Baños

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Sometimes you discover beauty in ugly places. Like seeing a hummingbird for the first time circling around a bright-colored flower in the middle of a disgusting bus station. Or maybe it was just an omen of the next destination I was off to: Baños. As usual with Ecuadorian public transport luck wasn’t on my side:

I arrived European early at the terminal, to find out the bus for which I had a printed ticket didn’t exist. Buses just vanish in Ecuador. So I had to wait 1.5 hours for the next one to pop up. Painful when you put your alarm at 6AM. However, Baños was going to make me forget all about that. The arrival was ridiculously idyllic: volcanoes, lush green forests and at some point even a rainbow that colored the gorgeous valley. Are you f*cking kidding me? I got out of the bus waiting for the pink unicorn to take me to my hostel, guided by goblins.

Once I arrived there (disappointingly by foot) I saw laidback-looking people playing guitar in a circle, waving at me from a distance, and to top it off: surrounded by cats. I was one happy camper. I joined my instant friends, who were also all solo travelers, for dinner and made plans for the days to come.

Which wasn’t dinner (guinea pigs)

Baños must have been ecstatically pleased with my arrival, as a festival was organized on the spot. Two stages with merry music played by moustache-macho’s with greasy hair entertained the crowds, after which The Most Beautiful Fireworks Of My Life left me speechless. It was by far the most romantic moment I experienced as a sad* little single.

* Mind the sarcasm.

In the wee hours of the morning I caught up with the German Daniel and American John to go hiking. No stretching for this one, as it was only a short walk up to the look-out point we were after. Yeah… I bet if you take the right route. Which we didn’t, needless to say.

We hiked ludicrously steep up for four hours straight, tortured by the blistering sun that almost boiled our brains out. And to make things more fun and challenging: Without food. Food is in every bloody corner in South America, except, obviously, at that specific mountain we decided to climb. We did make it up there in the end, because we’re though like that. Or boneheaded. After the obligated pictures I completely ruined my knee walking back down, driven by an inhuman desire for nutrition. Which was served for free in the hostel, *high five*

The morning after I researched my options for extreme sports, which are the Baños specialty. I did paragliding, bungee jumping, ziplining, kayaking and rafting already, so what’s left? Mountainbiking through the waterfalls? AGAIN? Nah, I did that so many times before the last few months, give me a break (I do realize how spoilt that sounds). Horsebackriding? Nope, since a horse went mental once when I was seated on it as a 6-year-old I stopped trusting those 4-legged bastards. Plus, it’s not even a vegan activity.

Maybe something with more horse power then: an ATV. F*ck yeah.

I did ride these four-wheeled monsters before in Thailand, Vietnam and Morocco, but it just never bores.

The owner handed the keys to John and asked him if he would be careful with the lady on the back. AHUM, excuse me? I am driving this damn thing, and behind that wheel I’m not quite the lady. Flying mental psychopath better fits the description. I don’t like to brag, but I am awesome on an ATV. Donate me one and my quality of life will improve instantly (although the length of it might be shortened). We stormed up to Parque del Arbol, a tree house on the top of a mountain where some genius installed swings. Not convinced yet? Check my epic pictures. Facebook-approved.

This is indeed that one photo that every white person that ever visited South America has. Next to some ‘funny perspective shots’ of Salar de Uyuni.

Ok, Baños proofed to be wild, so let’s add another day. I never did canyoning before, so I might as well. I waited in front of the tour office where I caught up with the American Alex (male version). We had plenty opportunity to get familiar, as the waiting time was of South American length… After an hour a dude opened the window of his car, explaining that his brother the tour operator got completely hammered last night and didn’t enter the land of the living yet. He couldn’t even lift his hand to hand over the office key. Aha. Normally I would never ever get into a car with an unshaved stranger who had a nice whiskey odeur going on himself, but I saw that Alex already took place on the front seat.

After some unpleasant misunderstandings and heavy negotiating we then finally reached the waterfalls we had to conquer.

Some flirty sporty boys helped me into my wetsuit and taught me the first basic canyoning skills. It feels seriously unnatural to let yourself drop backwards from a dizzying high waterfall, knowing that if you let go of the rope only tiny little pieces of Stephanie will be left.

That didn’t stop me though, the adrenaline is just too rewarding. I was so excited about descending these slippery rocks that I almost forgot to look around and take in the superb surroundings. Another chapter to the My-Life-Is-Awesome-omnibus.

After some puca bread we headed to the place where Baños got his name from. Indeed Sherlock, the baños. I’ve been to more hot springs in this continent than I ate empanadas, but I don’t see why that’s a reason to complain. Shuffling your ass in a comforting hot bath while thinking about your friends who have office jobs, complicated relationships and weird things called ‘responsibilities’ is an enjoyable pastime. It’s even better with alcohol we reckoned, as we travelers don’t have an alarm to wake up to… only for a bus to yet another incredible destination.

Yes, hate me.

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