damp dogs and thermal troubles

My plans for this week were for Amy and I to go to RioBamba and do the mountain train. But...this is Ecuador and nothing EVER goes according plan. Instead of the train it was decided that we would take Claire's parents away to the beach but...on Wednesday we had an earthquake. Not a huge earthquake but bad enough to be a nuisance! It turns out hitting the beach straight after an earthquake is not a great idea-apparently pesky things like a tsunami or flooding tend to kill the party spirit. So unto plan 3-go and visit Banos, a small town up in the mountains next to a volcano.


     Banos was wonderful!!! We had sunshine and clear blue skies. Blue sky woohoo!You probably think I'm raving madly but blue skies is something I haven't seen in months and months. Santo is hot but it is always cloudy and humid; we have no breeze, no clear skies and no sunshine. Thursday we found a hotel, had a walk around the town and bought souvenirs. Late afternoon we got a taxi up to the "Cafe del Cielo" (Sky Cafe) which is on top of the mountains. 

    From there we had stunning views of the mountains and valleys. We watched as the sun set over the mountains, 

 the stars came out .....

 and the town below slowly lit up; it was gorgeous.

   Friday morning we went White water rafting! Oh wow! Hour long trip to the river in a wooden van/bus with no walls or doors gave us an early adrenaline rush before we'd even started. Slightly awkward moment when I realised I had put on my (horribly unflattering) wetsuit on back to front but all was well. 

The before photo (still dry)

We had a safety talk which is a novelty over here; my favourite moment was when being instructed on what to do if you fall out of the boat "pass us the oar first before we help you, this is very important..the oar cost us $45!" The rafting was great. On top of trying to stay in the boat and follow instructions we had an extra element of fun-a pet dog. Lovely and friendly animal but when you are madly paddling to stay afloat you do not need a dog sitting on your lap and wanting to be hugged! At regular intervals we would all have to sit inside the raft or you fall out-several times I leapt into the boat to find the dog curled up in my place.

The after photo-a touch damp!

   We finished off our trip by bathing in the thermal pools. Had a small fight with a pool attendant who wouldn't let Amy and I into the HOT pool (45C) because our clothes were in an orange box and you needed a yellow box for the hot pool.Why?! But once we'd finished arguing, explaining and finally caving in to the totally ridiculous rules it was lovely. Sitting in a hot pool whilst the sun sets and it became night was magical.