On Thursday, February 9, we booked a stay at Termas de Papallacta, a beautiful spa resort located high in the mountains between Quito and the Amazon Basin. Instead of going over to Quito and then up, we took an alternate route through Cayambe and on to El Quinche, where there was another beautiful church that Giselle wanted to see – Santuario de la Virgen de El Quinche.
After a short visit, we continued on our way up the pass that leads to Papallacta. The highway is beautiful – divided four lanes all the way to the summit, over 13,300ft. Giselle managed to take a pic of the Garmin GPS as proof:
We arrived at the resort and checked into our rooms and booked a nice evening of pampering with a one hour relaxing massage. The hot pools are directly outside the rooms, some hot, some cold, some very hot, all very clean.
We left the resort area to explore the tiny village and found a nice little eatery just outside the gate. The skies had cleared, and the mountain views were spectacular. Antisana Volcano in all her glory, over 18,000ft.
Dinner consisted of chicken and rice soup, fresh fried trout on rice, Ecuadorian Pilsener beer – the large ones, and a delicious fresh fruit smoothie, all for under $7.00 per plate. We finished off the evening with Pisco Sours at the bar in the resort. A fitting end to a fine day.
