adrenaline and party capital; you can do everything there from bungee via canopy, canyoning, ziplining up to quad and bike tours as well as trekking within super green scenery with a lot of waterfalls and hot springs and has many of the so popular karaoke bars. Landscape and touristy wise it reminded me a lot of Peru and Aguas Calientes - many backpackers/tourists, a dozen tour offices, massages etc.
      At the bus terminal I met the Argentinian girl Sofie who already went to Baños and knew a camping accommodation for only $3; cero luxury, super dirty and only hardly understandable Argentinian but okay for just one night and Ecuador will still be expensive enough with the rainforest tour.
      After lunch I then went with a so called Chiva - a really colourful truck equipped with disco lights and party music - along the Ruta de Cascadas (Waterfall Route) through pretty green scenery in Llanganates NP. We did not only get wet from the waterfalls, it was unfortunately also raining quite heavily. We first went to the dam Represa Agoyan, then through many tunnels to the waterfalls Agoyan, Esperanza and Culebrilla to Puerto del Viele and Rostro de Jesús. Inbetween we stopped at adrenaline places such as Canopy, Bola Extrema and Puenting. But the highlight was definitively Pailon del Diablo, a tremendous Waterfall with incredible water quantities where you also got really wet.
      After that I went to the market to eat Baño's most typical dish Llapingacho: potatoe flan, sausage, egg sunny side up, avocado and salad - very tasty and finally a dish without rice :P
      After that I visited Cascada de la Virgen, a super high waterfall at the other end of town, with the famous Baños Termales right next to it.

      Su, 30.04. Baños
      As the weather wasn't that great on Saturday (a lot of rain and super cloudy) I tried despite similar weather again to visit the best sight: Casa de Árbol - the tree house with the Giant Swing where you can get a view of the volcano on a sunny day. Unfortunately there was no view apart from clouds but it made a lot of fun and I love swings, it gives you one of these feelings reminding you of your childhood and being a kid again ;)
      After that I went to Mirador de la Cruz and de Virgen, ate some good meat, sweetcorn and salad on the street as well as super delicious bread from my favourite Panaderia and then took the first 1h to Ambato and then 7h night bus to Lago Agrio, the starting point of my 4d/3n rainforest tour in the Amazon Rainforest in Cuyabeno.      Lue lisää

    Saatat myös tuntea tämän kohteen näillä nimillä:

    Baños de Agua Santa, Banos de Agua Santa

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