Banos

It was kind of a shock to arrive in Banos after the quiet of Chugchilan/Quilotoa. It felt like the Vegas of Ecuador in comparison. But a really fun contrast, and especially fun to arrive there with our two new Australian hiking friends, who were either headed there anyway or were open to being convinced to do so.

Just a couple nights in Banos, enough time for a full day adventure of taking a public bus way up the mountainside to a little park...

...with all these fun swings that would have given amazing views of the local volcano, if it had not been completely shrouded in clouds the entire time.

I really appreciated these awesome translations of the swing guidelines:

Then we descended on foot the 2,500 feet we'd climbed by bus on a VERY steep foothill path. That this creature could probably have navigated way more gracefully (albeit slowly) than we did.

Once we got back in sight of Banos, we were treated to a rainbow arched over the city. And from there we went to a hotsprings near town that was the PERFECT antidote to that downhill walk. No pictures of that, but if I had any, they would probably just be of all of us with big, relaxed smiles on our faces.