Ecuador Field Trip: Sink or Swim in Baños
In Spanish, the word baños actually means "bathroom," so I found it amusing that an entire town christened was such (but I promise to spare you attempts at potty humor in this post). My bf Jeff and I learned that the name actually refers to the thermal hot springs, or baths, that well up from underneath the town or fed by nearby waterfalls.
City planners turned these springs into series of separate soaking pools ranging from cool, to pleasantly warm to insanely, painfully hot (50 degrees C!). We recommend Las Piscinas de la Virgen, the only baths in town open at night. For $2.00, you can relax in the water with a few dozen strangers, sticking around until your fingers and are downright pruney. Technically, you're not supposed to bring any alcoholic beverages, but we can assure that no one's actually checking your water bottle.
