Ecuador – a hot bath that might be about to get a lot hotter

Bath is one of my favourite cities in England; it’s a lovely place, full of history and great architecture and it has the added mystery of a hot spring – something of great wonder to ancient people (and to us).

Ecuador also has a city called Bath, or rather the Spanish equivalent – Baños.

The two cities couldn’t be much different. The Romans didn’t get as far as Baños, of course and while John Wood was laying out the Royal Crescent in Bath, Tungarahua (the local volcano) was laying out Baños.

In Ecuador, you’re never far from a volcano and in Baños, you’re literally at the foot of the volcano. Tungurahua is a particularly troublesome character; it likes to go off every 100 years or so and it’s going off right now. In 1999, everyone in Baños (19,000 of them) got out double quick when there was a red warning and in 2013 (into 2014) it has been rumbling and grumbling.

The most recent eruptions have killed "only a handful" of people (five to be precise), deposited millions of tons of ash on the surrounding countryside, buried roads and destroyed a bridge. I can’t help thinking that it’s just flexing its muscles for the big one.

Sadly, I didn’t get to see Tungarahua - a 5000m job, complete with snow cap (its summit glaciers melted in 1999 when it started its latest active phase. The weather was cloudy and grey, but there are some pictures here, including one (taken by Tom) of Ambato, with an erupting Tungarahua in the background.

Images from the current eruptions. No wonder the glaciers melted!

Panorama by Tom of Ambato, with an erupting Tungarahua at the far right. See the original here.

The day was quite cloudy and grey, especially on the paramo, adding to its similarities with Scotland, but it picked up as we lost a little altitude. On our way to Baños, we called in at Ambato to visit the hospital built by the agency run by Lucy's father, Carlos. This is an impressive facility, used for training and healthcare, but most of the agency's work is done out in the remote communities in mountain and jungle.

Tom and Lucy, with help from some friends, put this website together: http://www.allicausai.org/en/

There are also a couple of videos on YouTube by Tom and Lucy: http://youtu.be/WhTeG57uAWg and with an English commentary: http://youtu.be/_UYC3WEPlE4

There was also time to call in at an Indian market on the way to Baños. I bought myself an alpaca wool jumper for $19, which is a really good price, also a colourful tablecloth which Margaret wanted for the kitchen table.

The drive to Baños is quite spectacular, you're losing height (although Baños sits higher than most Alpine ski resorts) and travelling through deeper and deeper valleys. As you lose height, you can see the foliage becoming more lush, more jungle-like. Baños sits in a bowl and it's quite a pretty town, catering for tourists and backpackers. Conveniently, the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision nearby, so there has been a steady stream of pilgrims for many years, now replaced by backpackers. It was quite strange to see so many bars and nightclubs; also signs everywhere for bungee jumping, rafting, quad hire, etc. Tom had suggested we might hire a couple of motorcycles and do a quick tour along the old road, but there simply wasn't time.

The hotel Luna Runtun above Baños

After lunch in Baños and a visit to a bank with a cash machine which recognised my card, we headed for our hotel. Lucy had pre-booked all of our hotels. She'd done a good job, but in Baños, she excelled herself. We stayed at the Luna Runtun, which is sited above Baños on the flanks of Tungurahua and this was a fantastic place in an amazing location.

The drive up was quite steep and the hotel comprised a central building with restaurant, plus lots of separate chalets dotted around the grounds. Our room was fantastic and we had a balcony overlooking Baños about 200 metres below. The trees outside were full of hummingbirds. At first they were quite hard to spot, but once you'd got your eye in, they were flitting around here, there and everywhere.

There was a jacuzzi and swimming pools, so we were able to take a dip before dinner. It seemed as if we were the only people there, so we had great service. When night fell Baños looked even more pretty all lit up below us.

iPhone panorama of Baños, taken from our balcony at Luna Runtun