papallacta

 that was a pretty welcome in quito. i went there on friday to go partying with my friends, next day we planned to go to papallacta, a hot spring place.

 on our way out of quito we saw the panecillo from the other side.

 we drove 2 hours through beautiful landscapes

 when we arrived in papallacta, it was just freaking foggy!! and there were about 12 houses. ok, it wasn't the town of papallacta, it was next to it, the place where the hot springs are.

 well, jessy was cool. she came to a place to swim without bikini. so she had to buy one on the street :-) seller was a girl or a boy, we weren't sure which gender..

 when we got out of the bus, the driver told us to take a camioneta to the hot springs. at that time there weren't any, so we walked, as the sign told us it was only 2.7 km.

 we walked 1.7 km and then found a hostel called "choza de don wilson". nice people, good restaurant (with amazing chicken soup for my girls) and hot pool outside! we went swimming at 8 after dinner, about until 10. we just couldn't get out of the hot water, as the air was soooo cold!

 next morning, after breakfast, we took  a camioneta to make the last kilometer. it was probably about 5 km, so we were happy that we didn't decide to walk. so we went to the famous "termas de papallacta", most beautiful hot springs in ecuador. the water was so hot, we got really tired and thirsty!

 my book told me that sometimes, mostly in december or january, you can spot the volcano "antisana" while having a warm bath. i was so happy when i saw him, as i totally didn't expect it! well, there are a few clouds, but you can see that it's a snowy mountain :-)

 our favourite basin! like beds with bubbles, and so hot!

 on our way home, we were able to see antisana even better! was so exciting to see him without one cloud!

 at the top of the "pass of the virgin" there is a church. probably to pray that the clouds leave, when you're not as lucky as we have been.

beautiful countryside