Papallacta - the best thermal baths in Ecuador

We couldn't visit Ecuador without stopping at the best hot springs in the country.  In fact, we had originally planned to spend Christmas at the Termas de Papallacta after Mel and Franco in Salta told us about the private in-room jacuzzis and log fires.  But they were fully booked by the time we were confident we would get there in time, so we went as day guests a couple of days before Christmas.  

It was quite a long drive because it involved climbing more than 2,000m to the top of a mountain pass at 4,100m, then going back down to Papallacta at 3,300m.  Sometimes we were reduced to 30km/h by the incline.  After around 4 hours, we were finally on the downhill stretch to Papallacta and envisaging ourselves soaking in the luxuriously warm baths, when we hit the road leading to the complex.  It was an uphill stretch of loose gravel road. And as our luck would have it, we started the ascent at the same time as a horse rider, so had to slow right down.  The loss of momentum was a disaster!  

The gravel was so loose that we couldn't get any traction and the wheels were spinning.  We ended up stuck on this slope with the horse and rider slowly trotting past us.

There was no way we were not going to the best hot springs in Ecuador just because of a crappy gravel road though.  The only course of action was to try again and, with the horse out of the picture, to give it some welly!

Thank god it worked - look at what was at the top!

There were loads of crystal clear pools of varying temperatures, including a freezing river next to one of the hottest.  

(Paul getting out of the river and then sitting in the really hot pool)

And because we were up in the mountains, the scenery was spectacular.

We had a quick dip as soon as we got there and then had some dinner in the van.  Then we went back in at 8.30pm for a late night dip when it was all lit up and the cooler air temperature made the warm waters even more divine!

We had planned on camping in the car park overnight and having another dip on Christmas Eve morning, but they wanted to charge us $6 each. This seemed a bit steep considering there were no facilities for us to use, so we left the car park and camped on the road, just outside for free!  The next morning we couldn't resist heading back for another session in the sun.