Baños, Ecuador

We arrived in Baños Tuesday the 2nd of September after leaving Cuenca and enduring the marvelous bus ride of almost 8 hours through Ambato. Everyone was very sad to leave Cuenca which we found very comfortable and welcoming. The kids in particular were facing the fact that it will be hard for them to build true friendships during our vagabond travels. This was brought to mind primarily from the quick friendship they struck with Julian and Lizzie, the two children from Philadelphia who are spending the year in Cuenca. We heard many times “why can’t we stay in Cuenca for the whole year.” Well, the grass does often appear greener on the other side of the fence, but they will undoubtedly be happy to see the many places yet to come. Jack and Ainsley in particular are missing their friends, so any e-mails or comments for them from their friends are really cherished. We understand their reasoning and staying in Cuenca had some real appeal, but onward we went.

Even with the sadness and regret of moving on from Cuenca we were looking forward to Baños, one of Ecuador’s most popular tourist destinations. The promise of hot baths fed by volcano heated water, massages available throughout town and a setting deep in a valley with lots of hiking, horseback riding and other activities was enticing.

Arriving late in the afternoon we checked into Hotel Sangay, right next the Virgin Baths, which we quickly determined was a once grand hotel that has been allowed to become quite run down. The guidebook promise of a swimming pool, ping pong table, etc. was correct, but it just wasn’t a place in which we wanted to stay for long. We spent the night and the next morning Kelli headed off in pursuit of something better while I went to the baths with the kids. We found a very nice hostal for less money with great owners from Chicago and the best breakfast we’ve found in Ecuador. (You can read more about our lodging choices in the Where We Stayed section.)

Some quick observations about Baños and Ecuador. It is set in a deep valley alongside Volcan Tunguruhua, an active volcano that last spewed some ash in 1999. There are numerous waterfalls and spring fed baths throughout town, which is really geared toward tourism, both Ecuadorian and International. While much of the natural setting was stunning and reminiscent of other fabulously situated towns around the world, the town itself reminded us that we were in South America and Ecuador. Stray dogs roam the streets (Anna would be very sad to see that) and the fact that purportedly 60-70% of the population lives below the poverty line is clearly visible. It really is sad to see some of the conditions in which people live and work. Some of this has been brought on by the dollarization of their economy in the late 90’s and some people will tell you that the tremendous flow of money from oil revenues has not reached the people at all. In fact poverty has climbed since the 70’s. Add to that the pending vote on a revised constitution giving much more executive power to President Correa who is getting cozier with Chavez and the political and economic future of Ecuador may see many changes.

We will write more about some broader observations about Ecuador from our travelers and US perspective, but back now to our travel experience. Horseback riding was definitely on our minds as two attempts to ride in Cuenca were foiled by rain and scheduling woes. We headed out on our horses Thursday morning around 10 AM. The first hour or so was great for Jack and Ainsley, who both really loved riding, but it was the ride from hell for Eliot (riding with me) who moaned and complained almost the entire time. He was ready to go back from the first minute, poor guy. Our guide Jaime finally recommended that we put some of our long sleeve shirts down on the saddle to provide a little more padding. In hindsight it was so obvious. Eliot has no padding anywhere and the hard leather saddle must have been terribly uncomfortable. It worked like a charm and he was much happier the rest of the way. Jack and his horse Pirate of the Caribbean was perpetually at the front of the pack (even though we think Kelli’s horse was named Leader and seemed to fit the moniker at the beginning) with Jack constantly taking the lead and urging the horse to go faster with a well placed swap of his hind quarters on a regular basis. Just as on a bike or running, Jack seems to want to go faster and faster. Ainsley was pretty fast too, although her horse Bon Bon wanted to take snack breaks most of the time. Kelli and Eliot were happy walking and trotting and didn’t much enjoy the times when the horses picked up speed. I had to hold onto Eliot and the horse at the same time when the speed picked up and it wasn’t so enjoyable either. All that said, we did have a nice time on the horses.

Two of the other days we spent hiking through the mountains that surrounded the town. The first one on the southern side that led up to a Cross that is lit brightly at night. This was the trail on which we composed our get well video for Pop Pop. It was also the sight of an interesting sign and commerce. At one point on the trail we reached a side trail to the left heading to a rugged mountainside home (hut really) with a women hard at work in the field with a hoe. The side trail had a door like frame made out of logs on which was painted “You want a beer”. While that may have been true for me, we have packed insufficient water so we bought a few bottles of water from the little boy (probably not more than 7 or 8, who ran back to the house in his bare feet to make the sale.

The second day of hiking took us across the San Francisco bridge spanning the river. We climbed up the mountainside where we at one point were greeted by a local man who invited us to hike up the trail on his property to get a better view of the volcano across the valley. He is evidence of one thing we have found throughout Ecuador. The people here, whether friends and family of JM or complete strangers, are all very friendly and welcoming, especially with our kids. We continued on the hike for about 4 or 5 hours in total. At different points on this muddy and steep trail we crossed paths with men on mules heading to the fields and once a family and mule carrying quite a load. The views were stunning, but the volcano remained shrouded in clouds the entire time. Unfortunately, not once during our 4 day visit did the clouds reveal the upper reaches of the volcano.

The hot baths themselves were quite an experience. Again, an opportunity to interact with locals. We got many looks, especially from the older women, as we were the only “Gringos” at the pools most of the time. The kids loved all of them, the cold, warm and very hot direct from the volcano one. There was also cold water funneled straight from the waterfall through some piping that you could stand under to get refreshed. That reminded me a bit of my childhood cross country visit when on occasion my siblings and I would go from a cold swimming pool to a hot tub to experience the drastic difference in temperatures. The kids, even Eliot, participated in this with some joy.

Another special and unexpected treat in Baños was our discovery of a Swiss restaurant in town. The menu had the full complement of Fondue, Raclette and Rosti which we all love from our visits with the Engelters in Switzerland. We ended up going there twice which made us really long for our visit with them which won’t come until the end of our travels.

The other two special treats were the children’s park and the Whippet at the Hostal. All three kids enjoyed riding the zip line, climbing the climbing wall and joining in on a curious version of soccer played on a concrete surface with a small, heavier ball. They also loved hanging out with Simon the Whippet. Look for some pictures in the Where We Stayed section soon.

Well, I’m sure there is more to report, but Saturday morning came all too quickly as we boarded a jam packed bus for Tena and our trip to the jungle. More on that soon.