We woke up to heavy rain and we could hardly see the mountains while we ate breakfast on the terrace. This wasn't a good outlook for our tour up into the mountains. We pulled out the merino thermals, rain jackets and wooly gloves just in case.

A very nice and spacious van picked us up and our guide for the day, Diego, told us that there was only going to be four of us. A couple had pulled out saying it was too cold and wet even though they knew there was no refund.

After picking up the other couple, who came from Canada, we drove about 30 minutes to the lower section of the park at 3100m. It was still raining a little bit but the hour's walk around the lake on a well maintained track was quite sheltered. There were nice views of the valley, mountains, lake and forest. We saw a Tucan, Hummingbirds and some other little birds and ducks. Diego pointed out lots of flowers, orchids and bromelias that we might otherwise have missed. A nearby waterfall looked really nice due to all the rainfall.

There was an old, abandoned, German brewery that must have been very nice in its day with mountain views and trout filled lake on its doorstep.

We drove further up into the mountains, to the view point of "Three Crosses". It was very cold and windy but that was to be expected because we were at the watershed point on the Andes. The land on the left would lead water down through rivers to the Pacific Ocean while on the right, the water would end up in the Amazonian jungle and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.

The van drove back down to a lower point on the mountain, to the interpretation centre and the start of the highland tracks. We took the Garcia Moreno track, a relatively easy 3 hour downhill walk.

The rain had stopped for the time being even though we could see the next shower ahead of us. We did get awesome panoramic view of mountains and lakes. From a distance the mountains look quite bare and uninteresting but there were heaps of small plants and flowers around - some were medicinal used for making valium, some were for muscle pain and menstruation. The guide helped explain the scene we couldn't understand in the market yesterday - the women were using bunches of medicinal plants and herbs when brushing and whipping people as part of a shaminic cleansing. Children in particular who became restless and naughty were given the treatment to rid them of the evil spirits. Some of the plants were also used for dying wool and others for food like the nice smelling mint.

We saw some of the llamas that had been released back into the mountains and an eagle flying overhead. Pumas and Spectacled Bears are around on the mountain but very,very rarely seen.

We were taken into a 'Paper Tree' forest that could be best described as a 'Harry Potter enchanted forest'. Paper trees are actually part of the rose family and the forest was in fact one single living organism. We were lucky enough to spot an owl in the trees.

We had a late lunch in one of the roadside trout farm restaurants. Even though trout is an introduced fish, it now plays a major role in sport fishing and, of course, as food. To help us warm up, we were give a hot aromatic dink with some alcohol in it. It wasn't too bad and David even had a second one. After some delicious potato soup, we tucked into some fresh grilled trout with rice and fries.

We were dropped back in town and went in search of some decent coffee. We had been told that the icecream parlour on the main plaza was worth trying. The coffee was good and so was the piece of chocolate cake we shared.

In the evening we took a taxi to the Piedra de Agua Spa for four dollars. The spa had a couple of options and we intended taking just the $10 entry for the main pool and steam room but it turned out they had a 2 for 1 deal on their "Spa Experience" which is normally $30. For an additional $10 we would both get the additional access to mud pools, steam box therapy and the underground pools - we couldn't refuse.

We were given bath robes and got changed into our togs. David somehow managed to slip on the floor, upended himself and came down **********ically, on the anti-slip board, taking a chunk of skin out of his shin. There were a few expletives and a short delay before we started our 'experience'.

The Turkish steam bath was surprisingly warm and smelt good thanks to the bunches of herbs. We spent 30 minutes in the bath with one shower break before we were moved on to blue mud therapy pool. The mud in this pool was supposed to cleanse the skin so we liberally applied it and left it to dry. After washing the dried mud off, the skin did actually feel really soft. Next in the experience was the red mud therapy to get rid of wrinkles and rejuvenate the skin. Once the mud was one the face, it made you look like a 'black and white minstrel', especially in the dark.

They seemed to forget us so we had to ask for the next step and were then led to the underground pools, nice stone type cave with steps and candles and soft music. There were two pools, one hot pool and one cold which you are supposed to alternate for better circulation.

Before being moved to the steam box room, we had one final plunge in the cold pool. The boxes are like those shown in old American cartoons where only the head is out of a wooden box. Even though you are in control of the steam inside, Maria only managed a few minutes while David managed to stay for the whole time. It is supposed to help make you skinnier or something.

We were offered a herbal drink, with no alcohol this time, to help us recover and then it was back to underground pools before a quick dip in the main temperate pool. The Japanese pool was either closed or under construction so we never got to find out what it was. The spa was closing for the evening anyway, so we showered and shared a taxi back to Cuenca with two German girls, one who lived in Cuenca and other one was going to study in Costa Rica for a year.