Baños de Agua Santa - Baños de Agua Santa

Baños is a city ofEcuador, located in the region of Sierra.

To know

Tourism is one of the predominant activities of Baños. The city has acquired a growing reputation as a tourist destination thanks to its prime location at the gateway to the Amazon jungle. Over the years, Baños has significantly increased its tourist offer. Currently, the tourist presence is increased thanks to the advertising campaign launched by the government with the slogan "All you need is Ecuador". The tourism of the city is based not only on the beauty of nature but also on spa treatments and adventure sports. As for ecological tourism, the city has large green areas around it and most of the forests and tourist attractions fall within the municipal limits.

Baños is also known as "La Puerta del Dorado" and El Pedacito de Cielo (The corner of Paradise). It also offers many attractions: you can visit the Basilica of the Virgen del Rosario de Agua Santa, you can visit the different waterfalls, go up to the Tungurahua (volcano), try marshmallows (sweets made with sugar cane), there are varieties of handicrafts made in raft and tagua made in other places and resold in this city.

Baños de Agua Santa is a city suitable for various adventure sports such as: rafting, canyoning, canoeing, rock climbing, bridge jumping, horse riding, ecological walking, mountain biking, etc. It has 5 spas that exploit springs of mineral and sulphurous waters ranging from temperatures of 18 ° C to 55 ° C. The waters emerge from the bowels of the Tungurahua volcano.

Baños has a pink area with bars, night clubs and more than 80 restaurants with a wide choice of national and international cuisine. Baños is also a religious pilgrimage center as hot springs are popularly associated with "miracle" cures due to the influence of the Dominican community that has settled in this area for a long time.

Geographical notes

Baños is located in the eastern Andes, at the foot of the Tungurahua volcano and at an altitude of 1820 meters above sea level. Its territory is characterized by a great hydrological richness; Some of the rivers are the Rio Bascún (to the west), the Rio Ulba (to the east) and the Pastaza River which flows south of the town.

Background

In 1887 the Belgian priest Tomás Halflants arrived in Baños to carry out pastoral work there. In addition to being a parish priest, the priest also assumed the functions of mayor, doing his utmost to carry out many social works such as the opening of city roads, the construction of bridges and water basins. In 1904 he undertook the construction of the Basilica of the Madonna dell'Acqua Santa completed in 1944. His work was continued by another Belgian priest, Van Shoote who succeeded him in 1909.

From 1916 to 1920 there were eruptions of the Tungurahua volcano with showers of ash and lava.

In 1928, President Isidro Ayora inaugurated the Baños-Ambato road which allowed access to the Amazon region.

The Ambato earthquake of August 5, 1949 severely struck Baños, reducing almost all the city buildings to rubble and causing many victims. Many of the survivors left the city.

In 1999 the Tungurahua volcano went into activity again forcing the authorities to order the total evacuation of Baños. Since that year the eruptions have become frequent.

How to orient yourself

How to get

How to get around

What see

• -1.39713-78.421011 Madonna of the Holy Water (Nuestra Señora del Agua Santa). Neo-Gothic style church built with lava stones. The interior is adorned with paintings depicting the miracles of the Virgin, including rescuing the church from several volcanic eruptions. The temple is a place of pilgrimage. 

Events and parties

What to do

• Rafting: it is a sporting and recreational activity that consists in traveling the river bed in the direction of the current (downstream), generally on a type of boat or raft. It is carried out on the Pastaza River in the eastern sector of the city, starting from San Francisco or from the La Penal sector (Río Negro); It is carried out in 2 sections of the river with a different level of difficulty ranging from III to V. It is necessary to know how to swim, experience is not required for level III, but for levels IV and V.

• Canopy: Baños has a variety of places where you can do in this city from 250 meters, up to 1000 meters another of the places where we can do canopy you can find this service with different lines between rainforests, rivers and ravines this activity is what It can carry both children and adults.

• Canoe: it is a sport that can only be practiced by experts. In the eastern part of Baños in the Parish of Río Negro is the river Topo, according to some experts it is one of the most technical and best rivers to practice this sport, in addition to the beauty of the environment and the biodiversity of the sector.

• Canyoning: it is practiced in canyons or ravines of rivers, which allows you to descend through waterfalls tied to a rope. And with the security team, which is fully staffed by the commissioned operating agency and supervised by experienced guides. In the surroundings there are several places with unique natural landscapes where this activity takes place, including: Chamana, Río Blanco and Cashaurco.

• Bungee Jumping: it is an extreme sport, in particular, a form of rope jumping that is performed from a bridge with dynamic rope (s) (climbing) in the form of a pendulum; It is a very exciting and unforgettable experience. In Baños it takes place on the San Francisco bridge (Terminal Terrestre sector) and on the Río Blanco bridge (4 km east of the city).

