19/06/2019 – Banos, Ecuador

We got up slowly and went up to the hostel restaurant for breakfast. We caught up with Dominique on Facetime whilst we ate granola and fruit and yoghurt, with coffee and fresh juice. We chilled in the hostel for a bit - it is beautifully designed, and nice and comfortable, so easy to relax in. When we decided it was time for action we went across the main plaza to a bike rental called MTS, which had been recommended by our hostel. They rented us two mountain bikes, helmets and a lock for $10 and showed us on a map the route down through the mountains to the waterfalls. The bikes were in pretty good nick and had good brakes, which was reassuring. We hopped on the and rode through the town of Banos and out into the countryside. It is so green and mountainous with lots of little waterfalls all over the place. We even had to cycle right under some small waterfalls on route! It was a comfortable cool temperature and thankfully didn’t rain whilst we were out.

Stopping off along the bike ride.

One of many beautiful waterfulls.

There was only one hairy moment when we had to cycle through a small tunnel and a lorry speedily followed us along. Josh and I pedalled like the clappers and managed to pull into a ditch just outside of the tunnel for it to overtake us. They have no mercy here! The rest of the cycle was o.k. bar a few speedy vehicles overtaking here and there! We stopped at a lovely roadside café on the way with a beautiful view through the valley, and had coffees and some food. We got back on the bikes until we found the place called ‘Rio Verde’ to stop and walk to the waterfalls. In total I think the bike ride was probably around 2.5 hours. We walked along the little path and over a couple of suspension bridges (don’t think dad would have liked these ones too much) to ‘Pailon del Diablo’, or in English, Devils Cauldron. It was a huge powerful waterfall falling at great speeds, and you could walk right under it on the path.

Suspension bridge.

Some lads undressed just to their shorts and were standing in it getting completely drenched. After taking some pictures, soaking up the view and contemplating the astonishing amount of water, we walked back to pick up our bikes and cycled another 10 minutes on to catch our ride back. There was a little layby in the road with some trucks that take you and your bike back to Banos. They have no schedule, but rather you have to wait until at least 6 bikes are ready and then you are off, the price depends on how full you truck is. We managed seven people and bikes, and paid only $2 each. I was on the end of the little bench in the back and so had to hold on to the precariously loaded bikes that I thought were going to fly off at any minute on the bumpy roads! We got back to Banos in one piece, returned our bikes and walked over the square to our hostel. We went up to the café for a coffee and chilled in the space up there for a while. When we were feeling peckish we went over to the supermarket and bought some supplies before coming back and cooking ourselves some tuna pasta in the hostel kitchen. It is pouring with rain this evening (I think a common occurance here hence the name Banos, Spanish for bathroom, and why it is so green and beautiful!) We like it here so much that we managed to negotiate a deal with the hostel and have extended our stay another night until Saturday! We had planned on heading to the hostel trivia night to put some of Josh’s random knowledge to the test but after sitting on our bed for half an hour after dinner we decided we couldn’t move again!