Baños Night: A Cup of Chamomile on the Hotel Terrace

Embracing the Day’s Tremble with Tea and Waterfall Mist

🕔 05:00–07:00 | 8°C Morning, Mist and the Scent of Coffee

The sound of the waterfall, which had poured all night and was still falling, felt as natural as breathing.
As I woke up and stepped onto the balcony of Hotel Sangay, the mist was drawing a faint rainbow, and everything around me was soaked—quietly glowing with transparent mist and dew.
The early morning temperature was now 7°C, and the cold air was filled with gentle moisture.

I grabbed my cardigan and a small bag and stepped out onto the street.
The aroma of freshly roasted coffee led me through the quiet alleys.
Before long, I came upon a place called "Honey Coffee & Tea."

Along the ridgelines between the mountain slopes, the morning mist hung like a bridal veil over a bride’s face.
Steam was gently rising from the just-baked cheese cherry pie and the warm café con leche, softly wrapping around my face.

🕖 07:00–09:00 | The Sound of My Heart on the Zipline – Puntzan Canopy

After about a 10-minute taxi ride, I arrived at a place called Puntzan Canopy.
Below the rocky cliffs flowed an endlessly wide river, and the forest was thick like a jungle.
Clutching my heart, which felt like it might burst, I put on a helmet and harness.

Though the air was 13°C, my whole body had already evaporated into thin air, caught in a state of tension.
I wondered if I could really ride this properly.

The first zipline stretched a whopping 450 meters.
The moment I stepped off, my whole body floated, became one with the wind, and slid down.

Between countless trees, I was carried by the wind—faster than light.
It lasted only a moment, but it was the very moment adrenaline exploded through every part of my body.

🕘 09:00–11:00 | The Road of Waterfalls – Ruta de las Cascadas Bike Tour

At "Biking Baños," I paid $10 including a helmet and rented a bicycle.
Beneath the winding dirt path lay a steep cliff, and right beside it, the waterfalls of Ruta de las Cascadas soared from the tall cliffs like dragons, then shattered downward, scattering in all directions—a scene the waterfalls re-enacted without pause.

All around, large banana leaves and tropical plants mingled along the bumpy dirt road.
Beside the road was a railway track, and now and then, a train passed by, trailing wisps of pale smoke that looked as if they would touch the clouds.

While riding along the uneven, curving dirt path, it wasn’t sweat but countless droplets from the shattering, screaming waterfalls that sprayed across my face and soaked my entire body.
The wind, more alive than ever, struck my moistened skin pores with textured friction.

Far off, on the mountain peak, a hawk was gauging the direction of the wind with its whole body, watching me from high above.

🕚 11:00–13:00 | The Waterfall Passed by Cable Car – Tarabita

At the "Tarabita Manto de la Novia" station, I paid one dollar and stepped into a metal basket suspended by a steel cable.
As the cable car slowly set off amidst swaying motions, the river valley below grew deeper and deeper.
Beneath my feet—nothing but a cliff, and in my ears—the trembling sound of the waterfall crashing down.
The wind was fierce.
I quietly held my breath.
And then, slowly, ever so slowly, I exhaled.
In that moment, it felt as though the weight of the entire world had vanished.

🕐 13:00–15:00 | Arte Cafe & Te – Warm Rice, Cold Juice

Returning to the city center, I walked toward a quiet alley on the outskirts where “Arte Cafe & Te” was nestled.
A guitar melody, softer than starlight, flowed out, and the wooden-paneled walls adorned with herb flowers and plants immediately caught my eye.
A dizzyingly rich aroma rose in swirls from the steaming chicken stew, served alongside fluffy golden rice cooked with turmeric.
And a refreshing maracuyá juice, topped with floating peppermint leaves.

As I ate, I took a sip. The fresh, bright fragrance filled my mouth, making it tingle with the chill of the ice.
Just above the window beside my table, among the thick trees, a pair of magpies—one flaunting white feathers, the other black—tilted their heads at a 45-degree angle and busily groomed their plumage.

🕒 15:00–17:00 | Casa del Árbol – Surrendering to the Swing

I got into the taxi I had reserved, and we drove in endless spirals upward for 25 minutes until we reached an altitude of 2,660 meters.
There it was—Casa del Árbol. And the so-famous “Swing at the End of the World.”

I climbed onto it and gripped the thick ropes tightly, as if they might snap if I didn't.
Before I could even finish inhaling, my body soared—cutting through the wind and rising above the cliff,
suspended in the air above the faint outline of the distant Tungurahua volcano.

Before I could breathe in and out again, I was already swinging like a pendulum tied to the cliff’s peak—
flying across the sky over the edge of the world, touching dizzying highs on each side.

🕔 17:00–19:00 | Leoni Pizzeria – Rooftop Sunset and Pizza

Back in the city, I stepped into Leoni Pizzeria, located at the very top of a rooftop.
I sat at a tucked-away corner table along the edge of the terrace railing.
The exposed ridges of the Andes were slowly being wrapped in a deep crimson purple,
and dusk was gently settling over them.

A chilled, ice-filled lime mojito mocktail in one hand,
and a classic Margherita pizza baked in a traditional wood-fired oven in front of me—
the cool breeze made me pull my cardigan tighter around my neck.

The steaming hot pizza, with its rich and nutty aroma of cheese,
numbed my nose, mouth, and eyes all at once, while warming my chest from within.
As I sipped the mojito with floating ice,
a refreshing sensation rushed through my core—
and I could almost feel the waterfall I saw earlier
crashing down beneath my chest once again.

🕖 19:00–21:00 | Termas de la Virgen – Starlight in Hot Water

Riding on the chilly air, the starlight gleamed even colder.
Next to me, a misty spray from the waterfall reflected off light bulbs taller than my own height,
scattering into the air like whispers of light.

Both my body and soul were soaked by the cold mist and the roaring sound of the falls.
Under a sea of stars that shone even more vividly than the crisp air,
I lowered myself into the 40-degree hot spring water, up to my chest.

Closing my eyes gently and tilting my head back toward the sky,
I savored the present moment just as it was.
Even the stars above—like bursts of light from the waterfall—
seemed to ripple outward and bloom within my heart.

🕘 21:00–23:00 | Returning to the Hotel – Embracing Today’s Tremble

Back at the hotel, I took off my damp clothes and stepped into a light, refreshing shower.
With both hands, I wrapped around a tiny Mickey Mouse cup,
filled with chamomile tea gently steaming upward in soft curls.

I sipped it slowly, gazing at the mist of the waterfall—still crumbling and scattering—
as it danced in the warm glow of the ambient lights.
The moment I lay on the bed and closed my eyes,
my body and mind felt fresher than ever before.