For all of us who do not speak Spanish, “Donde están los baños?” is an important phrase to know. This is probably the most important phrase to know other than “no hablo Español”.

However, los baños takes on a different meaning in Ecuador. Just west of Cuenca is a small town called Baños with a total population around 13,000. But people ask “donde están los baños?” because this town is famous for thermal baths and spas.

The thermal waters from Baños are known around the world for their therapeutic properties. The water comes from the inner part of a geologic fault known as “La Loma de Los Hervideros” (The Hill of the Hot springs). The temperature of the water from the rock is about 170° Fahrenheit. The water is cooled and flows into the pools and steam baths of the Baños resort at a perfect temperature range of 97° to 107°.

Locals claim that the thermal water heals many types of illnesses and that the steam is rich in minerals which detoxifies the skin and helps the respiratory system. Many expats and Spanish students recommended Los Baños to us. So, one afternoon after our Spanish class, we headed to the spa with a fellow student to relax after a stressful class (they’re all stressful to me).

We chose to go to Spa Termal Novaqua. Our fellow student had been there before, and this spa is for adults only. The spa offers saunas, thermal pools, thermal contrast pools (one small very hot pool, next to a very cold pool), steam baths, steam boxes, hydromassage, and a café.

At check-in, we were provided with a thick terrycloth robe, a bathing cap, a large plush towel, and soap in a convenient bag to take to a locker.

Hmmmmm what to do first–so many choices. After changing, we eased ourselves into the large thermal pool. It is not quite as hot as the Contrast pool, but it felt so good. At one end of the pool, the thermal water enters so we sat next to the hot water flowing in. The warm water was very relaxing, and we were almost the only people in the pool.

After relaxing in the pool, we decided to try the contrast pools. We were advised to sit in the hot pool for three minutes and to sit in the cold pool for one minute. Well, we made only one cycle because the cold pool was really cold. Think of the January polar plunge into frozen Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. I jumped into a frozen lake once and vowed never again.

Next, we headed to the steam baths even though I am not one to sit in a room and sweat. But when the attendant placed eucalyptus leaves in the steam apparatus, we could feel it in our lungs, and it was actually pleasant to breathe in the steam and to sweat.

One of the services we really wanted to try was the mud bath. The bath is located in a cave with a small thermal pool along with a tub of mud. The mud is supposed to exfoliate and soften your skin but to me, it was a chance to play in the mud. And we did!

After rubbing the mud on our entire bodies, we relaxed in the hot muddy water. I don’t know if the mud improved our skin, but it was a little uncomfortable sitting while covered in mud. We washed off the mud in the cave-shower before trying the next treatment.

The last therapy we tried was the steam box. I had no interest in sitting in a hot box, but Kathy was willing. An attendant closed her in the box with a towel around the opening to keep the steam inside.

The box filled with steam and after five minutes, the attendant returned to pour a bucket of cold water on Kathy’s back. After another five minutes, he poured cold water on her chest. After the last five minutes, he told her to get out of the box and sit in ice-cold water while he poured a final bucket of cold water on her head. She screamed in shock as each bucket was poured on her and we laughed at the absurdity that we were paying for this crazy treatment.

We returned to the warm swimming pool to relax from the hot box. We can’t wait to return again to Los Baños to decompress from our hectic retirement lifestyle before we leave Cuenca.