Today we left Quito, by local bus (similar to Greyhound but different) and headed to Banos, Ecuador. We left from the south end of the city at the bus terminal. There is a terminal at each end of Quito due to its length, 35km long and only 5km wide. There is always traffic, so having a central terminal wouldn't be efficient.

Quito is a busy place. We spent our first day and half exploring with a bit of help of an older gentleman named John. He walked us around for about an hour one morning for a "tip" - we eventually parted ways around lunch, thanking him for his help.

Two day trips we had read about were Otovalo Saturday market and the Cotopaxi Train. Both were awesome! The Saturday market is like no other I have experienced...and we only checked out the artistan market. In other sections of the town there were animal markets and fruit/veg markets. On Sunday we headed to the train station and took the train to Cotopaxi station which sits about 3500m above sea level. A few years ago the station was often covered in snow this time of year, however more recently they see more rain than anything else. We did get a glimpse of Cotopaxi on our way back to Quito - which was impressive.

Today we have traveled about 190km south of Quito to Banos which is considered a "resort" town. It sits quietly in a valley with waterfalls, thermal baths, and lots of outdoor activities. Stay tuned!