Banos

From Misahualli, Ecuador, Kevin & I hopped on a local bus through the Amazon & back to Tena.  Tena is a relatively larger town, though both are tiny outposts against the jungle growth.  We were reaching the heights of Carnivale so every walk down the street involved being chased by kids with water guns & spray shaving cream.  Wearily, we found our bus for Banos.

Given that we were approaching Banos from the southwest, we wound up riding Ruta de las Cascadas, the famous winding highway of waterfalls.  Many tourists mountain bike down this road & around the mountain tunnels.  I have to say, I was OK taking in the view from bus windows.  

As I approached Ruta de las Cascadas, & then Banos proper, I began to feel walled in by the Andes.  I wasn't claustrophobic nor was this unpleasant.  But the mountains literally seemed to become walls.  Their presence was so all-pervasive.  I felt inhabited by them.  

I'm reading Joan Halifax right now.  She talks about pilgrimages to mountains & how mountains disappear as we draw nearer.  For a time, we approach & see their grandeur from a distance.  As we draw closer, we are absorbed into them.  Spending significant stretches of time in mountains or near them, we start to understand their living dynamism.  Mountains stretch, grow, crumble, and shape those near them.  Their presence looms.

 Banos is known for taffy made from locally harvested sugarcane.  Ecuador grows everything.  There are so many microclimates & so much fertility that even in the temperate mountains I found what has always been to me a tropical crop: sugar cane.  There are obviously plentiful resources nearby!

I wound up purchasing a fair amount of taffy to bring home to friends & loved ones.  I tried some & it tasted like burnt sugar.  It was kind of delicious!  The flavors were all made with local fruits: lemon, watermelon, blackberry, strawberry, & blueberry.

We were still in the throes of Carnivale.  Banos is a popular destination for Ecuadorian tourists!  We had heard that Banos is possibly the most Gringo town.  During Carnivale, it was dominated by Ecuadorians.  Also, most rooms were booked far in advance.  I had heard about a well ranked bed & breakfast called Magic Stone, so we hiked there first.  They were of course, full.  We wound up hiking to nine hotels, hostals, & B & Bs before finally finding a tiny cell in a downtown hostal.  Of course there was a shared bath down the hall with only cold water (& Banos gets COLD at night!).  Kevin loved our tiny cell.  It only fit a desk and a glorified twin bed.  He felt like a monk & sat down to meditate.  I chalked it up to adventure & swallowed at having to pay $20 for this room.  Way, way over-priced.

 Things looked promising in the morning.  We went back to Magic Stone & found they had room for us!  They were cleaning the room so we left our things there & wandered back into town.  The following day was my birthday.  All I really wanted was clean laundry, a good meal, and comfortable night's rest.

 As we were a few days before the presidential election, there were Correia posters everywhere.  The aesthetic kills me.  He looks like a savior!  This poster was hung in the bodega where we left our laundry.

 At night we found $25 hour-long massages with local medicinal herbs.  OK, on my birthday I generally want clean laundry, a good meal, a comfortable night's rest, & a massage.  Check, check, check, & check.

 Our room at Magic Stone was ready.  We were SO happy!  So beautiful!

 Since arriving in Ecuador, but most strongly felt in Banos, I wanted to write.  I wanted to sit at this desk & fall into the flow of creativity.  There was something about that place & especially those mountains.  We only had a little over three weeks in Ecuador.  I thought about staying for a longer period in Banos & surrendering to that creative impulse.  It would have meant experiencing less travel in the country.  Ultimately, I decided to take advantage of my time by experiencing as much as I could and hoping that creative impulse would stay with me as I journeyed back home.

(It did, but it was diluted.  I want to go back.)

 Banos absolutely has the best restaurants in Ecuador.  Our favorite was La Petite Restaurant, a French-North African spot within a hotel.  That avocado salad?  A double portion on my birthday.  The staff came to know me in our three days at Banos because I came & ate that salad twice daily.

 Banos is known for outdoor activities like hiking, biking, and para-gliding, good food, & their famous baths. The natural baths are heated & saturated in minerals from underground lava currents.  On my birthday morning we hiked to El Salado, said to be the stronger of the baths.  It was us, the locals, & Ecuadorian tourists.

After rinsing off we hiked back to Magic Stone and came across this sculpture.  Obviously I'm not the only one inspired by the looming Andes.