Baños Photos

Pailon del Diablo Video


Baños (Baths) is so named because the town features several natural mineral baths, some of which are hot due to the geothermal activity in the neighboring volcano. I went to the most famous of the Baths and it was an absolute mad house, more crowded than an amusement park on a holiday weekend. It was a beautiful setting, right next to a waterfall, but it sure wasn't relaxing.

I did a small bit of hiking in the nearby hills, but the views were a bit truncated by the clouds. The main reason I came to Baños was to do the Ruta de las Cascadas (Route of the Waterfalls) bike ride, a mostly downhill road that features scads of waterfalls including a two rare double falls and the Pailon del Diablo (Pot of the Devil). It was a pleasant ride except for the constant cars and trucks whizzing by. The landscape and occasional waterfall directly on the asphalt reminded me of the death road in Bolivia. The signs weren't very clear and I actually missed the Pailon del Diablo and had to go back uphill seven kilometers to find it. I met a South Africa guy there than had just made the same mistake. It's a difficult waterfall to capture on camera. What makes it so attractive is its power and the fact that you can not only get so close to it that you're soaking wet from the spray, but you can actually get behind it.