After being evicted from the jungle (and disappointingly not being greeted by Ant & Dec), we were looking forward to having a hot shower and getting our clothes cleaned. First though we had to endure a 6 hour bus journey before we could succumb to these pleasures.
The coach journey was surprisingly painless as all along the way we encountered breathtaking mountain scenery and countless waterfalls. Banos itself seemed quite a quaint and idyllic town located in the heights of the Andes. It is easy to walk around the town and you come across a pretty park and a cute basicalla both off the main street. All over the place there seemed to be people pulling and twisting at what appeared to be doughie things outside their shops. It turned out to be sugar cane and this is the technique they use to get it to the right texture to sell as a candy bar.
Banos translates to baths (and is also the word for bathroom), and that is what it is most famous for, well hot volcanic springs to be more exact. We did this on our first evening, where the hottest pools are 37°C and 44°C pool. The 'experts' say it is good for circularisation to alternate between the hot and cold pools...I bet the experts don't actually do that themselves though! It's quite a shock doing this process and Sara wasn't even able to get in the hottest pool! It was still good to do though even if it did get really crowded; also since I can't even remember the last time I had a bath.
Given the geography of the area where canyons and waterfalls are a plenty, there are many extreme activities that you can do. We settled on canyoning which involved zip-lining 850m and also 300m across a canyon (head first!), walking a suspension bridge while overhanging the canyon and then from there climbing 90m up a vertical rock face. It was an exhilirating experience and one we would both love to do again!
With adrenaline still pumping we made our way to the local indoor market for some traditional food. It was quite basic but the cheesy potato combination always does the trick for me. With energy levels rejuvenated, the prospect of a 22km bike ride didn't seem so daunting. Although Sara couldn't be persuaded to do this mainly downhill cycle, it was very picturesque gliding down the mountain roads. At the end of the route awaited a 1km trek to 'Devil's waterfall'. Given the verocity of it you can see quite aptly why it is named this.
That evening we treated ourselves to a reasonably priced fancy restaurant...a beef fondue with red wine was a good reward for the efforts of the day! Needless to say not an inch or drop of food or drink was left, which set us up well for our early morning start the next day.

Shortly after we left Banos we heard that the active volcano nearby had become very active, spewing out some serious ash clouds and they were evacuating the town! Looks like we were lucky to have left when we did!
Xx