We left Quito on Thursday afternoon on a bus bound to Baños, or so we thought. The driver was screaming out "Baños! Baños! Baños!" The entire side of the bus was painted "Baños." So when the bus stopped at its final destination, we assumed we were in Baños. You know what they say happens when you assume. . . . We were very close to being stuck in the big ugly city of Ambato for the night. We had grabbed out bags out of the bus and were on our way, when it occured to me that we should at least ask if we were in Baños, since it did not appear to be the tranquil gem nestled in the mountains that the book alluded to. Alas, we were nowhere near Baños. For some reason our bus had decided to stop, and we were supposed to know to change buses. Luckily we found a bus actually heading to Baños, and an hour or so later we arrived.
When we got to Baños we headed to Hostal El Pedron, one recommended in the book for its beautiful garden. The rooms were equally beautiful, but the price was way more than we had expected (a whopping 16 dollars a night for a room with wooden floors, a wooden bed, a balcony and a newly tiled private bath). We left to go find a cheaper place, but I had fallen in love with Hostal El Pedron, and we wound up going back a few minutes later and reclaiming our room. The next morning we found out that breakfast was included, which made us feel a lot better about the price. So we will be staying at El Pedron for the remainder of our time in Baños.
The next morning we decided to hike up to a lookout point called Bellavista, which is a 45 minute walk up a mountain. While we were very slowly making our way up the mountain (a combination of the altitude and of taking pictures every minute or so), a man approached from behind, climbing much faster. When he reached us, he stuck out his hand and introduced himself. He told us that he was a volunteer watchman/first alerter for the volcano that is above Baños, and that he owed a campsite up the mountain where travelers could spend the night and watch the volcano.
Then he said "¡vamanos!", or "let´s go!" For the rest of the hike up to bellavista, he told us more about the volcano and his job watching it and looking for signs that it was about to have a serious eruption. He proudly told us that in the previous two eruptions, not a single person in Baños was killed, due to the alert system and to the education that they provide to citizens explaining what to do in case of an eruption. He also told us that his little town has had three people from "cuerpo de paz," a program apparently started by John F. Kennedy, which he had a lot of good to say about. The program involves sending professionals from the U.S. to impart knowledge about such things as successful and sustainable agriculture and technology. He said that these three people had made his town much more successful. Carlos also showed us herbs similar to mint used to make tea and clear the sinuses, and a plant that can be put on wounds to help them heal.
When we got to the lookout point, he sat with us for about 20 minutes talking more about the volcano, and then said ¡vamanos! again. Apparently we were continuing. He took us through a series of shortcuts up the mountain to his farm. While we were walking he told us his opinions on family planning (it should be done), contraceptives (they should be used) and foreigners who use drugs (they are hurting ecuador´s youth, who follow their example). He also told us about his kids, all of whom were professionals or paraprofessionals in surrounding cities (a teacher, a secretary, a military official, and another that I don´t remember). He sounded very proud, and rightly so, because in Ecuador those are excellent professions.
When we arrived at his farm, he had to go feed his animals, and he pointed the way for us to continue up the mountain. We also made tentative plans with him to camp at the watchstation on Monday night. Then we said goodbye and kept climbing, all the way to the top (much to the chagrin of our knees, which were very angry on the way down).
At the top we could see the volcano slightly better, although it was still mostly covered by clouds. We did however meet a number of farm animals on the path 
After 5 hours of hiking we were ravenous. Luckily Baños is a wonderful city to eat in, with lots and lots of vegetarian options. We spent the rest of the afternoon eating and walking around the town. Like every other place we´ve been, in Baños everyone sells the same thing. Here it´s taffy that they pull from hooks on their doorways. 
This morning we went to the market and got some strange fruits, which I am excited to try. We´re going to spend the rest of the day relaxing, and tonight we will go to the hot baths that literally put Baños on the map (the word baños means bath).
Tomorrow, biking and elections!!!!
-R
P.S. If you think there is anyone else who would be interested in reading about our travels, please forward the website to them!
S Spanis