Half Term November 2009 - Banos & Riobamba

We headed to Banos for half term with some friends from school, Ewan and Miranda. We stayed in a lovely eco-hostel just outside Banos called 'La Casa Verde.' We spent the first day visiting some local thermal baths with all the locals and then hiked up to a nearby waterfall. The next day, we cycled along the cascade route following all the waterfalls south of Banos. I have never been so scared cycling through a tunnel in the pitch black! Typically I got a puncture and luckily Ewan was with us and was able to fix it for me! We got back from the cycle and went to a local spa. The girls had a body mud mask followed by a sauna in a box!! It is such a great idea, you sit in a box with your head sticking out and the vapours cover the rest of your body underneath. It looks hilarious but it such a great idea. The boys had a sauna and a massage - very good all round. We then got up at 4am to drive to Riobamba to go on the 'Devil's Nose' train ride. It was a beautiful ride with some amazing views overlooking a canyon. We got there to find out that there was nobody to pick us up so we were stranded 3 hours south of Banos. We had to get a taxi back and then drive for almost 6 hours to get back to Quito, it was a very long day......