Banos is a proper backpacker town. If it was in Asia, it would definitely be on the "banana pancake trail". In fact we did actually see banana pancakes on a menu!

As it is nestled in a valley surrounded by mountainous jungle, it was also a little Jurassic Park.

It was a nice little town, the main part only about 7 blocks by 10 blocks. Of course we were at the opposite end of town to our Ecuador Hop pick up.

Ecuador Hop offers really cheap tours where they take you (in about 2.5 hours) to the main sites.

We decided to join the tour to the "swing at the end of the world", the extreme swing and a sweet shop, the evening we arrived. It was quite nice traveling with people we kind of knew, or could at least make conversation with.

The "swing at the end of the world" is a tourist attraction, where, from a certain angle it looks like you are swinging off the edge of a cliff. It wasn't that bad actually, and good photos do wonders. Our guide was a particularly good photographer and knew exactly where to stand!

I went before Luke and remembered to point my toes, it has to be Insta-worthy of course! Luke was more daring.

We got good weather for the swing and even though the internet weather forecast was telling us it was actually 0 degrees, it was quite warm. Turns out the weather station is on top of one of the surrounding mountains!

We were quite lucky as Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador's most active volcano (not at the moment) peaked over some clouds and we got a quick photo before night fell (and it falls quickly round here!).

After "squeaking" my way through the swing, it was off to the extreme swing, which was actually overhanging a cliff.

Spur of the moment, Luke decided he was going to do it, and our guide Diego stepped up to go with him as no one else was willing.

Whilst Luke seemed pretty calm about the whole thing, there are a couple of photos the professional took which might suggest otherwise. Anyway, he said the first drop was the worst and after that it was ok.

By this time we had got to know the Canadian/Belgian, Sarah, quite well and were getting on, so we decided at the end of the tour to head off to dinner. Pizza. It was surprisingly ok.

We had tossed up hiring mountain bikes and cycling the 18km to the Devil's Cauldron (the local waterfall), and then walking up and down the falls, which would have taken a few hours. However, there was the Ecuador Hop tour which took us zip lining, across on another Tarabita to some other falls, and to the Devil's Cauldron for a 30 min walk. Having done the other falls, and legs being a little tired, we took the easy way and joined the tour again with the same group as the day before.

The zip-lining was only a single line there and back. This time we went "superman" (laying down) style on the way across. It was more uncomfortable as we had only recently had breakfast, rather than scary.

On the way back, Luke hung upside down and Sarah (the Canadian) and I supermanned again.

Luke got across fine, and much faster than us (he's heavier), and due to the un-aerodynamic Superman position it meant that I slowed down so much that I stopped about 3m from the end, and Sarah who was lighter than me stopped about 5m from the end. We had to haul ourselves with a rope sent from the end. Definitely not as fun as the other zip-lining, but still fun.

Next off to the Tarabita where we got a good view of a waterfall. It seemed a little rickety, but we all made it safe and sound.

Finally it was to the Devil's Cauldron, which was much more impressive than the one at Mindo, however I am not upset that we only went about 1/3 of the way down and back up. Once again the guide took nice photos of us. I think we need to bring him along to all our trips as his photography skills are very flattering!

After a nice bagel lunch with Sarah, she headed off back to Quito. She has the best job for holidays. She works offshore as a hydrologist, so based on boats. She works 5 weeks on and 5 weeks off, so she is constantly in exotic locations.

I won't lie, after seeing Sarah off, we then went and sat in our hotel room and went through photos and generally snoozed. Sometimes it's ok to have time off.

That evening we had Ecuadorian food, specifically churrasco, which is essentially steak, egg and chips (with rice, avocado and salad). Almost eveything here comes with avocado. We have noticed that pretty much all the main courses also come with double carbs, pretty much always rice and potato. Anyway, the steak was really nicely marinated and we walked back full.

Banos seems pretty safe, we never felt nervous walking back to the hostel.

Next day we had to occupy ourselves until 1.30pm, before it was time to catch the Ecuador Hop bus down to Cuenca. We thought of going to the hot springs (which basically looked like swimming pools and a leisure centre), but continued on the lazy front and instead wandered around Banos aimlessly.

Our only real annoyance was our own fault. We were approached by a lady on the street spruiking her cafe. She said she had home made bread and take away sandwiches, which we though would be perfect for the bus ride or for dinner if we weren't given the time on the bus.

She was Danish and given as though the burrito place we wanted to go was closed and the vegetarian restaurant didn't seem to want to take our order, we went there. We had about an hour for lunch.

It took about 45 mins to get our sandwiches, which were huge and really expensive! She was also a wee bit condescending... I think the sandwiches for dinner and lunch were about the most expensive meal we have had! I think she might have even overcharged us. Just a bit annoying.

We enjoyed our time in Banos, and possibly could have done another day to go white water rafting, but we only have a limited time.

Anyway, next stop Cuenca, once again on Ecuador Hop, however we would be arriving at about 11pm.

On the way down or was a quick stop to see the oldest church in Ecuador and a lake. Then "dinner" (we stood and ate our rolls) in a damp dark fog.