Day 79 - Banos, Ecuador

Time to move on from Quito for a few days and head south to a lovely place in the mountains called Banos.  We have a four hour bus journey today with the bus leaving from the southern bus terminal at 9.40am. Before we set off for breakfast we see the Ecuadorian news with the reporting standing in front of an erupting volcano with Banos scrolling across the bottom. A little concerning as this is where we are heading. Apparently on Saturday (two days ago) there was a huge explosion as the Tungurahua volcano started to erupt. We were thinking it might just be one of those small things where they let off a bit of smoke and all is well again but this is actually a proper eruption, similar in size to the last major one in 1999 when quite a few people died. The plume of smoke and ash reached 40k ft, caused parts of the town (not Banos) to be evacuated, flights suspended (not another damn ash cloud!!!) and spurted lava down the side towards the river. We decide to head there anyway - I am sure they'd turn us away or close the road if there were any issues. 

Anyway, we finally get to the bus station. It takes over an hour to get a relatively short distance due to Monday morning traffic but we are soon on the road and settling down to the film Columbiana in Spanish which is surprisingly easy to follow.  Whilst waiting for the bus we saw this lady who holds the secret to a trim waist for all you ladies out there - if you want it bad enough just use a bit of cheese wire for a belt and pull really hard. Preferably with two men to really really get it tight. 

On the way we yet again have a ridiculous amount of really annoying people jumping on the bus to flog rubbish. It's like a theatre performance of only fools and horses. 

As we reach Banos we can see the huge plume in the sky. It looks amazing. The volcano has been rumbling away and having bursts of eruption since Saturday now. 

Their equivalent of the Hollywood sign. 

We arrive in town and get a taxi to our hotel. What a find this place is. It is a series of gorgeous wooden huts in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. We have a whole little house to ourselves as our room. It's called Chamanapamba which is a hell of a mouthful. 

http://www.chamanapamba.com

 

Gorgeous balcony oveooking the valley, river and a big waterfall. 

Exploring upstairs where there are two beds for children. If you were a kid (or a 33 year old man) you would love this place. Wonder if Nat will let me sleep up there tonight? ;-)

There is a lovely restaurant here named after the lovely and very helpful German owner Regine. We spend the next few hours having a few beers in the sunshine on the balcony overlooking the valley. Sheer bliss. 

We are fascinated and mesmerised by the volcano. It is so active. It sounds like there is a huge thunder storm as rumbles and roars in the background and eruptions continue with new bits of ash and smoke being kicked out into the air.  From this exact view on Saturday Regine said they could see fire and molten lava spurring out into the air and they show us some awesome pictures of it taken by one of their guests who is a professional photographer. I got the link to the pics she took (phototravel online) and have added them below to show what an amazing view they got from this exact spot. 

My pic...

The view from the same place on Saturday. 

What phenomenal pics. It is so exciting. Never thought we'd experience this. They reckon it is getting worse as well so we might get to see some real lava and fire action! I really hope we do. 

A beautiful pink sunset tonight due to all the ash particles in the air. 

That evening we go and book our canyoning adventure for tomorrow and I manage to persuade Nat that a morning of white water rafting will also be great too. Once tomorrow is sorted we go for dinner in a place called Casa Hood. Great place for getting your fajita juice dropped in your lap by the waitress. After that excitement and lots of tables getting instruments out and singing traditional Ecuadorian songs (must be a thing they do here) we head back to the sticks to bed.