Banos has been the most relaxing part of our journey so far. It is a holiday resort for both locals and foreigners and it is famous for its spas with water from the volcano, which is right above it. Since we arrived 3 days ago, we have been trying to see it. Unfortunately, it has been covered by clouds. We have done two short but exhausting hikes up two mountains (I was trying to keep up with Mat's race-pace, I thought I would collapse before reaching the top!) and I also tried to get close to it on a horse, however, we have not seen even a small part of it. But at least I drank some of the mineral water with volcanic minerals (hope it's safe, no side-effects so far)on my horse riding trip. While I was horse riding, Mat went water rafting and he loved it too! On the journey back from the rafting they stopped to go on a cable car, which was little more than a shopping basket on a cable, across the gorge - and Mat told me that the others made him go on it (it cost a dollar). He enjoyed it but held on with white knuckles while it shot across to view the waterfall on the other side, and then came slowly back again. We also managed to go to the spas, which have a muddy brown colour due to the minerals present there (Mat) and have two massages (me). Tonight is the last night here, we are going up to the volcano again, this time on the bus, maybe we will be lucky and will finally see it! And then to Mat's joy, we are all going salsa dancing.
Tomorrow is a long travelling day, the next stop is Cuenca. We haven't really had enough of Banos yet but are looking forward to seeing the third biggest city in Ecuador anyway.
