SURROUNDINGS

Ambato
Also known as the city of the "Tres Juanes", or the city of flowers and fruit, it is the capital of the province of Tungurahua. Its typical food items are the llapingachos, the cuyes, and in of November the famous "colada morada" (45 minutes from Baņos (http://www.enjoyecuador.net/english/guiadestinos/banos-ecuador/banos-surroundings.shtml ) ) by inter-provincial bus).

This city is at the foot of the Chimborazo, an extinct volcano at 6,310 m. a. s. l. and 140 km south of Quito. It has been reconstructed for the most part since an earthquake destroyed most of the city in 1949. It is an important industrial center for blankets and textiles. It has 221,000 inhabitants.

Ambato nestles in a hollow between the plateaus of Pillaro, Quisapincha, Huambalo, Cotalo Tisaleo and Quero, It is irrigated by the Ambato river that runs through it, fertilizing the soil, which local residents have converted into orchards and gardens. The weather is among the most pleasant in Ecuador, with an average temperature of 14.5°Celsius. The city's business activity picks up on Monday, when the squares, markets and streets of the city become flooded with products from other parts of the country. The main markets are: Modelo, Colon, Central and Primero de Mayo.

Every year there is a very important festival celebrated here for one or two weeks

The Flower and Fruit Festival
This is an annual fair created after the 1949 earthquake. it is usually described as the "most typical proof of the local Ambateņo spirit that gives life to the city and the province". The Fair displaced the former Water Carnival feast, replacing it with a complete agenda of all types of celebrations, including cultural, artistic and academic activities. Among them: the International Folklore Festival, the National Art Exhibition, flower games, dance festivals and the coronation of a Festival Queen.

Salasaca
Salasaca is a small town near Ambato that has a very interesting market known as "las Ferias" which opens every weekday. It is generally thought that this place has the best craftwork in textiles, wool and alpaca sweaters and tapestries, bags and paintings. It takes 15 minutes by bus to get there.
Some of the natives here were originally from the high plateau area around Lake Titicaca, shared now by Bolivia and Peru. They were forcibly "transplanted" by the Incas to their present place in the middle of Ecuador, some 550 years ago. They now live at the foot of Mt Teligote, in the province of Tungurahua, on the sandy plains of the Pelileo canton.

The Inka celebration of the sun festival or "INTIRAYMI", is an event that takes place every year in Peru at the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, in Cuzco. The Salasaca celebrate it on the same date every year, showing a common tradition. This festivity takes place one or two weeks at the end of June, when the sun is at its most distant point from the equator. Its original purpose was to ask the receding sun to come back. The people of this region are very serene and placid. They live in the center of the country, near the Chimborazo. They are also considered extremely obstinate people, accounting for the survival of their traditions after 550 years of exile from their territorial home.

Puyo
It is the capital of the province of Pastaza and the next major city towards the east. One can hire mountain bikes to get there visiting some waterfalls on the way. It is 90 minutes from Baņos, by inter-provincial bus.

Seventy nine km south of Tena, PUYO is a major urban center, considered to be the biggest of the Ecuadorian southeast, with a growing population of 20,000 inhabitants, mainly sierra colonists. Puyo is permanently covered by a gray-blue light, which gives it a sad air. Although it was founded in 1899 by Dominican missionaries, very little is left of its time-honored wooden architecture. Most of its present buildings are modern concrete structures. Puyo boasts of several attractions in its surroundings, of which the most important is the wonderful Botanical Garden "Las Orquideas". Puyo is also the transport hub of the southeast, with frequent bus services to Baņos in the west, Tena in the north, Macas in the south, and Ambato in the sierra.