We were finally going to be able to go check out Baños de Agua Santa in depth now that we had returned from the Amazon. The thermal baths that are one of the town’s claims to fame were first on our list.

The close proximity to the volcanoes means lots of thermal activity which makes for lots of hot springs in the area. These specifically are heated by the nearby Tungurahua volcano. We walked over to the closest one to our hotel, Termas de la Virgen Antiguas, which is located directly at the base of the iconic and picturesque Cabellera de la Virgen waterfall. We paid our $4 entry fee, bought the required $1 swim caps, and went in to see what it was all about.

There were a few pools to choose from, all of which are filled multiple times a day with the natural water, and due to the high concentration of minerals and iron, are all a somewhat offputting murky brown. We figured out that each bath was a slightly different temperature. We started off with the most popular pool and enjoyed a relaxing soak in water that felt like what you would run a bath at home with, before working up the courage to attempt the hotter one. Dipping just our toes in at first, we quickly found out that it was only doable to enter this bath if you first doused yourself under the ice-cold water that was being pumped out of waterfall-like spouts right next to it, otherwise you felt like a lobster being lowered into a boiling pot of water!

In this hottest pool we started chatting with another American, asking and answering the standard “Where are you from?” and discovered that we were speaking to none other than the man…the legend… of whitewater kayaking and rafting fame, Fast Fred, who is essentially a neighbor of ours. He lost his house in Saluda, NC during Hurricane Helene and has since spent part of the year traveling around, and is partial to Ecuador. I had heard of him but had never met him, and here he was, right here in the same pot of people-soup as us in Baños. We chatted with Fred a bit and continued soaking before needing to head back to our hotel.

Today’s adventure was biking the Ruta de las Cascadas (waterfall route). We rented bicycles for $10/each from a local travel agency who told us about the route, and brochure/map in hand, set out on the 25 km downhill route that would take us by approximately a dozen waterfalls, including the most famous one, the Pailón del Diablo (Devil’s Cauldron). The ride would take all day and once we were at the Machay waterfall, we had instructions to find a truck from a company that would bus you and your bike back to Baños for a small fee.

I was initially nervous about biking along the busy road but once I got my “sea legs” and saw that unlike at home in the U.S., these drivers all seemed to give cyclists a respectable berth, I started to chill out, although Scott still kept leaving me in the dust and would have to stop and wait for me. We were glad that we timed our bike ride for a weekday because the weekend traffic would have made it absolutely terrifying (see our Amazon Lite: Day 1 post where I recount how the truck we were riding in got passed in a TUNNEL by a BUS).

At the first major waterfall, Cascada de Agoyán, we dismounted and locked up the bikes so we could check it out. It was pretty darn impressive and we quickly noticed that there was a zipline running across the gorge. We watched a few people do it, and then quickly ignoring our general travel rule of “we don’t zipline in foreign countries,” went to figure out how we could take a trip¹.

We got kitted out in helmets and harnesses, breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the inspection certificates proudly displayed in their equipment shed, and each opted for the “superman” pose for our trip across the chasm. Soaring across the gorge was wild, and it might have been the best $10/each that we spent on the trip, although my actual favorite part of the whole thing was really the return trip in the tarabita where the owners’ dogs joined us, just another day in the office for them, no different than a car ride. I know exactly zero American dogs that would have been ok with this!

Adrenaline fully pumping we hopped back on our bikes and continued along the waterfall route. We quickly realized that we had made the correct zip line choice. The farther out of Baños we got, the sketchier and more derelict they became. There was one zipline park that actually looked legitimate but all the others were essentially mom-and-pop type operations that looked suspiciously decrepit. We saw no one opting to zip on these. One of the zip lines was so desperate for a paying customer that the old couple who must have owned it came eagerly out of their shack as we peddled by and asked if we wanted to buy a trip across the gorge. Looking at the rusty cable, we smiled and politely indicated that we were not interested. Evidently at one point, tarabitas were a common way of crossing the gorge here.

