Banos is the centre of adventure in Ecuador. It has horse riding, canyoning, trekking, zip lining, rock climbing, bridge falling (bungee jumping with a rope rather than a rubber band), and paragliding. All this because it is a river canyon with many, many waterfalls going into it. Most of the activities are in the 17kms along the river from town. The old road into town was one of the notorious roads of South America, but they widened it and built seven tunnels to get to the town (it is the major road along the spine of the Andes). The parts of the old road that were replaced by the tunnels are used for the activities and give access to some villages. These are very narrow and have a cliff on one side and enormous drops on the other, with the occasional broadening of the road so vehicles could pass one another.
Once we arrived in Banos half toe group went paragliding, while I explored the town. It has a large number of waterfalls, even though it isn't big. The hot springs are near the waterfall that is dedicated to the Virgin of the Holy Water, but there are also at least five other waterfalls within a couple of blocks. The town is pretty flat but it has cliffs and canyons on all sides of it.
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