The first thing I saw from my terrace when I woke up this morning...

We got into Baños late last night, and the town did not look like anything special in the dark.  It's a different story during the day though.  While the town itself consists mostly of tour operators, hostels, restaurants and gringos with backpacks, its setting is spectacular.  It is surrounded by mountain walls that seem to rise 90 degrees, and its lower elevation (only 5,800 ft, which is more than 500ft higher than Denver) means the mountains are more verdant here than in Quito (which sits at 9,100 ft, making it the second highest capital in the world, after La Paz, Bolivia).  Two more pictures of Baños in the full post.

Yes, I know I look awkward in the picture on the left.