Quilotoa to Banos

After Cotopaxi, it was time to say goodbye to Quito once and for all and start heading south. We do after all have to make it all the way down to the bottom of Chile by Christmas (a mere 3000+ miles) so we had to make a move in that direction at some point!
Our next stop was a tiny little place called Quilotoa, famous for its dazzlingly blue volcanic crater lake, tucked away in the hills south of Ecuador's capital. A stunning sight by all accounts, which was just as well, as the journey to get to it would have tested the metal of the most hardy road traveller. Without going into too much detail, having seen the road, and the bus which was to transport us on the 3 hr journey to our destination of the village of Chugchilan, you would not have believed it possible. Still, as I kept telling myself, the bus drivers (most of whom could give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money) do this route every day, and several hundred heart-stopping moments later, we arrived in one piece.

The next day we were able to get a better look at the road (which I had previously only caught brief glimpses of, when I could bare to look) from the back of the pick-up in which we rode up to the volcanic lake, which was indeed stunning. The hike back to our hostel took most of the day and took in some amazing mountain scenery en route.

The next day we were off again, this time via the slightly incongruous mode of transport - the local school bus (in South America, as you quickly learn, any vehicle with a basic minimum requirement of 4 wheels (road-worthiness optional) is fair game as public transport!). But it did the job, and soon we were on our way to our next stop, the chilled out town of Banos.

As suggested by the name, Banos is a spa town, the waters being heated by the local active volcano, which puts on a regular show of spouting smoke and ash for those lucky enough to be there when its not raining... unfortunately this didn't apply to us. For the 5 days we stayed in Banos, the rain was pretty much incessant. Luckily rain is no object to an enjoyable white water rafting trip - quite the contrary - the fact that the river was about 3 m higher (and hence a lot faster) than usual made for an exciting (if quick) paddle down the river under a thunderous sky. We also managed an outing to the baths themselves - very theraputic.