Ecuador Mother Nature's Hot Tub

So you’ve been hiking for days, up to 5000m and down again multiple times. You’ve been city-hopping all the way down central Ecuador from Quito to Guayaquil. You thought, hey, Charles Darwin did it, why can’t I, and hopped on a giant, older-than-your-great-grandfather tortoise for a ride (please, please, do not do this). And, now you’re tired. Well, Ecuador and Mother Nature teamed up a few million years ago to make the world’s first—and still the best—hot tubs. At Baños, Papallacta, and a handful of other places, you can ease those tired bones in pools of steaming, lava-heated water. Many believe the pools have therapeutic value, even healing power. One thing’s certain: you won’t be complaining when your body goes limp after about 5min. of hot springs lounging.

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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.