Day 81 - Banos, Ecuador

We get up this morning with a bit of a hangover which is not ideal as the plan for today is to hire bikes and do the 20km bike ride to Rio Verde. 

Cool map of Banos below. Shows our proximity to the volcano nicely. Luckily Banos is a little protected from the flow of lava as it heads down the other side. 

Our route today is up the far left hand side of the map, following the river. 

We set off back past our hotel which is set up in the hills up the river in the picture below. 

Don't worry Eric we had our helmets on!!

We stop at the first set of falls - the first of many today as there are 25 waterfalls along the route culminating in the grand daddy of them all, Pailon del Diablo. 

I was very tempted by zip wiring across or down the valley but was a little bit put off by how deserted most of them were and how tired they look. When we do find one that looks OK, the one that goes for over 1km down the valley at a crazy speed, they only have two teenage girls running it who don't speak a word of English.  I'll wait to try this elsewhere me thinks. 

There are a series long tunnels along the way, luckily we only have to go through the first short one on our bikes. All the rest they send you around what used to be the old road route which has now been turned into one of the most beautiful and stunning bicycle routes around. 

This bit is what they call the natural car wash as water pours down from the cliffs above onto the road. Car washes will be in high demand today considering all the volcanic ash that has coated everything. 

Nat washing her bike.

We reach Rio Verde after a nice leisurely two hour ride with many stops along the way. When we arrive we make the trek down to the Pailon del Diablo. This is the biggest and most impressive waterfall in the area, a series of three waterfalls of which the biggest one (the middle) is 100ft high. 

It's a gorgeous if not steep walk down to the mouth of the waterfall. 

When we get there we are absolutely amazed. You turn the corner to see a cave enclosed by three sides and this immense and roaring waterfall dropping into it. The pictures here clearly do not do it justice - it is breathtaking and one of the most amazing natural wonders we have ever seen. For me I even think it's better than Niagra Falls. I can't believe people don't make more of this place - this alone should make Banos a destination for travellers. 

The force of the water dropping into a bowl like cave creates a huge whirlpool which looks frightening but is very cool to watch. 

The suspension bridge we will be on later.

Quick picture before I get too soaked from the ferocious spray. 

We then head further into the waterfall. To get to the last bit - literally a tiny cave behind the waterfall, we have to crawl through our smallest caves yet. Good job I seem to have conquered my momentary bout of claustrophobia from the Cu Chi tunnels! These ones are tiny and very wet. 

Getting even wetter now. 

We finally make it to the cave behind the waterfall. The size and ferocity of the falls makes standing behind here pretty scary. You are so close you can reach out and put your hand in which I don't due to the fear that the force would pull me over!

They also have a suspension bridge over to the other side of the mountain to get a better view of the bottom two waterfalls. You do not want to cross this bridge with too many people on as they don't half swing. 

After exploring this viewing area we head back up to go to the other view across the river at the top. They could have easily connected the two but two competing companies own each side so they don't link them. They are both pretty differently though. After the very tough trek back up the hill we reach the river and then follow it all the way down to the waterfall. It is really cool to trace the river down. It doesn't actually look that big and we are surprised by how much water actually goes over the waterfall from this source. 

The drop into the first/top waterfall. 

Into a cool cave and gorgeous blue lagoon. It would be very tempting to swim in this if you didn't know what lies just around the corner!

We then cross another suspension bridge to make our way down to see the middle waterfall (the 100ft one) again, but this time from the top. 

The steps we went down earlier look really cool. 

Getting behind the waterfall again from the other side. 

Spot little old me. 

Would have loved a picture of me one side and Nat the other but apart from needing another person to take the picture it is about a two hour round trip to get there!!

This suspension bridge was crazy as it was really steep. On the way back it gets so steep you need to pull yourself up with a rope. 

We then catch a ride with our bikes back into town. Most people do this as the route is pretty uphill on the way back. We drop the bikes back and get back to the hotel around 4pm for a chill out. We are pretty knackered now with two jam packed days and a big night out in between catching up with us. We have a nice steak each at the Swiss Bistro in town and then head back to the hotel for an early night. 

Time to move on from Banos tomorrow. I could have definitely done with some more time here. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and I think my favourite place so far on this trip which says a lot as there has been some damn tough competition.