Ecuador Hop is a sort of Ecuadorian Bus About. A bus takes a certain route every day or every couple of days and you buy a flexible ticket where you can get on and off the bus at various stops. We decided that rather than stressing out on public buses (we'll leave that for going to the Amazon), we would get the Ecuador Hop bus to Banos and then further south to Cuenca.

The good thing about the bus is that it stops at various touristy locations along the way, so you get to see more along the way than you would on a normal bus. You also get a guide who essentially babysits you. It was nice.

We had met a very nice hostee in the hotel in Quito the night before we left and found out she was going to be on our bus, but she was doing a day trip to Quilotoa Lake, whereas we would just stop off there.

Also on our bus was a group of three Australians, a couple of older Spaniards, a German bloke who got dropped off on a road side to catch a public bus to Cuenca, and a Canadian/Belgian.

We unfortunately didn't get to see Cotopaxi as the weather wasn't brilliant, but we did stop at Quilotoa Lake, a 3km wide and 280m deep water filled caldera. It was formed after an eruption about 600 years ago.

After wandering round the lake for a bit and posing for photos, it was time to head to Banos, a backpacker town known for its hot springs, "extreme" sports, and a "swing at the end of the world".

The scenery on the way was very interesting, as it is on the volcanic spine of Ecuador, it is all pretty much at altitude, and there is very little uncultivated land. Most of it is grazing or crop growing land. This meant it was quite a harsh landscape, in muted greens and greys. I tried to get a few pictures from the bus.

There were also a lot of gum (eucalyptus) trees. Apparently, early in the twentieth century, one of the presidents decided that eucalyptus trees would be perfect for the soil and area, so imported heaps. They are now everywhere, and it is quite strange to see a flowering gum on the side of an Ecuadorian road. Apparently they are a bit of a pest. We have also seen a few bottle brushes, which the humming birds seem to like.

Anyway, without any hassle at all, we hit Banos.