I loved it!!

Neat looking place but I won't go there again. I didn't mind that !@#$ volcano - it was the @#$% ride in that got to me. I got real tired of looking straight down 3000 feet from the bus window. It actually made me ill. The guinea pigs were delicious, tho.

I spent three days while on a trip down to the Amazon Basin. For some reason the town has caught my fancy. There were many others who stopped overnight but the thought of a nearby volcanic mountai sent the quickly on their way. One of the most pleasant things I saw was a father and his daughter giving their pet goose a soap bath in the outdoor city laundry. Friendly people, lots of foreign visitors, but nevertheless a memborable city that I would enjoy returning to.

I just returned from a month in Ecuador, and this was one of my favorite cities. It reminded me of Aspen or Vail or some other little Colorado mountain town, minus the snow. Overlooking the town is the massive Tungurahua volcano, which erupted as recently as 1999, forcing the evacuation of the town. But the volcanic activity seems to have settled down these days, although of course the famous thermal baths that give the city its name are still going strong. Banos is pretty touristy, with lots of gringos wandering around, but there's a reason: it's a great place, where you can hike, ride horses, mountain bike, and much more.

I lived in a city (Riobamba) near Banos for 4 months, so I got to visit a few times. The good part is, it is a very pretty, quiet town with hot spring baths and a zoo. The bad part-its located right next to an active volcano. I was always wary of going to Banos, because from my house in Riobamba I could often see clouds of ash spewing from the volcano.

Pretty cool city to go spend a few days relaxing in after a week or two on the road. The claim to fame are the "Banos" outdoor hot spring baths that you pay a buck or so to go sit in. We went but unless you like bathing with about 200 other people many of whom are getting wet for the first time all week then you might not like it. Still we soaked it up. The guide book told us some people would go in fully dressed, we didn't see that but we did get kicked out because we were wearing shorts and not a bathing suit?!?! The city itself was small, pretty, very casual.