Ecuador
Out of the four-month, 20. 000 km South/Central to North America trip, we spent 3 weeks in Ecuador. We arrived into Ecuador through Peru by bus on the 1st January 2002. It was rather an awkward welcoming because everyone seemed hungover, but the rest of the trip turned out to be perfect.

Baños
One of the first places that took our fancy was the thermal spring town of Baños, based at the bottom of the Tungurahua volcano. This volcano erupted a couple of years earlier and the whole village had the escape. Baños was covered in ashes, but gradually the population came back. Everywhere is town there are emergency evacuation signs painted on the road, in case of an imminent eruption. This is a very up and coming little town catered for tourists. They even have their own Hard Rock Café, where I had my first ever Caipirinha cocktail. I preferred this city for its atmosphere rather than its hot springs, which looked more like swimming pools rather than natural springs.