http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Ecuador , South , Vilcabamba en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:01:42 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:01:42 UTC Hi EveryoneWeve decided to stay one more week at the farm and then head to Piura Peru. We thought about leaving this weekend so that we could travel with David another American on the farm but once we actually considered leaving we realized how much we liked the farm and wanted to spend some more time here. Two American couples from Ashville North Carolina arrrived and have been a lot of fun http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-338379.html Hey everyoneI think I already wrote a bit about our few days in Vilcabamba South Ecuador when I added the Galpagos photos so Ill just add a few photos instead of repeating myself o It was lovely there and we really didnt do much anyway... just relaxed by the pool cycled into town learnt Spanish looking at the lovely scenery etc. And of course enjoyed lots of scrumptious German food o http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-334690.html Hello everyoneA lot has happened in the last two weeks. Most importantly Nova had her puppies She had a litter of six beautiful little huskies which currently look a little bit more like rats. Anna checks on them religiously and hopefully they will be opening their eyes in the next few days. As of now there are 13 volunteers on the farm a few more americans and some french and we are expectin http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-333341.html Here's a funny thing. Apparently a big problem for the church in South America is that the people here are more fixated on the virgin Mary than Jesus. Certainly the number of statues and place names for that matter this up. If you didn't know your bible you'd think she was what all the fuss was about and the little baby is just a bit of a nuisance. How unexpectedBut enough about that. What about http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-331235.html Trip to Cuenca on surprisingly comfortable bus despite playing 2 Sylvester Stallone in Spanish clarohellip films at volume high enough to create distortion. Scnenery of balana plantations and some very basic rural living conditions many shacks with pigs tethered outside. Bit alarmed by 2 ft gully at side of road when going through cloud forest but we made it to Cuenca 4 hours later. Cuenca http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-329895.html Hi everyoneWe made it safely to the farm last sunday. In order to get here we had to take a long bus ride overnight from Quito to Loja 13hrs. During this ride we were able to watch Dennis the Menace one and two in spanish... Then we transfered to a smaller bus which took us to Vilcabamba where the internet we are using now is located where we transfered to another bus which brought us to a ve http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-328330.html Day 51 Tuesday 19th August Chilling out after not much sleepArrive in Vilcabamba at 7am. The hostel I'm staying at is 2 miles outside the town but the bus drops me at the entrance. Although I'm shattered after spending the night sleeping on busesthe bus station I'm immediately energised on seeing the sweeping views of the valley from the hostel. I think after the views from the black sheep on http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-314720.html So I said the hostel in Vilcabamba was a poor choice. Allow me to explain. It was a fairly standard 5 USD each for a double room with shared bathroom. Aside from the fact that someone appeared to have written the word LIE in their own blood on one of the bed sheets it was ok. Then just as we were getting to sleep the screaming started. Peering cautiously out of the window we realised that so http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-306494.html VilcabambaA good climate a fantastic location and a high enough but not too high altitude make Vilcabamba a lovely place in which to spend a few days. But however many days you plan to spend here it just won't be enough. Vilcabamba is often called the Valley of Longevity as people living here supposedly have a higher life expectancy than average with many living well beyond 100 years. We've h http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-278006.html Foerste bus kl 6 ... Efter et par dage i Vilcabamba hvor jeg fik mig en dejlig massage satte jeg naesen mod Peru. Kunne sagtens vaere blevet i byen lige som en del andre tidligere rejsende tilsyneleadende havde valgt at goere men havde en date med Anna i Copacabana d. 304.Saa afsted med mig kl 6 om morgenen i en bus ad mudrede bjergveje saa mudrede at vi sad fast paa et tidspunkt men de lok http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-268991.html Well we have been in Vilcabamba in the far South of Ecuador for three days now. It is sunny and warm but still has the feeling of being in the highlands. There are orchids and cacti everywhere. We were going to stop in Cuenca after Banos but we looked at it and our timelne and decided to head straight for Southern Ecuador and skip Cuenca. We will be in Peru a bit earlier now and will have time t http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-260738.html The harrowing bus drive that took us to Loja from Cuenca is indescribable. There were parts where the narrow road could only hold 1 vehicle yet we were facing another bus It was the other bus that backed up to let us by... And these roads actually the PamAm highway have no shoulder let alone guard rails Winding