Riobamba & Banos

Saturday 28th May

It was about 18:00 when I arrived into Riobamba, and I checked into Hotel Los Shyris for $10 per night.

Later I took a walk around town and went out for a meal and suddenly met Lisa (who I had met in Mancora, Peru a few weeks back). Spent the evening going from bar to bar with Lisa. A few Karaoke bars too which were good fun.

Sunday 29th May

Spent all day today walking around Riobamba .. really not much to see in this town especially on a Sunday .. the place was like a ghost town. I probably should have just caught a bus to Banos in the evening but Lisa was staying another night so we both decided to head off tomorrow. Lisa was travelling north to Quito and I was going east to Banos. We both kind of want to do a trip to the Galapogas islands if we can get cheap tickets, but I will have to make enquiries when I get to Banos or Guayaquil in the next few days.

Some photos of Riobamba:

 

Monday 30th May

Bus to Banos ($2.50, 2 hours) at 14:00

After arriving to Banos, I checked into Plantos y Blanco Hostel for $6.50 per night and took a walk around Banos. Seems like a really nice town .. very touristy and loads of cafes and restaurants. Alot of backpackers here. Pity about the weather here ... the town is covered in a dense fog so it was difficult to take pictures of the landscape around the town including the volcano overlooking the town. Later that evening I went to the local thermal hot springs ... really nice.

Tuesday 31st May

Booked myself on a mountain biking and rafting trip yesterday so I had an early start this morning for a 30km cycle. Some amazing views on the cycle route but the weather was still pretty bad .. very cloudy.

After the mountain biking I met up with other backpackers and we travelled by 'chiva' bus ...

... to go rafting:

After getting back into town in the afternoon, I took a walk around taking loads of photos:

I was going to do a Volcano night tour on the 'Chiva' bus up the hill overlooking Banos at 21:00 but after going for a beer about 20:00 I met up with Terry and Charlotte (who I had met in Mancora, Peru) and we ended up drinking beers and playing pool until the early hours of the morning. It was lashing rain all evening so was probably better off!

Wednesday 1st June

I had planned to leave Banos today but apparantly the bridge out of town is shut to all buses so there are no buses leaving until Friday morning. I had already checked out of my hostel so after having breakfast with Terry and Charlotte (and playing pool for the afternoon), I figured I may aswell just check into their hostel (Hostal Rosita) for a night and try and make my way to Guayaquil tomorrow.

Thursday 2nd June

Bridge is still closed out of Banos but I figured I better get a move on and try to get to Guayaquil somehow. I checked out of Hostel Rosita and said goodbye to Terry and Charlotte. I managed to catch a lift in a local jeep which was going to Ambato ($4, 40kms) which literally meant sitting in the back of a pick up truck in the cold for a hour on a bumpy road through the mountains. After reaching Ambato I caught a 14:45 bus to Guayaquil for $6 (288km, 6 hours).