Banos, Ecuador

SHARLA: We slept in this morning....it was awesome! We walked to the thermal baths a few blocks away. It is called Piscina de la Virgen, and is located directly beside a beautiful waterfall and surrounded on all sides by mountains. Absolutely beautiful location! I was trying to etch the memory of the experience into my brain, but it never works. The first bath we got into was SUPER hot....somewhere around 118 degrees! Needless to say, we didn't stay in that one very long! The other one was probably around 100 degrees, and was much more tolerable. We stayed in that one and enjoyed watching the locals trying to swim for about an hour, and then we headed to our appointments at the spa.

We were scheduled for 2-1/2 hours! We started out in the sauna for about 20 minutes, and then on to a mud bath, which consisted of them rubbing mud on us and then wrapping us in plastic wrap for about 10 minutes. They came and rubbed most of it off with a wet cloth and then letting us shower. Then, we sat in the jacuzzi situated on the second floor where we had a gorgeous view of the waterfall and mountainside while we sipped on fresh-squeezed orange juice. Then we were led to the massage rooms where we were treated to deep-tissue massage for about 1-1/2 hours. All of this for only $48!!!

Back at the hostel, we relaxed and played Scrabble before cleaning up and heading out for dinner. I had read about a good Italian food restaurant in The Lonely Planet called Buon Guorno. We had seen it while walking around the other day, so we decided to try it out. There was no one in there when we arrived, which we usually take as a bad sign, but we decided to try it out anyway. The music was nice and the place was clean. The waiter was super nice and very accommodating. As soon as we ordered, people started pouring in. By the time we got our food, there was not one empty seat in the place. After we tasted the food, we knew why! The pizza and the pasta were amazing! We will definitely be eating there again before we leave.

We walked around for a little bit after we left the restaurant, and decided we are going canyoning tomorrow. Canyoning is basically repelling down waterfalls. We signed up for a tour tomorrow afternoon. I'm a little bit nervous but even more excited! I'll write as soon as I can and let you know how it goes! Hasta luego!