After the highs of the Amazon we werent entirely sure what to do with ourselves, so we headed to Banos (spanish for bathrooms - we arent sure why either) for a few days to chill and relax.

Many hours spent watching reruns of bad television shows reawakened our desire to get outside and do something (something made a little difficult due to the daily downpours) so after a couple of days doing sod all we discovered the amazing scenery in and around Banos. We hiked up what we beleived to be a very steep hill, only as we caught our breath (the air is once again rather thin in these parts) we were joined at the top by a running team who had just sprinted in 4 minutes what took us 25 to walk. We were shamed enough to keep going, and once we hit the other end of the valley and stood on the top of the ridge did we realise that behind that huge cloud was in fact Ecaudors most dangerous, and very much active, volcano (the residents of Banos arent technically allowed to be living there but as the volcano hasnt kept its promise to erupt anytime soon they overode the government enforced evacuation and returned a few years ago to what is clearly a very silly place to live).

Hiking was fun but it wasnt quite enough to satiate our appetities for the great outdoors, so yesterday we embarked on a very long and tiresome day on some mountain bikes (this time with wheels that actually turned without problems). The guidebook stated that the ride to Puyo, 60km away was "almost entirely downhill". THEY LIED. The first 20 km through the Ruta de Cascadas (route of the waterfalls) was indeed downhill and extremely fun, some strecthes were at least a kilometre long and very very steep with sharp banking corners, which i absolutely loved, and kate well, braked a lot. The waterfalls too were enourmous, and after a mistaken excursion onfoot to an enterprising womans back garden overlooking the river NEAR the top of the falls, we did eventually find our way to the path to the bottom and experienced the sheer power of 70m of falling water a few feet away. We got wet. We also took an impromtu ride in a poorly constructed cable car powered by a lorry engine over the canyon to take us within grasp of another falls. This would have been fun had it not been for the constant nagging thoughts of falling to an early crunching death one hundred metres below me. Kate loved it (it may have been payback for my enthusiasm at making us cycle almost as far as Manchester to Leeds?).

The remaining 40 kilometres were not entirely downhill. They were very much uphill. Nor were they dry, as we were caught in another afternoon downpour. Our emergency rations of cookies and crisps did find eventually help power us to Puyo, covered in mud, rain, tears (almost for poor little kate) and sweat. It was an amazing ride though, the mountains we passed (and ascended) were fantastic, and it was certainly a more scenic ride than the daily race against the buses to Uni we have both left behind. We got the bus home, obviously.