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Baños means baths in Spanish, and Baños de Agua Santa is known for its hot spring bathing pools. Usually just called Baños, this is a beautiful little town in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, at the foot of the volcano Tungurahua. Take a bus from Quito, eighty miles to the north, and it will cost you just a few dollars.
What can you do when you get there? To start with, you can soak in one of the hot springs. The largest one, right in town, cost a dollar. At night, you can go to one of the discos or other bars, or take a tour to watch the volcano erupt.
My wife and I spent a week or so in Banos in June of 2004. A clean hotel room with cable TV and lots of hot water costs us $6 per night ($12 normally, but we are good negotiators). Lunch cost $1 each day - $2.25 total for both, with tip. It was usually chicken, rice, beans, salad and juice. Some days we splurged and paid $1.50 for lunch at a nicer place.
Many nights we went to Santo Pecado ("saint/sinner") or one of the other discos. Our favorite was Tuparina, perhaps due to the huayusa, a drink made of a psychedelic plant collected in the rain forest by the owner's family. Most days I played chess in the open market in the center of town, with Manolo, Rene, or other locals.
Banos has two hot spring facilities, and two more with cold water. Having been to some of the hot springs in Ecuador, we can say that these are among the best. Our favorite is at the base of a waterfall that tumbles from the mountain above. You can walk to it from anywhere in town. It costs one dollar, or a little more if you want to enjoy the mineral-rich waters under the stars each evening. A sign details the amounts of various minerals that are in the water, and many people come to alleviate their arthritis or other illnesses.
Of the dozens of volcanoes in Ecuador, several are active. One of the most active is Tungurahua, which overlooks Banos. To see it, you need to get out of town. Baños is set deep in the surrounding lush, green mountains, which block the view of the volcano. The best way to get a good look at it, is on a "volcano tour."
There are several operations in Banos that take you on tours to see an eruption. Just watch for one of the "chivas" circling town and basting loud music in the evening. A chiva is an open-sided bus of sorts. You can ride on the roof, as I did, or "inside," as my wife did. First you'll get a tour of the city with loud party music playing the whole time. Then you will head up into the mountains.
There might be fire-juggling entertainers on top of the hill. On the tour we took, we were given a hot rum drink while looking down on the lights of the town. If you are lucky, as we were, you'll see Tungurahua spit up some lava. I wrangled another drink or two, as well. The entire two-hour experience, including drinks and the honor of helping to push-start the chiva to get back to town, cost only $3 for each of us.
Related Pages:
Banos
De Agua Santa - Notes from our
2007 trip.
Hotels and Hostels In Banos
- What to expect.
The Restaurants Of Banos
- A few of the best we tried.
El Pailon Del Diablo - A
truly impressive waterfall.
Banos Ecuador Activities
- Other things to do.