There was only one tunnel we had to go through, all the others thankfully had a parallel bike detour, and blessedly, we somehow timed it to have the tunnel all to ourselves as we peddled through it. The rest of the waterfalls were cool to see and eventually we made our way to the small village, Rio Verde, that was home to the most famous, the Pailón del Diablo.

Before entering the park to hike down to the waterfall, we stopped at a small “hueca” to park and lock our bikes and get a quick snack. The proprietor, a sweet abuela straight out of central casting, made up some chicken, cheese, and veggie filled empanadas for us. Similar to the chocolate shop abuela we had met in Mindo, she patiently and sweetly gave us a mini Spanish lesson as we ordered. As we were leaving she summoned us over to pick out some little handmade yarn friendship bracelets as a souvenir (I was nervous that we needed to pay for them but she assured me that it was a gift).

We knew that there were two entrances/sides to the Pailón del Diablo and we figured we would check out both². On both sides you could feel the deep rumbling power of the water as it came out of the small opening in the cliff high above. On both sides you had the option to get up close and personal and quite wet! We agreed that it was a good name choice because the power of the water at the base of the waterfall as it crashed into the narrow bowl-like formation that it had carved out really did resemble a bubbling cauldron.

The story of the waterfall having two access points is because… capitalism. Each tract of land is owned by a separate family and they each wanted to charge admission. The back of the waterfall is walled off with stonework so that you cannot access the other side.

After soaking up as much of the Pailón del Diablo as we cared to (literally!), we hiked back out and collected our bikes. Our hotel manager had suggested we check out their “sister” hotel, Miramelindo, which was just a few minutes walk from the waterfall, in the small village of Rio Verde, to take advantage of their spa. We weren’t sure if we would want to do that or not but had brought bathing suits in case. We felt like we were sufficiently “waterfalled” at this point and opted to check it out rather than continuing on to the Machay waterfall.

We found it and let them know that we wanted to use the spa and the manager went to open everything up for us and get everything heated up. We changed and grabbed a drink while we waited. The hotel was lovely and decorated in the same similar colorful and whimsical style as the Hotel de mi Pueblo that we were staying in. Eventually he led us back and showed us the spa.

We were delighted to see that in addition to the steam room, hot tub, and indoor pool, that there was something we had never seen before: a steam box. You were supposed to sit inside it, pull the cover up around your neck, leaving just your head exposed. There were eucalyptus branches in the box that were supposed to have therapeutic properties. We spent the next hour enjoying the spa features, and got a big laugh out of seeing each other in the steam boxes because it looked like our heads were being served up on a platter.

Once we felt super relaxed from the spa experience, we changed and went out to find the trucks that would transport us and our bikes back to town. We were lucky and found one that was driving around making the rounds looking for cyclists and piled into the back of the military style truck. We joined several fellow cyclists- some Americans we had run into earlier in the day and that had actually suggested the bike rental place that we went with, some French girls, and a German guy. As we got jostled and bumped along, we chatted about the waterfalls and our Ecuadorian adventures. It is always fun to hear about others’ travels.

We delivered our bikes back to the shop and then headed in search of dinner. Today was Monday and we were sad that the town appeared much more sedate than the night before. Sadly there were no neon dino-trains blaring music, zipping around the town and running redlights.

We found a small restaurant in the city center whose grill was giving off yummy smells as we walked by and advertised a dinner special for $3.50. We decided to give it a go and were happy with our choice. Scott got the pork chop and I got chicken and they both came with the standard soup as a first course and plantains as a side.

We had one last stop before we retired for the evening. After dinner we walked back over to the bike shop that also offered river rafting to sign up for a rafting trip for tomorrow. When we got back to the hotel I was happy to see the hot tub waiting for me in our room after a long day of biking and adventure!

Note: All told, the Ruta de las Cascadas bike ride and Pailon del Diablo hike(s) covered about 18 miles and took 6 hours, and that was without visiting the Machay waterfall which is the last one. We did not realize until renting the bikes from the shop that it would be pretty much an all day event. Definitely do this on a weekday as the traffic would make it dicey on a weekend.