Volcanoes and Hot Springs of Baños, Ecuador

By Mike Yaeger and Matt Lepkowski

http://www.travelsinparadise.com/ecuador/banos_1.html

In every country, exists a city that draws expatriates and tourists alike, offering a little bit of home in a foreign land. In Ecuador, that city is called Baños - a small, sleepy, but exciting town of 12,000 people situated on a high alpine plateau (5,971 feet) between several mountains including the 16,479 ft. volcano peak of Tungurahua hidden in the clouds.

This is a jumping off point for many tourists climbing volcanoes, starting horsepack trips, or going into the Oriente. The Oriente (literally "East") is the area East of Baños where the elevation drops and tributaries of the Amazon river form. This region contains Ecuador’s rainforests.

Almost every street corner has a tour guide, horse rental, backpacking or outdoor equipment store. There are many restaurants and bars run by expatriates, and overall the town exudes a very relaxed atmosphere with the feel of an American or European college town.

Lodging in Baños, Ecuador

Wandering the streets of Baños provides a number of lodging options, from fairly nice pension style hotels to the standard cheap hotels found throughout the rest of the country. We had arranged previously to meet another traveler at the Isla de Baños with the hopes that we would stay there as well. However, although quite nice with lush gardens and a wood-beamed lobby, it is expensive by Baños standards - about 7.50 USD per night. Our friend hadn’t arrived due to the strikes effecting travel, so they let us leave a message for him at the hotel.

We ended up at the more reasonable area of town surrounding the town market and Parque Central, where the streets are lined with inexpensive hotels and hostels. The Hotel Residencial Baños (Phone 740-284) is located on Ambato Ave. and has basic rooms with or without private baths and hot water. We talked to the friendly owner in Spanish for a few minutes and managed to negotiate a price of 2.50 USD per night. But, it was low season and the hotel was empty. The "normal" rates were 3.50 - 4 USD per night.

Food in Baños, Ecuador

Baños, being a tourist town, offers more restaurant variety than almost any other city in Ecuador, ranging from traditional Ecuadorian fare to European cuisine like French, German, and Italian.

For breakfast, the best option is the smaller restaurants surrounding the Parque Central. "Desayuno" (breakfast) was 1 USD and included 2 eggs, bread, fresh squeezed juice and coffee or tea.

Lunch and dinner offer more varied options. Casa Vieja de Dusseldorf, along the main street, implied German food, but actually didn’t offer any German food. The food was average and expensive (for Ecuador). The entrees range in price from about 3 to 3.50 USD and a 10% tax is charged.

Donde Marcello is a candlelit Italian restaurant catering to tourists, and the food is very good. The menu included pastas, and pizza that is served in the traditional European size using local goat cheeses. A meal with a couple beers runs about 5 USD. At this and many other restaurants, there were local Andean musicians playing, easily identified by the classic pan flutes.

Regine Café Alemán became one of our favorite restaurants that we visited multiple times during our stay. It is owned by an expatriate German couple, and offers a large menu including Hungarian Goulash, Kartoffelnpuffer (potato pancakes) with ham and cheese, schnitzels, chicken dishes and a variety of other Germanic specialties. The presentation, sauce, spices, and quantity were excellent and the pace was slow and relaxing. Dinners ran about 6 USD with wine and/or beer.

Kikataro Restaurant offers a good "almuerzo" (lunch) for 1.50 USD, including chicken soup, roast chicken, rice, french fries and a desert of bananas with grenadine syrup. It was tasty but the small portions were not very filling.

Le Petit, is one of the three French restaurants in town, and keeping with French tradition, the food was good but the prices were expensive (8 USD) and the service was snarly. Just like in France. We ate on the patio which has a stone floor, window walls and lots of plants.

Nightlife in Baños, Ecuador

There are two types of bars in Baños – the traditional Ecuadorian type where you can see live Andean music and dancing, or the more touristy bars that play rock ‘n roll and offer mixed drinks and pool tables. We visited a mix of these places over our stay.

There is a Hard Rock Café in Baños, but it an obvious imitation of the bar chain throughout the world. Inside is a small one room bar with a pool table in the back. American music, language and posters filled the room. This is a good place to meet fellow travelers, but don’t expect any unusual experiences.

The Bamboo bar is housed in a tiny all-bamboo building which makes for a unique atmosphere. However, the drinks are expensive and the people are just a little too friendly, while the waiter kept pestering us to buy more drinks.

We also had the opportunity to fall into a tourist trap. While wandering around looking for the next bar, we were approached by some teenagers who suggested we go with them to their favorite bar, where we would hear a live Andean band. We asked about a cover and were told that there was none. When we got there, there was another group of tourists about to leave and no music playing. We sat at a table with the teenagers and some other Ecuadorians. They ordered a large spiced alcoholic drink (which was quite good), and then informed us that it cost 15000 sucres (10 USD), as well as a 10000 (8 USD) sucre cover charge per person. The band began to play (they apparently only played when there were tourists there), but we got up to leave and began a small argument with our hosts. It was not as much the issue of money as the fact that they told us there was no cover. In addition, we didn’t like them ordering a very expensive drink for us without explaining the cost. We ended up paying for the drink and quickly leaving. Situations like this require you to know some Spanish to get out of trouble.

