Drive from Otavalo, Ecuador to Baños De Ambato

After a great visit to Cotacachi and Otavalo we headed south to Baños de Ambato for the natural hot springs

  Once again we were caught in the bumper to bumper traffic in Quito for 3 hours heading south to Baños de Ambato  to spend the night. I was taking antibiotics for bronchitis and had the air conditioning on but I could still smell the gasoline and diesel fumes from the cars all around us. Sue was busy sewing and taking movies of the buildings and the people walking down the sidewalks. We both had our eyes pealed for the Pan American highways signs.
  It was such a relief to finally get out of the city traffic and on the open highway again. It was time for a bathroom break and to stock up on road munchies again.

  

Slow moving Quito traffic, next time I visit Quito I won't be driving

Back on the highway heading for Baños

Miles and miles of hillside farms

Baños centro

  We arrived in Baños about sunset and Sue found an interesting Hostel in her Ecuador tour guide book with a view of the waterfall called Hostel La Posada del Arte. As soon as we arrived  in the city we drove towards the waterfall and arrived at the Hostel. It was the last night the Hostel was open before they closed for a month. We got a great room which was actually two rooms with 3 beds.

Sue at the front desk after checking in. Our room was $54 for the night.

The walls were full of original oil paintings and the dishes were from the Artesa Ceramic factory in Cuenca.

Our room was upstairs across from the waterfall, I had a great nights sleep being tired from driving and from the sound of the waterfall.

The waterfall across from our room. The thermo pool  is just below the waterfall and is also open at night.

The room was great, this is a place I would stay at again.

Map of Baños

  After we got settled in our room we headed to El Centro for dinner. We ate at a great restaurant on the Plaza owned by an Italian guy. I noticed many Hostel's all around the Plaza. I guess there are many tourists here in the season, which starts in December and stays busy until June. 

  Sue had Shrimp ceviche, of course! And I had Tia vegetables and rice, the food was delicious and not expensive.

  We decided to get an early nights sleep and go to the hot springs the next morning.

After a great breakfast which was included with our room we drove over to the hot pool, but with about 50 people waiting in line to get in we decided we would visit the thermo baths in Baños, Cuenca before Sue left.

 Back on the highway heading for Cuenca, which was about a five hour drive.

  We drove about 850 miles from Guayaquil to Cuenca over some beautiful mountains and pasted through many small Villages full of colorful smiling people. We saw abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables for sale along the highways and many places to eat.

  We were happy to be back in Cuenca and Sue still had a few days to explore Cuenca.

Next blog will be on our visit to the hot springs in Cuenca, the city tour and Sue shops for jewlry!