Termas de Papallacta

Leaving behind another overcast day in Quito, we headed east and climbed into the Andes Mountains. The bus struggled with the steep climb. At Papallacta Pass we reached 14,000 feet of elevation and a continental divide. Rain falling to the west makes a rapid descent to the Pacific, while rain falling to the east makes its way to the Rio Napo, on to the Amazon, and eventually to the Atlantic.

Starting down the eastern slope, we dropped 3000 feet and arrived at the village of Papallacta (pronounced pah-pay-yahk-tah), home of the famous (in these parts) Papallacta hot springs, created by volcanic activity far underground.

The bus brought us to Termas de Papallacta, a rather fancy spa-restaurant-hotel setup. We registered and were issued our locker keys, towels, and snoopy hats (a cap we had to wear to help keep hair out of the pools), and stored our gear in the assigned locker.

Several in our group had made reservations (and paid extra) for massages and/or various spa treatments. Four of us, however, went with Juan, our tour leader, on a hike on trails created by the spa/hotel establishment, into the Cayambe-Coca National Park.

This was a beautiful trail through the “cloud forest,” as this high altitude ecosystem is known. There are dairy farms here (we had to pass through fence gates and navigate around cow pies in a couple places). But mostly the trail followed a rushing mountain stream through trees and shrubbery.

Unfortunately, the first half- to three-quarters of a mile felt like we were climbing straight up. At this altitude, our lungs were working hard and we took it slowly. There were no other people around, so our Covid masks came off quickly to allow for heavy breathing.

We didn’t see a lot of wildlife along the way — just a few birds and a squirrel. (Juan was rather excited to see the squirrel, as they are rare here.) But we did see some pretty flowers, and the views of the mountains and the rushing stream were pretty impressive.

The trail was a loop. We went up one side of the stream, then crossed a foot bridge to the other side, and returned. It was only a couple miles, but seemed longer due to the altitude.

Once back at the spa, we changed into our swimsuits and hit the pools — plural. These were not just “hot tubs,” but five large pools. We started with the hottest and deepest, but could only stay in those for 10-15 minutes without becoming overheated.

One pool was very shallow, but built in a circle of “beds” you could lay down in, with warm water shooting up under you, and your head held up out of the water by a remarkably comfortable stone pillow. We might have stayed there all day! 

But it wouldn’t have been healthy. (There were signs warning of risks from too much time in the pools for “niños y ancianos” — children and elderly. We figured we probably fit in one of those categories.) The last couple pools were pretty temperate, but had some nice water jets.

After enjoying the pools for about an hour, we took our time in the very nice, personal showers and dressed. In the restaurant, we were served a nice lunch with a rather interesting fruit juice mixture that was very good.

It was difficult to stay awake on the way home. Nothing like a mountain hike and hot water to wear you out and relax you. We learned that our Covid tests came back negative, so tomorrow, it’s on to the Galapagos!

[Note: We will have no internet the next seven days, so we'll do multiple posts after February 5]