Picked up some mountain bikes and set off down the ruta las cascadas (touristy waterfall route - full of ecuadorean tourists on a Saturday!). After having to stop 3 or 4 times in the first few kms to fix my bike chain, thought our little cycle may turn in to a bit of a disaster. Fortunately though we bumped in to the bloke who rented us the bikes - he pointed out that one of the cog spokes was missing. Instructed not to use the bottom gear, we continued on our wa...

Jumped in a little action jeep with the guide and a Swiss girl to head off for our canyoning experience (canyoning being a bit like abseiling, but with the added novelty of it being down waterfalls and therefore rather slippery rock). Climbed upwards for about 15mins sampling a fruit similar to a passion fruit and whiffing plants used for herbal remedies. Negotiated 5 cascadas, some backwards, some forwards, some jumping, some slipping, some sliding (literally, o...

Lovely breakfast at Hostel Chimenea before picking up our guide and our horses, Cocalisa and Poppy. After gingerly jumping on, the horses gingerly shuffled up the mountain path. Uphill was tricky, but it was nothing on coming down - some parts were very steep! The risk of broken bones and the sore bums afterwards was justified by the amazing views of Tungurahua volcano, the town and the surrounding valleys ..... oh and the cool treehouse and swing at the top. Wen...

White water rafting! Us 2, 2 scots and the guide doing our best not to upturn the raft. Some pretty crazy rapids (some more accurately described as tidal waves), nice scenery and very good fun. Despite some close scrapes we survived without anyone falling in, which was good given the water temperature. Nice trout meal thrown in to the tour too. Back in Banos went to the fruit and veg market where we picked up a pineapple, cucumber, 2 tomatoes, punnet of strawberr...

We realised we had bought too many souvenirs when it took twice as long as normal to squeeze everything in to our backpacks. When we managed this feat, taxi across Quito to the bus station for buses Banos bound. Relatively painless 4 hour journey to Banos, and rather picturesque on the final stretch, following the river along the valley. Found and settled in to our hostel before sussing out what the town had to offer, fuelled by a veggie cafe lunch. Took in the s...