PAISAJES
Pailon del Diablo
Manto de novia
Agoyan
After a long day of bargaining or climbing, you can unwind in
the nearby hotspring baths of Baņos, a town situated in a valley
of eternal spring. Baņos is also one of the gateways to the
Amazon -- albeit down a hairsplitting eye-popping road. Also
easily accessed from Baņos is Riobamba, the starting point of
the exhilarating train ride down the "Devil's Nose".
Thrill-seekers can ride rooftop, which is the ideal place to
watch the bucolic landscape roll by.
Most travelers arrive first in the capital of Quito, often
described as a city with a small town atmosphere (although it is
rapidly growing into a sprawling metropolis). Once the capital of
the northern Incan empire, Quito is home to "Old Town",
one of the most extensive colonial districts in Latin America.
Named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations, Quito's Old
Town will transport you back and forth between centuries as you
meander down its cobblestone streets, passing by vendors selling
everything from choclo (Andean corn) to ceramics to techno CDs.
Centrally located, Quito is also an excellent jumping-off
point for a number of interesting one and two-day trips,
including river-rafting, cloudforest exploration, birding,
mountain biking and hotsprings, and more.
Imbabura province, north of Quito, is famous for its lakes,
traditional adobe villages, indigenous communities and native
handicrafts. The town of Otavalo is home to one of South
America's most famed Indian market -- a definite stop for most
visitors. This open-air extravaganza overflows with a wide
variety of handicrafts, as well as llamas, hand-woven sweaters
and bags of potatoes, all piled high and wide and sold side by
side.
Surrounding Otavalo are a handful of well-preserved haciendas,
a number of which now operate as B&Bs. Horseback riding
programs home-based at these haciendas have recently become a
popular way to experience the highlands. Two hours north of
Otavalo is the Guandera Reserve, a spectacular sliver of Andean
cloudforest and paramo, near the Colombian border.
Vilcabamba
and Podocarpus
National Park
In Loja
visitors will find a splendid natural landscape. Vilcabamba,
known for the longevity of its inhabitants, is a place for
travelers who want to slow down and watch the flowers grow. A
number of resorts catering to the backpack traveler (and others)
offer therapeutic spa-like facilities. From Vilcabamba, it is
possible to access Podocarpus National Park, an extraordinary
collection of ecosystems ranging from paramo to endemic
Podocarpus forests to rainforest (excellent for birding).
