Purplelake: Day 13 - Aug 5, 2018 Cuenca, Ecuador

The breakfast at our hotel in Cuenca was wonderful. We had fresh fruits (very sweet pineapple, even sweeter watermelon, papaya, and passion fruit), fresh fruit juices, huge made-to-order omelet, local breakfast items like scrambled egg with white corn, etc.). We had chance to chat with different travelers during breakfast. One couple is from Iowa and the wife is also an university professor in social work. This morning, we met our first Canadian travelers finally and they are also from Vancouver. We struck up a good conversation and exchanged itineraries. Today is our relaxing day. We took a public bus directly to Banos (the suburb, not the city of Banos) to do the thermal pool and spa. Our driver yesterday recommended Novaqua which is just a few block from the bus stop. The bus ride only costs $0.30 but the problem we soon found out is that they only take pre-loaded bus card similar to our own Compass card. Fortunately, two locals agreed to swipe their cards for us and we gave them the cash! Excitement of travel local style!

The spa and pool place was amazing. We first did the hot pool (swimming pool size) which was only lukewarm. We then did the Contrast Pools where we alternated between a hot tub of 42C water and ice cold water for few minutes each. I don't remember having done this ever in my life. The sensation was quite something. You would feel really really hot the first time you dip into the hot water. The plunge into cold water next obviously would take lots of courage. The amazing thing is when you switch back to the hot pool, it does not feel hot at all for the first minute. Only afterward you would feel needle like poking sensation. Likewise, the next plunge into the cold pool is not as difficult as the first time. They said this is supposed to improve your circulation but I think this is a great way to kill off your nerve cells! Our next stop is the steam room where we just sat and soaked in the steam. Then we did the steam box where your whole body would sit inside a wooden box with just your head sticking out. Your whole body would soak in steam. The really shocking part is after 5 minutes of steaming, the attendent would then pour a bucket of ice cold water down your head and body. The contrast is so great that I couldn't help but yelled! This ice water bucket challenge was repeated two more times before the whole thing ended. The conventional dry sauna, by contrast, is quite boring so we skipped it after only a few minutes. Our last experience is the volcanic mud bath. However, rather than immersing your whole body into a mud bath, they have now simplified it to just rubbing clay onto your whole body and let it dry. This is probably because there were too many people waiting for the mud bath. You then just go sit in a warm water bath to wash away the dry mud before taking a shower to wash off the rest of the clay. It might be wishful thinking but I really felt my skin became smoother after all these tortures! The admission included a coffee and a dessert, depending on what package we purchased. We enjoyed these at the pool side while Yi waited for her full body massage appointment. Her massage session lasted 45 minutes and was completely worth it as you can tell from her big smile!

Contrast Pools

Bano the Suburb

We took a taxi from the spa place to Inglesia de Turi which is famed for its mirador overlooking the entire Cuenca city. The clouds cleared just in time to give us an awesome view! We could see the old town with the three domes of the cathedral, the Pumapungo Inca ruin, and the airport in the distance. Walking downhill, we walked past a super busy roadside BBQ place. On the way, we visited a suburb mall near the "gringo" ghetto. It's just like any North American mall. There was a "Walmart" like shop called Coral which was huge and carried everything from groceries to clothings, shoes, and anything in between. From the mall, we walked north in the direction of the old town and stopped at a recommended ice-cream shop, Monte Bianca. This place is so popular that there is always a line of customers outside the store! We also walked past several chifas (Chinese restaurants) which we were told are run by Toi-Shan people.