Here, There and Ecuador

Our time at the beach came to an end, and after saying goodbye to our new friends, Tom and I left Kamala.

Before we could enjoy seeing the sights of Ecuador, we needed to resolve our visa situation.  This resulted in us having to cross back over the Peru border.  The immigration officials made us sweat for a while (holding out for a bribe, which they did not receive) but eventually everything was set in order.

We spent a couple of days relaxing on the beautiful, quiet beach of Mancora, before re-entering Ecuador and continuing our journey.

From the border we travelled to Cuenca, the third largest city in the country.  It is a beautiful place, set against a green landscape.  After over a month of being on the beach and in cities, it was refreshing to be back in the countryside.

Rio Tomebamba

We walked upstream along the Rio Tomebamba, a path which shows the contrasting aspects of the city.  To the left stood the charming, colonial style buildings of an old day Cuenca, and to the right we could see the modern buildings of the business and education centre of the city.

We visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the largest of several in Cuenca.  It is a vast building that inspires awe, with impressive architecture and elaborate works of marble inside. 

After our brief, but lovely time in Cuenca, we moved on to Banos, a town set on the hillside of the Tungurahua Volcano.  The town is close to the jungle and there is much rainfall, which accounts for how lush and green and almost tropical the plant life is there. 

On the outskirts of the town are the hot springs of El Salado.  These thermal baths draw hot, volcanic water from underground and are slightly discoloured because of the high mineral content.  There are pools of varying temperatures and massage showers, which fire out powerful jets of water.  Some of the older local people visit the hot springs for relief from aches and pains.  We relaxed for some time in the water here, taking in the beautiful view of the hillside and the river which runs alongside.

In the dirt buggy

From a day of relaxation to one of more action, we hired a dirt buggy, which was automatic with just two seats and no windscreen or windows.  We zoomed out of the town up towards the waterfalls of Machay, accompanied by Jess and Jeannine, two friends from the CELTA course in Kamala.  It was certainly an experience, having never driven on the wrong side of the road, or the wrong side of the car.  We drove though dark tunnels which dripped water onto us, the wind whipping our faces and barely able to hear to speak to one another.  It was a lot of fun, as was the short cable car journey we took across the waterfalls, watching the powerful water cascading into the river.

We visited the church La Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Rosario de Agua Santa, which although seemed relatively small compared to some which we have seen in South America, contained many impressive religious paintings and beautiful art on the ceiling.  At night, the domes of the church are lit up, a bright purple colour, a view of which we had from our room.

Leaving Banos, we travelled to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador.  We are here now, enjoying our final days in the country before travelling on to Colombia.