The above picture is of the Bridal Vail Falls - Manot de la Novia. There were places along the road to ride an open cable car across the river to view the falls much closer....
Just before our arrival, a bus had pulled up and half of the people ran to the cable car to be first to get on, and there was still another load waiting to ride. So, our group just skipped the ride & I was really OK with that!
We stopped to visit 'The Devil's Cauldron' falls or El Pailon del Diablo. We had a lovely view from the top but some selected to see the falls from the lower portion. It was a 20 minute hike one way, and about 200 stairs to the lower viewing stand. It sounded easy but from the frazzled look of those arriving back at the top, it gave about half of us pause from joining the trekkers.
In the first photo above, I said farewell to Ed as he embarked on the descent to the bottom of the falls. The bottom two pictures were taken by Ed down the mountain from the viewing area. I had opted to stay and just enjoy the top view. I also joined another 3 people from our group at a simple restaurant to enjoy fresh grilled trout, white rice, hot sauce and a cold beer, life is about choices & I was happy with mine after Ed came back exhausted.
Our stop that night was at a hotel (The Volcano Hotel) in Banos. The town is located about 100 miles south of the capital city of Quito and about 40 miles north of Riobamba. The town is located on the jungle's doorstep and at the foot of the active volcano, Tungurahua. We had arrived early enough to give us plenty of time to explore the town and find our own place for dinner. The town sits at an altitude of 5,904 feet and has a warm and sunny climate. It is also known for it's hot springs, thermal pools (thus the name Banos or "Baths") and their soothing soaks after a day full of adventure; climbing, hiking bridge jumping, horseback riding, mountain biking or dune buggy rides. All right, we had only sat in the van and were eager to walk & stretch our legs.
Banos is compact and easy to explore for the down town area is only about 9 square blocks. The center has a small, pretty park, Parque Palomino Flores. The Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Auga Santa (Virgin of Holy Water) is a focal point with it's beautiful interior.
Town Park
The church was completed in 1944 after the construction had begun 40 years before. The art tells of several miracles performed by the Virgin of Holy Water around town.
We just walked around and Ed bought a baseball cap with the town name of it. The town is also known for it's taffy, and you can watch the local guys pulling it from their candy store doorways.
We stopped by a pizza place and had a quiet dinner. There were lots of things to see in town, but I was more interested in returning to the hotel, taking a hot shower and washing my hair. While I did that, Ed sat down on the front porch of the hotel and caught up on email, Facebook and did a little reading.
The following day (Friday) was our last day and it was going to be a long one of mostly sitting in the van for about 6 hours. We had a short ride (2 hours) to Riobamba. This city is surrounded by five spectacular snowcapped peaks in the heart of the Ecuadorean central highlands. The clouds had settled in over the mountains so we didn't get a view of them.
Our only tour this day was to Palacio Real, the Sumak Kawsay Tourism Project. It is a community composed of 80 indigenous families and their main activities are raising llamas and alpacas for their wool and meat, they also maintain a large farm area. Our guide was a charming young lady and her llama which she led on a head halter all during our tour.
The 3 month old baby llama followed its mother everywhere and didn't stray very far. We toured the farm for an hour and walked over hill & dale.
After we hiked around the farm, we were taken into their gift shop and given a demonstration of how they spin the wool. They sold beautiful hand knit sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves and capes. They didn't have any sweater in my size...they don't think that large.
Then, it was time for lunch at their restaurant. We had a choice of their traditional grilled llama chop, smothered in gravy or a vegetarian lunch. I just could not think about eating that baby llama after it following us around all morning....I went veggie. The meal was started with a delicious soup of pork. Ed tried the llama chop and told me it was similar to beef but leaner.
Quinoa is a species of goosefoot, a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is one of the three staple foods along with corn and potatoes of the Inca civilization. Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain, it is light, tasty and easy to digest.
The ride home reminded me of the ride along the Amalfi coast in Italy, but here you don't see the beautiful blue sea below but cliffs dropping off into lush green valleys. There are so many shades of green it is hard to describe the beauty. You're on a two lane winding road climbing one mountain to cross over to another. The clouds can be as fine as a mist or as thick as to cover the whole valley.
The cows that graze on these hills must have the front legs shorter than the rear legs just to eat.
Passing through one small village, we could see the locals getting ready for the weekend. They already had fresh roasted pigs cooked for dinner. These were hanging up and in Cuenca we see them cooked on a large tray.
Yes, there were times I had to cling to the arm rest of my seat as we rounded the sharp curves. Even at these times, the views were worth the twists and turns. This was our second time for the drive between Riobamba and Cuenca. I don't think I have ever seen such beauty. We have driven the Rocky Mountains between Washington and Montana many times. We've driven through the Alps in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy and those drives do not compare to this one in shear beauty.
Our Lady of Clouds - tells us we are almost to Cuenca and the end of this journey...but we are already planning our next trip to do whale watching on the Pacific coast of Ecuador.
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