All I can hear is the rush of the river and the wind blowing gently in the trees. It doesn't get much better than this. Although, having said that, two hammocks would be better as I can see Jon and I having to put together a hammock rota in order to avoid a falling out!
Today has been another special day, which I wasn't necessarily expecting given that most of it had been spent on buses.
I've seen pretty much the full spectrum of Ecuadorian everyday life outside the bus window plus some extra surprises due to the New Year celebrations.
The main tradition appears to be to create life-size effigies of people you don't like and then burn these at midnight to symbolise a new start without all the bad things in your life. We've seen literally hundreds today - apparently politicians, footballers and feuding neighbours are popular choices!
The children dress up too and set up road blocks where you have to throw them a few cents in order to pass. This may have slowed us down a bit but made the journey a lot more fun.
And the weather has really come good today. The sun has burnt off the clouds from the peaks of the volcanoes and we've had spectacular views of both Chimborazo and Tungarahua volcanoes. Be warned, I have a lot of bus window photos to bore you all with!
Banos is on the slopes of Tungarahua, one of Ecuador's active volcanoes which last erupted back in May. It's strange to see notices about evacuation procedures everywhere but the main instruction appears to be to run fast!
We've been told that at night you can often see sparks coming from the cone so we hope we're going to be lucky... but not too lucky!
This hostel is just wonderful too. Jon is exceptionally excited about the fact you can flush toilet paper. I'm loving the decor, hot shower and fully-stocked fridge... and the hammock of course!
Well, I think it's Jon's turn so I will close by wishing you all a very Happy New Year! 2011 is going to be amazing - I know it!
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Location:La Casa Verde, Banos
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