Quito and banos

After Quilotoa, Julie and I made a quick dash north to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, to meet a friend of hers arriving from Spain for a short holiday. We had heard lots of negative things about Quito from other travellers who had been mugged or robbed and we arrived unsure of what to expect.
 Quito is very long. The city nestles its self inbetween a valley of volcanoes. There are lots of hills! We spent a couple of days doing the cultural highlights as recommended by the guide book. There is the old colonial center, which although run down, has some spectacular old buildings.

The highlight was the gothic Basilica del Voto Nacional, built around 1926. Rather than gargoyles, turtles and iquanas protrude from the churches sides. There is also a very rickety ladder that we climbed to the top of one of the towers for spectacular views of the city. Also on our cultural tour we visited the home of the famous painter Oswaldo Guayasamin and his Capilla del Hombre (temple of man). It is a monument cum gallery which houses his paintings and sculptures, a tribute to the suffering of Latin Americas indigenous poor and to the undying hope for something better.




View from the temple of man

 Julies friend Cristian arrived and so did Antti and the four of us set off for the thermal bath town of Banos about three hours south of Quito.

Banos is perched on the slopes of an impressive active volcano called Tungurahua (throat of fire). Despite offering the thrilling backdrop of a crater that occasionally spits smoke and fire, Tungurahua bestows high waterfalls, steaming thermal baths, dense jungly vegetation and deep river gorges.

 The town is rather ugly but the location is a playground for nature lovers and adventure seekers. In Banos we met up with Tim, a climbing fanatic from Melbourne and also David a young Irish man, and the six of us embarked on 5 days of adrenalin fueled adventures.  We had a go at pretty much everything Banos had to offer from white water rafting, canopy zip lines, beach buggy driving, horse riding, canyoning and some of the more daring did bridge jumping.

 

I had a really good time but after five days of a bit to much in the way of partying, rich food, wine and fun I was ready to head off to tackle the next challenge.....

The summit of Cotopaxi!