19th - 21st October - Baños

What a great weekend. We (Babs, Katrina and I) went to Baños - a spa town south-east of Quito in the "Southern sierra". If you get chance to visit, it is superb....

Friday:

Spoke to Jase in the morning to wish him happy birthday. Jammy git got a playstation 3 off Hannah. Odd to hear friends voice after 8 weeks (Gavin, you don't count. Joke!). Met Babs back at the gaff after spending several dollars on some odd looking fruit for the trip. Packed my bags. Left fruit at home. No room. We went to Terminal Terrestre which is the Quito equivalent of Digbeth on the Trole (tram) . Lots of buses and little help from the staff. I'd like to say the check-in passed without incident but it transpires that Babs was pickpocketed on the tram. I don't see how, as her money was securely stowed away in a pocket without a zip/button or any other fastener. Hmm. It seems she is targeted for robbery, kind of like a "Teutonic Plague" *

After some tears and words of encouragement by yours truly we left Quito at about 4. $3.50 for a 4 hour trip. After about 10 mins we were in the country. The good thing about it pissing down all day is that the hills and fields are always lush. Had an array of local folk jumping on and flogging one of "water bottles, crisps with mayonnaise, empanadas, chewing gum". Scenery was amazing, especially when we finally passed the volcano Cotopaxi (the highest active volcano in the world).

We arrived in Baños after nearly tipping the coach in the pouring rain. Nice. Went to the recommended hostel but it was fully-booked so after a few more "Mary and Joseph" moments we finally found room at an inn. Babs plumped for the twin room (Katrina coming tomorrow) and I went for the en-suite, double, leave me alone room for $15. A little expensive but the bed was soft and the shower was hot.

Rang K in Quito and went for a meal. After the earlier stress I thought Babs would go straight for the beer but, as always, she went for the most sickly sweet offering on the menu - batido de piña (pineapple milkshake). I had pizza and beer and it was great. Went back to the hostel. And that was Friday.

* Dan, if you are reading this and groaning at that last quip it STILL beats "Subpoena colada".


Saturday:

So we are due to meet K at 12pm at the bus station in Baños. Baños is the adrenalin sport capital of Ecuador. It is a small village surrounded by huge cliffs and a big mutha of a volcano.

Have done canyoning (ok, now laughing at pregnant Dan photos), bungee jump, white and black-water rafting, parachute jumping so what next? We went for a bike ride. Actually, it was really good fun. $5 to hire a 21 gear bike all day complete with map and safety equipment. Bargain. We went on a tour of the "cascadas" (waterfalls). Slightly less impressive than Iguazú but still picture-worthy. It was hot and sunny and now quite brown. The trip was 22km to the final waterfall (which also included a 1km hike without bike). Took lots of snaps on the way. Babs was motoring down hill for most of it. Nagging feeling in the back of my head that the return trip would be uphill.

The return trip was uphill alright, nearly killed poor Babs. In fact, we had to go through a mountain tunnel the wrong way as we had no lights. Nearly killed both of us!

We were late getting back to meet K but we soon had her checked-in and we grabbed a quick lunch before the RWC final. England V South Africa. Rubbish game, another final without tries. South Africa won 15-6.

Babs met another German woman and that was pretty much all we saw of her for the rest of the weekend. K and I had a kip when we got back and then went for a dip in the spa pools before dinner. Christ, the first pool was like stepping into a pool of fire so we went for the pool that was "just right" and took the piss out of the guys in Speedos for about an hour. This pool was in an amazing location - right by a huge cliff and a waterfall. It was tempting to stay in there all night. K is great fun too.

We went to a restaurant called Casa Hood which was bloody nice and cheap. We both had Mexican food and got chatting to some Danish doctors.

Went to a cocktail bar and had a hilarious Mojito which looked like it had spinach in it instead of mint. Still at a quid a pop I wasn't complaining. The bar played all the classics from the wedding season 2007. Without the air-guitaring. Babs and new friend turned up later and went to an Irish bar. No more Irish bars in Ecuador for K and I.

Sunday:

Had a dead cheap breakfast. Hot choc, juice, bread and jam and an omelette for 50p. The morning nearly turned into a shopping trip with K but I said the magic words "Fancy going horse-riding?". $12.50 per person gets you a 2 hour trek with a guide - pretty good. My horse looked very under-nourished and a mere shadow of the mighty beasts in the Estancia in Buenos Aires.

The only problem with a light horse is that the bloody thing is built for speed and this one was no exception. K had advised me to "tuck your bum under your balls when it starts to canter". Well, after 5 mins my balls were somewhere up by my throat. We went up and up the hillside and eventually to the foot of the volcano which was grumbling in the background. Took samples of fused lava and photos of our guide "Brian", the horses and waterfalls.

2 hours passed quite quickly although "the gallop" which lasted about 5 seconds seemed like a lifetime but all good fun and got the blood pumping. If only Jackie could see me!!

Booked on the 3pm bus back to Quito and the journey home passed without excitement. The price was cheaper and the seats more comfortable. Babs and her new friends went home separately. We were the only Gringos on the bus which was packed with Latinos/Latinas and a kitten that was so small it fitted into the palm of your hand.

All in all a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend and great company with K. We should be off to Otavalo next weekend to the markets.