More pigs intestines than you might think

We travelled from Latacunga to Baños, a touristy town and certainly one of the best places in memory for purchasing inflatable Spongebob Squarepants pool toys. After checking in to our Baños hotel we headed to a nearby market for lunch, shunning the many western-style restaurants. This market had many delicacies on display, including entire smiling roasted pigs with sausages hung around their necks and chillis sticking out of their ears, along with whole guinea pigs on spits. I ordered yahuarlocro, assuming it was a variation on locro, the cheese and potato soup recommended by the guidebook. It was, and the variation included half an avocado on top and the inclusion of pigs intestines. Not just a few either, this soup was laden with intestines. It was served with a plate of brown stuff, which may have been dried blood, and certainly the local girl across from us recoiled when her boyfriend was served the soup with the brown stuff already in it. I ate it all (it was tasty!), averting my eyes to avoid the gaze of the pig whose bowel I was consuming. Coming up in the next edition of the Cook`s Companion, a section on possible combinations of avocado and porcine digestive tract.

Baños is so named because of the nearby natural hot springs, which are channeled into swimming pools at a complex on the edge of town. On consecutive nights Mel and I shared these small, hot pools with many, many, many Ecuatorianos; being relaxed about body contact with strangers was a prerequisite for entry. Many serious-looking older men grabbed the benches around the pool edges, and earnestly discussed important themes, although I only know this through the interpretation of body language. The cloudy yellow waters were very relaxing, and we returned to our luxurious $34 room each time with our well-being enhanced.

We hired bikes to ride along ¨La Ruta de las Cascadas¨, a series of waterfalls along the road from Baños to Puyo. The bike hiring went something like this (some language embellished, some completely made up):
Sam: I say friend, word is you have bikes for rent for to enjoy the Route of the Cascades?
Bike Hire Guy (BHG): Yes, they are $6 a day
S: And, my dear boy, can you elucidate said route for me on this map?
BHG: You just follow the road as shown here (pointing to map).
S: The road? Surely you jest mi amigo. I have seen the roads, no cyclist with sensibilities intact would attempt riding within many arms lengths of these roads.
BHG: It is very safe, you just keep to the right. And why are you talking like that?
S: Sorry mate, forgot who I was for a second. No worries. The road'll be apples. See ya this arvo.

And we rode on the road, and all was well. The cacscadas were numerous and beautiful, and the final stop was for a swim in a cleverly designed "natural jacuzzi" along the Rio Pastaza. The views were so lovely that my camera was overwhelmed and could not capture the loveliness we were seeing. Most of the ride was downhill, meaning the ride back was for pros only, and we were fortunate to share a bus back to Baños with three incredibly beautiful Argentinians. I didn't know where to look so stared out the back of the truck and occasionally gave Mel a squeeze on the arm. I was feeling guilty about this until Mel later confided that she could not stop staring at the gorgeous red head, wondering where the ginger genetic line was prominent in Argentina.

Baños was nice, but was also the first place we had visited that felt very touristy and developed for that. We weren't too sad to move on to Cuenca.