• Climbing: requires a lot of strength and adrenaline, which includes heights of considerable danger. In Baños there are very particular walls such as San Martín, the path located behind the Terrestrial Terminal (Puente San Francisco) made of volcanic rock, in some of them fixed anchors and some paths have been fixed. There is an artificial wall in the Barrio El Recreo in the Parque Aventura.

Spa treatments

• -1.400563-78.4193371 Thermal baths of Santa Clara (Balneario de Santa Clara) (on the southeast side of the city, between Velasco Ibarra and Rafael Vieira streets, next to the Electric Company). Thermal baths inaugurated in 1933; built with ashlar stones and covered in concrete. The water temperature is 22 ° C, it is used for the treatment of diseases such as liver, kidney or digestive system, serves as table water and for swimming, as it has a semi-Olympic pool. In 2012 they were redesigned and now has a jacuzzi, hot water, gym, restaurant and some beautiful water jets. 
• -1.398096-78.4185222 Las Piscinas de la Virgen, Luis A. Martínez (Crossroads with via Montalvo, in the city center). Wed-Fri 14: 00-21: 00, Sat-Sun 10: 00-21: 00. These pools of sulphate water are located at the foot of the Cabellera de la Virgen waterfall. They are used to alleviate various ailments thanks to the minerals present in their chemical composition. They are located alo, in the center of the city. The water temperature is 54 degrees Celsius. 
• Las Peñas Thermal Baths (Balneario Las Peñas). The largest thermal baths; the water that makes up one of the pools is mineral, bicarbonate, ferruginous, magnesian, with a temperature of 35 ° C and cold with 22 ° C. It has slides. It is located at the end of Calle Luis A Martínez, 100 meters from the Cabellera de la Virgen waterfall. 

• -1.404731-78.4323153 Balneario El Salado (5 minutes from Baños near the Bascun River.). Mon-Sun 05: 00-20: 00. Spa renovated in 2012. They have several swimming pools. It is believed that they can cure joint problems, circulatory problems, bruises. 

Shopping

• -1.39786-78.422181 Mercado Central, Eloy Alfaro (One block east of Palomino Flores park). $1.50. Mon-Sun 06: 00-18: 00. Fresh food market with various stands where you can have snacks. 

How to have fun

Night clubs

Baños has a good selection of nightclubs concentrated in the southern area. A whole street in the center is full of salsathecas where you can dance to salsa rhythms all night long. In most of the others salsathecas around Baños, American pop music is played instead.

Where to eat

Where stay

Moderate prices

• -1.39633-78.423661 Erupción Backpackers Hostel, Maldonado y Eugenio Espejo (Half a block south from the south east corner of the bus terminal), ☎ 593 3 2743475, @[email protected]. $ 3 camping, $ 8 per bed, $ 24 for double. An economical option if you want to stay overnight in a tent. The place has a shared outdoor kitchen, hot showers, a wood-burning pizza oven. The staff is made up exclusively of short-term volunteers who don't care too much about the guests. The owners also run another hostel and restaurant on the corner of Ambato and Thomas Halflants which however does not offer camping possibilities. 
• -1.3891-78.41782 Hostal El Recreo, Calle Las Flores Y Las Cucardas, ☎ 593 98 326 6802. Family-run hostel a stone's throw from the center. 3 bed dorms, Wi-Fi, kitchen, TV. 
• -1.39839-78.426043 Hostal Princesa María, Rocafuerte y Mera, ☎ 593 3 2741 035, @[email protected]. Just off the main road, Hostal Princesa María offers free internet connection, hot water showers and shared kitchen space. The staff are friendly. 
• -1.39261-78.424964 Illuchi Camping. Camping area with great views and great atmosphere just outside Baños. It has a fully equipped kitchen and hot showers but no WiFi. 
• -1.39857-78.420685 ^{[link not working]}Plantas y Blanco, Martinez and 12 de Noviembre, ☎ 593 3 274 0044. Accommodation in dorms or private rooms, laundry service, free internet access and a nice roof terrace. 

Safety

How to keep in touch

Around

• -1.49-78.0044441 Puyo - From Baños you reach the city of Puyo, in Amazon basin via a mountain road that follows the course of the Pastaza River and its gorges. The road, full of curves but highly scenic, is called the waterfall road (Route de las Cascadas). The most admired are -1.4045-78.33612 Manto de la novia is -1.4047-78.29573 Pailon de diablo.

There Route de las Cascadas runs between two magnificent parks, Llanganates National Park in the north and Sangay National Park in the south with accesses from a completely different direction:

• -1.833333-78.3333334 Sangay National ParkParque nacional Sangay - A park included in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites. In addition to Tungurahua, the park includes two other volcanoes, the still active Sangay and the extinct El Altar.

• -1.133333-78.2333335 Llanganates National ParkParque nacional Llanganates - Created in 1996, the park occupies a portion of the mountain with peaks over 4,000 m. and a portion of the Amazonian plain covered by dense forests and almost impenetrable where pumas and jaguars live. The mountainous area is accessed from the town of -1.166667-78.5333336 Santiago de Píllaro where local guides can be hired.

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