On Saturday M and I went with a group to Fuentes Georginas; natural hot springs up in the mountains, surrounded by forest. The 45-minute ride up and around steep hills featured some dizzyingly beautiful views. High above us was blue sky and tree-covered mountain peaks, just below them were strips of cloud, beside us out the van window were almost vertical slopes of neat cabbage patches and other leafy greens, and far, far below a gorge carved it’s way alongside the town’s colorful checkerboard of roofs.

Fuentes Georginas has 3 large pools of steaming, jade-colored water. There were families and tourists lapping up the views and we would have happily joined them if not for a tip from a friend the day before about a hidden pool.

Following her directions, M and I found ourselves leaving everyone else and walking into the thick of the forest and hesitantly down a dirt path carved into the side of the mountain. Steps were crudely separated by branches; a railing in a particularly narrow area gave way when we brushed past it. In our little cardigans, sunglasses in our hair, and delicate flats, we descended further into what seemed like a rainforest, hearing the gurgle of a stream but unable to see it. Finally, we ran into a couple with just-wet hair and towels, who told us there were another two turns and we’d be close. Two turns later led us to a fork in the dirt path – one led to a very narrow space around a giant tree trunk and the other meant clamoring over a big white pipe seemingly carrying hot water to or from one of the pools. We crept past the tree, sniffing for sulfur, only to find a view of the stream we had heard gurgling, but a thicket of forest lay in between with no path in sight.

As the story always goes, we were about to give up and turn back, sighing, when we decided to quickly check the path blocked by the pipe. M, ahead of me, smiled over her shoulder when she crossed it and turned the corner.

We had a haven all to ourselves for the afternoon. The hot spring was in a crevice of the mountain, a waterfall behind it and a view of the rainforest and peaks in front. The water, directly fed by the waterfall, was so hot that when we stepped in it felt like we were cooking. Steam rose from our skin in waves. Besides our squeals over the heat, the only sounds were the cascade of water and rustle of leaves.

Paradise found.