Dalama Adventures Tale of two corporate types ditching their jobs and traveling the world for 14 months... check out all photos, blogs & interesting tid bits at http://www.dalama.net

We opt to kick it one more night in Baños, to allow my antibiotics some additional time to kick in. With limited days before our flight to Peru, we decide we don't have enough time for Cuenca and the beach. Given that Ecuador is probably the last spot with warm waves, before ending up in Brazil in February, we decide to go direct to the beach and leave tomorrow night on an overnight direct bus. Sounds much easier than doing the travel during the day on an indirect route that would require us to change busses four times in other towns, and especially having to change in Guayaquil, which we've been warned is not such a safe place. At least we have a beautiful setting to finish up some of our research and planning for Peru, Chile and Argentina - while we've been enjoying not having a plan and just showing up to a town, exploring and finding our way around, it's going to be high season in Chile and Argentina when we arrive, and we know finding places and transport will be difficult during the holidays. So painfully, we plan ahead. We take in the sights around the small town here, including a stop into the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Agua Santa. The Nuestra Señora de Agua Santa (Baños Patron Saint of the Virgin Holy Water) is revered by all here, and assumed to have magical saving powers. While yet another beautiful church, there are some very large and strange paintings of people in the midst of bizarre natural disasters or accidents being saved by the Water Virgin as she appears in the clouds. Strange, yet interesting pieces of art. Still no appetite today, Darrin feasts alone on some amazing food while I stick to a bowl of organic brown rice, at a little gem of a cafe we found - Café Hood, not to be mistaken by the place that made me sick (Casa Hood).