We have now finished with our wildlife adventures and are heading south through the high sierra of the Andes. We are travelling along the Pan-American Highway, past snow-capped volcanos, across grassy plains and through deeply incised valleys, for several hundred spectacular kilometres.

Our first stop is the small town of Baños. I suspect anyone who has ever been to Spain is thinking 'But Baños is Spanish for toilets!' Indeed it is but the town's full name is Baños de Agua Santa and it is famous for its thermal baths fed by hot water springs from Volcan Tungurahua, one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes, which looms menacingly over the town.

There are some baths just up the road from our hostel, right on the lower slopes of the volcano. The spring water is the temperature of a very hot bath and a rather unappealing muddy brown colour but no doubt full of minerals that will do wonderful things for our bodies. Being somewhat out of town these ones are visited by very few tourists and we spend a pleasant hour or so slowly cooking in the uncrowded pools. The facilities are a little primitive, reminiscent of municipal swimming pools of my youth, but for just $3 there is little cause for complaint.

Baños is also the adrenaline junkies go-to destination in Ecuador. The small town contains dozens of agencies offering a wide range of activities including mountain biking, rafting, canyoning, bridge-jumping, white-water rafting, zip-wiring and horse riding to name just a few. One of the most popular is the 'Rutas de Cascadas', an 18 km bike ride along the main road down the valley past several spectacular waterfalls. As its raining we eschew the bikes in favour of the local bus which is much more interesting. It is market day and so the bus is full of people with their weekly fruit and vegetable shopping. Piles of shopping bags sit in the front of the bus and every time someone gets off there is a kerfuffle as bags are sorted and lifted down on to the roadside whilst he bis driver patiently waits for everything to be sorted. At one point a woman gets off to buy a drink for her small child and no one seems to mindsthe delay.

The waterfalls are spectacular, especially the Pailon del Diablo where the Rio Verde plunges 80 metres down a narrow gorge into the canyon. I get my adrenaline fix at one of the smaller falls by riding on a 'tarabita', a small primitive cable car slung across the canyon that takes you right over one of the falls. Kate, probably wisely, takes one look and opts to stay on terra-firma.

From Baños it is a 2 hour bus ride to our next stop, Riobamba. A rather dull, depressing town it is the jumping off point for two activities. First the opportunity to climb Ecuador's highest mountain, Volcan Chimborazo, the summit of which is, due to the bulge around the Equator, the furthest point from the exact centre of the earth and, therefore, the nearest to the sun. Needless to say we have not come to do that. Instead we are going on the second activity: a train ride on 'El Nariz del Diablo', the Devil's Nose. When building the railway connecting Ecuador's two biggest cities, Quito in the highlands and Quayaquil on the coast, the Scottish engineers in charge of the project had to devise a way of negotiating the 700m high cliff know as the Devil's Nose. Their solution was to carve a zigzag into the cliff so the train reverses down a steep section of line into the valley before continuing on its way. Unfortunately, this 12km section is now all that remains in use of the line, once described as the most challenging railway in the world, and like the other few remaining parts of the network, only operates as a tourist train. But despite the fact that you're no longer allowed to ride on the roof it is still an exciting ride. (Even Kate liked it).

Our final stop going south is the city of Cuenca. A UNESCO world heritage site on account of the relatively unspoilt Spanish colonial centre it has a reputation for being laid-back and, according to the Lonely Planet guide, a place "time keeps forgetting". We have come on 3 November, Cuenca's Independence Day, which as it follows All Saints Day and a public holiday, has turned into Cuenca's carnival time. As a result accommodation is in short supply and prices are whacked up. So we end up staying in the most expensive hotel of our trip by some distance. Mind you it turns out that our room is subdivided into two and contains no less than four double beds! Fortunately two of these are away from the front window and the noise of the traffic and the incessant car alarms which seem to characterise Cuenca. I'm not so sure about the city time forgot.

Unfortunately a few torrential evening downpours rather put a damper on the carnival celebrations. We go to find some music advertised in one of the city's many squares but it seems not to be happening. By 9 o'clock with the rain continuing there are clear signs of an exodus from the city centre. So we head back to our hotel and the difficult question - which bed shall we sleep in?