La Ruta de Las Cascades

What a way to end my 17 days in Ecuador! The sky was blue, the sun was out, a perfect day for a morning of mountain biking to see waterfalls in the Pastaza River gorge. The road from Banos to Puyo has tons of falls and it was a great day to see them. it is called "la Ruta de las Cascades". One of the main reasons I came to Banos was to do this mountain bike ride to see the falls. Waterfalls always just make you happy and you feel as if you are in the presence of something great. The power and force of the water is tremendous, even on little falls, so to see big cascades of water always amazes me. I have hiked and swam in many different falls and after reading about this ride I figured it was definitely something that I wanted to do. I rented my mountain bike, checked o make sure that it was all in good repair, and set off downhill on this 20km journey. I had seen a couple of the falls yesterday, the jungle guide stopped to show us, but I wanted to get closer and see more. Basically, this road has a series of tunnels through the hills along a deep river gorge. The views mare breath-taking anywhere you look and although you aren't as high as in some other towns you know you are in the mountains. Since mountain biking this route is a popular activity, they built detours along the side of the cliffs so that bikes and ATVs can go down the road and not through the tunnels. The tunnels start at about 200m. And range in size up to one kilometer. When I got my bike the guy said that the first tunnel was short and only one way traffic and there wasn't a route around it. The second one was the long one and there had been a landslide and you had I ride through the tunnel. It doesn't seem like a big deal really, but remember that the drivers are a bit crazy here (buses and trucks and cars fly down these roads, passing on blind corners and generally being very aggressive.) I have had my fair share of run ins with drivers while on the countryoads of Suffield, but this is a whole different level. Making my way down the road, I am taking my time and enjoying the warmth, the sun, and the ride. It rearlly was picture perfect. Stopping here and there along the way, there are a lot of scenic viewpoints over the gorge. The second tunnel. What to do? I decided to try the route around the tunnel figuring the I was on a mountai. Bike and should be able to work my way through, and if not I would just back track. The thought of riding through a long tunnel was a bit scary. Of course the damage to the trail was minimal and I was able to continue downhill seeing different sights along the way. No stress on this ride. At each waterfall viewing point there is a bit of a scene. They all have some ramshackle little tiendas and restaurant, hawkers selling stuff, etc. All of this a bit enhanced seeing as it was a weekend as well. They also have these cable cars to take you across the gorge to get a closer look at the falls. The seem to have varying degrees of minimal safety, and while they seem popular, clearly there are no regulations regarding these "telefericos". I had taken one the previous day so I moved along. The mosta impressive waterfall is in the small town of Rio Verde (Green river). It is called the "pailon del Diablo"' the Devil's Cauldron. I is really impressive with a major drop but then a number of smaller drops from there. You hike into the gorge to get close, walk over a suspension bridge and get to the viewing areas. In fact you can crawl (literally crawl) to get up to the top and get behind the falls. I was very very wet! I spent quite a bit of time there as it was truly beautiful, and I was enjoying the day. I had wanted to move on the the next town for a three mile hike past a bunch of different things, but as always vacation was coming to an end a few hours short of what I really needed! At this point in the day, you a supposed to get a truck to take you back uphill to Banos. If not then buses supposedly will take you. Well the trucks didn't want to take me "Solito" and I neede to get back. So I figured the buses, woud be fine. Except they weren't so interested I taking me either. So I rode back. It was a beautiful day and this was actually a blessing. I got to spend more time on the river and enjoying the views! It was uphill, I was after all in the mountains. Remember that first tunnel I had to ride through? Well of the reverse side it is half a kilometer long and uphill! While I was a bit worried, only one car and I shared the tunnel. Someone was looking out for me! After working up a good sweat, i had about an hour before I needed to catch a bus to Quito. So an hour I the thermal baths was just what I needed to end my time in Banos. I jumped a bus for the three and half hour ride to Quito, got a cab to the airport. An expected harrowing ride through pouring down rain, it took about an hour to get to the airport. The charge was only $15, but I gave the guy a twenty. He had earned it! It seemed to make his day too! Now I am waiting for the plane. The funny thing is this delta flight is two hours later than any other flight fromquito airport tonight. What that means is nothing is open in the airport. Nothing. I figured I would get something to eat when I go here, but no luck. The empanada I had for lunch isn't holding me over. I settled for a chocolate bar and some crackers from duty free. Overall, a perfect ending to my trip.