Settling in at Baños
Took it easy for my first day in the land of Ecuador today. Apart from eating, sleeping, and blogging, Patrick and I just did some laid-back exploring of the town of Baños, and checked out what's on offer activity- and tour-wise around here. Baños is a beautiful little town: only 12,000 people — but I'd say it could accommodate that many people again, in tourist numbers. It's also in a beautiful part of the world — lush green, jungle-covered mountains and waterfalls all around — and it seems that there's no shortage whatsoever, of things to keep oneself busy around here. Don't know when I'll be able to tear myself away from this place, but it won't be anytime soon.
Main square of Baños.
Baños is very different to what I've gotten used to from towns in this part of the world. The buildings all look very nice: they even have paint on them (rather than just having the customary "vota asi 1, Hugo Gonzalez" election advertising, painted on the sides of dirty brick walls). The streets are full of upmarket restaurants and trendy cafés. The cars drive slowly, if at all; and they do very strange things (also possibly illegal around here?), such as giving way to pedestrians. The locals are all friendly, and they all know each other. I can see that what I've heard is true: it really is the tourist capital of Ecuador, and the wealthiest and most expensive town in Ecuador.
The church in the centre of town is beautiful. I don't usually bother checking out the plethora of churches down here, but I'm glad that I took the time to wander in and have a look at the Baños church this morning. Lovely, high Baroque ceilings; lovely murals decorating the walls and the pillars; and imposing 6-foot tall paintings lining the hall.
The church in Baños.
People washing themselves with holy water, from the church’s fountain.
I've already noticed the high price tags here in Baños; but generally they're not as bad as they could be, all things considered. Food and accommodation is about the same as what you'd expect to pay in a medium-to-large sized tourist town in Peru. My only real complaint is the price of the Internet cafés here: every single one in the centre of town charges $2 per hour. That's more than 6 times your average price of s/1 (about $0.30) for Internet in Peru! Totally outrageous. Anyway, luckily I've found one place — a bit out of the town centre — that's just as good as the joints closer in, but that only charges $1 per hour.