Lava and pee
We left the cloud forest reserve in a pick-up with a driver whose son's name is also Johan! First a pick-up, then a bus to Quito's main bus terminal and another the afternoon to Banos. Well that was the plan, but our Banos-bound bus were impounded by the police for 8 days because it took an illegal route! We then shared a taxi with a local couple on their honeymoon. When we arrived in the beautiful mountainous area of Banos, we headed for a little home stay with a view of the volcano Tungurahua. As we stopped, the volcano made a huge rumbling sound and clouds of smoked billowed out of its mouth, a mere 5kms away! What a privilege! We later realised that this continues day and night in about 20 minute intervals since May of this year. The volcano has been quite active since 1999.
As we were only stopping over for 1 night, we quickly booked a short evening tour to a nearby viewpoint. The tour itself was somewhat of a disaster as a few crowded trucks went to the same place and people got drunk around a bonfire while the volcano rumbled happily in the background. Unfortunately it was mostly cloudy and views of the volcano were rare. BUT there were a few occasions where we could see the volcano spitting streaks of bright red lava amidst constant loud rumbling! It was fantastic!
As were were staying about 100m from the nearby hot springs, we decided to go for a dip. But this was not one of our highlights. This is best illustrated with a simple metaphor: surfers don't mind to pee in their own wetsuits, but it is somewhat different if someone else pees in yours. Get the picture (or should I rather say "smell"!)? We left in a hurry...
We also bumped into our friends who were with us on the Galapagos cruise by a total coincidence. Felt like a reunion. Today we travelled from Banos on the road next to the volcano Tungurahua to Riobamba to board the train for the ride down the "devil's nose" tomorrow. This road was closed numerous times in the past due to the volcanic activity and some sections still have piles of volcanic ash next to and on the road.
As we were only stopping over for 1 night, we quickly booked a short evening tour to a nearby viewpoint. The tour itself was somewhat of a disaster as a few crowded trucks went to the same place and people got drunk around a bonfire while the volcano rumbled happily in the background. Unfortunately it was mostly cloudy and views of the volcano were rare. BUT there were a few occasions where we could see the volcano spitting streaks of bright red lava amidst constant loud rumbling! It was fantastic!
As were were staying about 100m from the nearby hot springs, we decided to go for a dip. But this was not one of our highlights. This is best illustrated with a simple metaphor: surfers don't mind to pee in their own wetsuits, but it is somewhat different if someone else pees in yours. Get the picture (or should I rather say "smell"!)? We left in a hurry...
We also bumped into our friends who were with us on the Galapagos cruise by a total coincidence. Felt like a reunion. Today we travelled from Banos on the road next to the volcano Tungurahua to Riobamba to board the train for the ride down the "devil's nose" tomorrow. This road was closed numerous times in the past due to the volcanic activity and some sections still have piles of volcanic ash next to and on the road.
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