Baños Day Two

Yesterday was interesting, a little painful, and also a lot of fun. To start off, I rented a bike so I could ride down the highway along the Ruta de las Cascadas. I checked out the different vendors and found what I thought was a good deal, $7 for the entire day and the bike looked to be in good condition.

I guess it was, except that the chain came off less than a kilometer outside of Baños. I was pretty annoyed, it didn´t take long to fix. Unfortunately now I had grease all over my hands, which in turn migrated to my pants, camera and especially my face as I forgot about it wiped off the sweat. I figured I probably looked less like a tourist at that point and more like a mechanic.

The ride was nice though, it was 15 km down to the town of Rio Verde and featured some pretty big waterfalls along the way. The ride was also mostly downhill, which was good because my brain couldn´t remember the last time I´d ridden a bike, but my legs damn sure could and it was a really long time ago. They´re still a little sore today.

After getting to Rio Verde, I parked my bike a small cafe and bought a beer for the hike down to the Pailon del Diablo (the Devil´s Cauldron) a massive waterfall you view by walking across a very unsturdy swing bridge. While there, I met a busload of people from Seattle, who were curious about my ride. I probably looked crazy, as I was covered in sweat and grease and at that point, starting to get a pretty good sunburn going. One lady asked where I was coming from and I was too embarrassed to tell her I´d only come about 8 miles, downhill. So I lied, "Quito." They were impressed.

After that it was time to return, so I hopped on one of the buses for a ride back to Baños. I originally planned on riding back, but with my chain coming off twice and my gears constantly slipping, I decided not to risk it.

I got really annoyed with my bike vendor, who swore he didn´t have change in the morning, but promised to give it to me when I returned the bike. I figured I´d probably never see that $3, but it was early and I was in an optimistic mood. When I got back, he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. I got pretty pissed and walking off in a huff, but as I was cleaning out my pockets later on I realized I still had the key to the bike lock. It was a small point of redemption, but there´s no way in hell he´s getting that key back. The lock probably cost more than $3, so I figure I got my money´s worth.

Other than that, I just wandered around town yesterday afternoon. I did check out the Rio Pastaza gorge right on the outskirts of town and it was pretty cool. While there I ran into some Irish people I´d met on the bus ride in. They were heading out today on a jungle tour, but we exchanged notes on my bike ride and their hikes, so today I´m off to do some hiking. I´d rather use my own two feet anyway.

Other than that, things are good. Tomorrow I leave Baños and head to Quito. I´m planning on catching an early bus as it´s market day in Quito, which should be fun.