The evening goes long in Baños, and we did find a traditional bar called the Pipas bar. Inside the walls and ceiling are covered with psychedelic 1960’s style abstract artwork. Huddled around the band were about 10 2-person wooden benches and some small pine tables. The traditional folk band that played was the best we heard in Ecuador. They played the saxophone, trumpet, pan flutes, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and drums. People in the audience were welcome to join in and jam with the band. Many people sang and clapped along. It was a great bar - the band was talented and the surroundings were relaxed and friendly.

Baños definitely has a hippie feeling, and this extended to the nightlife. Keeping with the hippie sentiment, marijuana is available from characters on the street selling pipes and other trinkets. 7.50 USD buys a pipe and about 2-3 grams of mediocre smoke. Drug use in Ecuador is discreet. Unlike it’s neighbors, Peru and Columbia, drugs are hard to find in Ecuador. Baños was the only town in Ecuador that seemed to cater to this element of society.

Hot Springs in Banos, Ecuador

Below the waterfall on the east end of town are the hot springs, which are fed by the picturesque falls cascading off the mountain. There are a couple other springs in the area, but this one is the closest to the center of town and is the hottest. The admission is .75 USD per person, with higher rates (1 USD) during the evening hours, including a basket check for your belongings. With the exception of a few hours during the day when the pools are cleaned, the facility is generally open all day.

Customers are asked to shower first in one of a couple different outside showers. The springs themselves are porcelain tiled pools where hot spring water is mixed with the cold waterfall water. The water is green and murky but didn’t have a sulphur smell like most hot springs. I expected the water to be very hot, but it was actually quite mild. For a real refresher, stand under the stone water spouts that funnel the chilly water from the falls into a shower.

Hiking an Active Volcano in Baños, Ecuador

The mountains surrounding Baños are lush and green, soaring up into the clouds to unbelievable heights. While it is very popular to take a guided expedition up the encircling volcanoes, day hiking on your own is easily accomplished. Buy a map at one of the tourist shops on the main street. A hike around Baños provides breathtaking views of the countryside and a look into the lives of the farmers who live on the steep hillsides. Six blocks south of the bus terminal on PV Maldonado is a trailhead that leads up the mountainside to a beautiful vista point called Bellavista an hour up the slope. A little further (perhaps one half-hour hike) past Bellavista (pretty view) is the resort of Luna Rúntun.

It was overcast and a mist filled the air, as it began to rain slowly and then harder, against the wooden roofs of the cabanas and bar area of the Luna Runtún resort. The menu was outrageously expensive for Ecuador. The beers were 1.75 USD and the entrees averaged 6 USD. The service was excellent and the beer was served with a large green leaf as a coaster. The bathroom was the nicest I encountered in Ecuador, with running water, marble counters and brass fixtures. While we were there, a Dutch couple stopped on their way jogging up the mountainside in preparation for an ascend on Cotopaxi, one of the highest volcanoes in the Andes.

The small village of Runtún (the literal translation is fortress, because of the easily defendable position on the mountainside) was our next destination. A muddy trail scrambled up the slope, almost vertical in mainly places, but quickly diverged into many different directions. Staying on the path that looked the most worn, we soon realized we should have already arrived in the village. Fortunately we met a farmer tending to his small plot of land.

The farmer's life on the precarious mountainside was subsistence farming at its best. His small open-air house was a makeshift construction consisting of concrete blocks, small tree timbers, tarps, and pieces of tin and wood. A small dog and several chickens wandered the small fields. There was no electricity or water. He appeared lonely, peaceful and hard working on his isolated island at least two hours by trail from town. He spoke broken Spanish, as did we, but we got the general idea that we could reach Runtún by going up over the ridgeline.

The scenery here is breathtaking. As we struggled to the ridgeline, we found ourselves in the middle of the clouds with moisture rising up from the valleys to form an eerie mist around us. Scattered thoughout the countryside were small shacks, many of which looked deserted, but many that had small plots of land.

Along the ridgeline, one could make out the shadows of "tomate de arbol" (tree tomatoes) growing in the mist. Tree tomatoes grow about 3 meters (9 feet) high with their pear shaped red vegetables hanging from branches. These trees provide the main ingredient for aji, a type of regional salsa served on every table in Ecuador.

On the other side of the ridgeline, we finally came to a cobblestone road, which led downhill back towards Baños. This time, we managed to find the town of Runtún, which was quite unspectacular with a tiny church, a small store, and one or two houses. After about six hours hiking in the sometimes light, often heavier rain, we arrived in Baños.

Hiking to the Waterfall and Cave in Baños, Ecuador

Another day, we decided to hike towards the west end of town towards Lligua (pronounced E-GOO-AH). After crossing the stream and up an ancient-looking stone staircase, we continued walking straight and across the main road. There is a bridge across a narrow gorge with a large river flowing quickly below, and a small zoo nearby. We continued past the zoo and saw the entrance to St. Ines waterfall. The view is spectacular so we continued down the steep path to the river.

Near the bottom of the path is a large cave. The opening is over 40 feet wide and over 15 feet high. The cave narrows as you venture deeper, but 60 feet inside the ceiling is still 6 feet high. Shortly past the cave is the riverside where you can view the waterfall on the opposite side of a small bay. The falls are not very high but they are fast and powerful, carving 100 feet deep smooth, flowing fissures in the rock.