The next morning we went for a short hike up the hills south of Banos. The trail was pretty steep and for me it was quite exhausting. The view of Banos and the surrounding hills was very nice but unfortunately we were not able to see the volcano Tungurahua since it was hiding behind clouds (as usual after 10 am). At night we enjoyed a nice bath in the hot springs while it was raining. It was really great. Sitting in the hot water, relaxing and listening to the sound of the nearby waterfall. 
As everyone else visting Banos, we rented bikes to bike the road from Banos in the mountains to Puyo in the jungle. From Banos it's 60 km to Puyo and mostly it is downhill. Although there are quite a few hills and the bike ride was not as easy as I thought it would be. There are quite a few waterfalls to see. And at the first waterfalls we saw we took a cable car to get a closer view. It was interesting to be almost over the waterfalls. We also went on a short hike to the Devils Fall. Very nice waterfall. The best thing was, that it was possible to go behind the waterfall. It was very noisy and wet behind the waterfall. Further along the way the water also fell from the sky. We got into a thunderstorm and got totally soaked. But I liked biking in the rain. The road always followed the river and it was fascinating to see how the river changed from a narrow gorge to a wide delta and the landscape changed from mountains to palm trees. Back in Banos we enjoyed a relaxing bath in the thermal bath. Awesome.
The next day we took it fairly easy and only went on a short hike to be fresh for our trip the following day. We decided to get a closer look at the volcano and wanted to hike to the old refugios. Since the volcano is active quite often it is not allowed to hike all the way up. We started our hike at the old administration center a few kilometer away from Banos. The hike was nice through a tunnel like trail with a lot of trees and other vegetation. Higher up the vegetation changed to colorful shrubs. Hiking to the refugio was quite exhausting since the trail always went uphill. There was not a single meter that was flat and I had to stop quite often to take a breath, relax and than walk on. After a lunch break at the refugio we hiked the volcano a little higher up to about 4000 m elevation. Micha hiked even higher than me.
The way down was kind of exhausting as well. To walk downhill for two hours requires some concentration. When it stared raining I somehow was happy about it and almost started raining down the trail. Micha was surprised that I had that much energy since I was extremely slow on the way up. It was still raining when we got back to the administration center but we decided to start our walk back to Banos anyways (we really didn't have any other options). After we walked for a while some friendly people with a pick-up gave us a ride in the back of there car. The car stopped a few minutes later to pick up an old Ecuadorian couple as well. So for the half hour ride to Banos we shared the back of the pick up with this very old Ecuadorian couple and although it was raining very hard everyone was smiling and in a good mood.
All in all it was a great hike and I nice day. I was surprised when I read in the newspaper a few days later that the volcano errupted three days later. Kind of scary.
The last day in Banos we got up very early to be in the thermal bath at sunrise. We decided to go to the thermal bath which is a little further away from the hostel and is supposed to have a nice view of the volcano. Unfortunately the bath was closed for constructions (besides that, we took the wrong way anyways). That we found out after walking half an hour through the whole town before sunrise. At least we had a good clear view of the volcano Tungurahua. I decided to go to the usual bath for a nice warm morning bath since I got up early anyways. It was a good decision and I felt good and relaxed afterward. In the afternoon we made our way to Latacunga, two hours north of Banos, to hike the Quilotoa Loop.
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