Leaving Quito was definitely a good move!
We spent the whole morning on a bus before
getting to Banos where whole new adventures
were awaiting us... As soon as we arrived
we dropped our bags in a hostel and had lunch.
By that time it was already 3pm but we decided
to go all out and have a sporty afternoon.
So we rented a couple of bikes and off we
were, for an afternoon of mountain biking
(pronounced mounetene baillequine in French
- Lior...)! Luckily enough the road only
went down and all we had to do was to watch
the beautiful landscapes of the Routa de
las Cascadas (about half a dozens waterfalls
on the way down) and stop once in a while
to take photos... After 18km, we arrived
at the Pailon del Diablo, a spectacular and
powerful waterfall behind which we could
not resist to go! It was just amazing!!!
And refreshing obviously... The night fell before we knew it so we got
aboard a Chiva passing by with our bikes
back to Banos... Had it been daylight we
would have obviously cycled our way back...
Hum!
That evening, we enjoyed - will you believe
it? - a cheese fondue in a Swiss restaurant!!
Yummy! The following morning was also sporty as
we went on a half-day rafting trip on the
Rio Patate! This was a first time for both
of us and we just loved it!! We got very
wet but what a way to admire the nature around
us... Unfortunately we have no photo of it
but I doubt we'll ever forget about our
10 first kilometers of white water rafting... We quickly got change following our wet adventure
and swiftly jumped on a bus to Riobamba... 10/02/2009
