From Wikitravel

Baños is a small city in de Andean highlands in Ecuador under the smoke of volcano Tungurahua. It's equally popular with foreigners as Ecuadorians. The streets are lined with hotels, restaurants, souvernirshops and touragents. Although it seems a bit touristy and artificial lots of people love it and it's definitely worth a visit. It's an important hub for outdoor sports and jungle tours.

Contents 1 Get in 2 Get around 3 See 4 Do 4.1 Hiking 4.2 Mountainbiking 5 Buy 6 Eat 7 Drink 8 Sleep 9 Get out

Get in

The small bus terminal is within walking distance to the center, where most of the hotels are. However if you need to catch a taxi, it should cost you about $1 (Oct, 2005).

There are frequent connections from Baños to Quito (3.5 hours, $3.5), Riobamba and Guayaquil (about 4 hours and $3).

Get around

Easy, just walk. No where is more than a 15 minute walk from where you start and usually even less. It is relatively flat in the city centre.

Also check out the mountain biking section should you wish to explore further afield.

There are also plenty of taxis around should you need one.

See

Do

There are dozens of travelagencies offering rafting, climbing to Cotopaxi, mountainbike rental, multiple day trekking, jungle tours, etc.

Hiking

Around Baños there are several easy trails. The tourist office (calle T. Halflants at the park) can provide simple maps. On some trails you can find many signs on the way, though the indicated distances seem to be quite contradicting.

Mountainbiking

Several agencies rent out mountainbikes (5$ a day or $1.25 a hour). But make sure that you or someone with experience checks out the bikes and ensures that they are safe to use. Especially check if the gear is clean and oiled enough, bikes look really good, but are sometimes not maintained like they should be (like the bikes at Wonderful Ecuador).

Also be sure to understand who has to pay for damage to a bike should it occur.

A popular ride is the 61 kilometre, mostly downhill, to Puyo. Most agencies also provide a little map. Make a stop at Rio Verde to visit the impressive waterfall Pailón del Diablo. From Puyo there are frequent busses back to Baños. It is also fairly easy to hitchhike your way back on a pick-up track.

Buy

Eat

At the market you can find decent meals from 1$ to 1,5$.

Drink

Sleep

During low season you can easily find a double for 10 US$.

Get out

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