Days 7 to 9
After a few days roughing it in the jungle it was time for a little TLC.

We travelled to Banos, another mountain town popular for holiday makers and full of Spas. Most of you will know I do love a spa so wasted no time getting booked in. The treatment included a facial and massage but also 1 hr of steam treatments where you sit in very hot and cold pools and its supposed to do wonders for your skin and circulation.

The hot steam part involved sitting in these ridiculous wooden boxes with steam pumping out inside the box leaving only your head outside. It reminded me of the stocks in medieval days but luckily no one was throwing tomatoes at me!

The next day some of the keen ones went for a three hour hike. Myself and Marina, my partner in crime for this trip decided we had not been pampered enough and instead spent the day getting a manicure and a pedicure and mooching about the shops.

Banos is quite famous for its night life as well so ended up out both nights which was fun although I am not as hard core as Marina. I managed a respectable 2am on Saturday night. Not bad i thought. Marina wondered back from the club fresh as a daisy at 7.15 am just in time to board the bus to Cuenca.

On our way here we called into a local indigenous market where lots of the local who live in the remote mountain spots come to trade and buy food etc. It was pretty hectic but interesting to see it all in action although I think I prefer Marks & Spencer's!