slowly through the Andes the autobus worked the switchbacks up to 1112000 http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-258437.html Ecuador ContinuedThe morning we left Baos Tom decided to brave the dentist as his front tooth was giving him problems. Paul the Scottsman had gone and highly recommended one in town. One filing and 10 later Tom was content and we headed for Riobamba.Feb 21stWe were headed for Riobamba to catch the famous Devils Nose Train Nariz Del Diablo that runs from there to Alausi. The trains only run We http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-255875.html Matt Writes As expected our Christmas would be unconventional this year to say the least.After a dubious display of homemade fireworks from the local pyromaniac obviously inspired by our street festival encounters in Banos Christmas Eve was upon us and entertainment was provided by the local school's party games held in the main square. Consisting of teams of boygirl holding a tomato together http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-237395.html Matt WritesHad to pack with a fuzzy head this morning as we head off for 3 days horse riding and trekking. We saddled up and were riding out of town like a fist full of dollars by 10 would of looked better at noon I thought. Accompanying us was a man from Norway whom had just bought a horse to ride to Cuzco and was getting to grips with Saddles and well everything you need to know if you have ne http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-232013.html sorry for the absence dear friends and family but weve been heading north fairly consistantly since my last blog entry which i hope didnt alarm any of you. hey there is good luck and bad luck. i just happened to run into a bit of the bad stuff. but im wayyyyyyyyyyyyy over it and it will all work out once im back in the states. bolivia is actually a beautiful country and i hope no one deters http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-229409.html Pics of Vilcabamba. Note the town is known for producing San Pedro cactus juice an illegal hallucinogenic. I did not try San Pedro I swear http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-226693.html Ok so I've finally set up a blog... albeit two weeks into my trip. Given my aversion to finding the time to write this kind of stuff I hope for everyone's understanding.So to quickly update anyone reading this I got sick all of a sudden the day before I left Guatemala for Ecuador. Just my luck. It ended up slowing me down for a bit in terms of seeing all the city sights early on but in the end http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-226314.html Daniela was the first one to tell me about this mountain to the East of Vilcabamba. She said it was a beautiful 23 day hike nearby with overnight stays in a refugio. It sounded interesting. I subsequently got various other pieces of information about it there is no path up there macchialike wild vegetation it is very difficult. So I concluded I should not do it on my own. But then Daniela su http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-226111.html The forgotten road trail is a beautiful easy eight hour hike from the hostal over the ridge to the west to the village of Tumianumi and then on a path which once was a road but hasnrsquot been used for many years. I went on that trip by myself and did not meet any tourists during the whole eight hours. However I did chat with villagers and enjoyed the beautiful landscape. You see mainly the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-225971.html On this trip I went again with Chris and Luc. From the hostal we went down in the direction of the village but then went East to the small village of San Jos. From there we followed a partially hidden water canal through yet again very beautiful landscape. At some places we had to search for the trail and it was occassionally a bit dangerous with a very narrow path dropping down at one side v http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-223599.html Daniela a Swiss girl who works on the hostal took me on that trip. It was another very beautiful hike. We went east of the hostal up and down over the hills with many beautiful views again. As this wasnrsquot yet one of the lsquoofficialrsquo trails of the hostal we had to mark it. So Daniela went around with a yellow color spray and we painted the trees fences rocks etc. with yellow do http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-223596.html This was a guided trip from hostal. We were a group of 11 plus the guide which was clearly too many. We first went for an hour south in a car which was a beautiful ride. We then went into the forest. It was any of the official entry points to the National Park so we didnrsquot have to pay the 10 USD entry fee. We went on a tiny and mostly very steep and slippery jungle trail. It was quite stre http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-223590.html I am quite sure this will be one of my favourite walks in the book. It is a four hour hike up the Mandango mountain a prominent strangely shaped hill just next to Vilcabamba. I did the hike together with Chris and Luc. We were told we should be careful as there were sometimes robbers on the trail and even a rape had been reported recently. So we brought very little money and I just took my sm http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-223583.html I have found the perfect place the ShangriLa of South America nestled between lush green hills in the very South of Ecuador lies the sleepy village of Vilcabamba. This pueblo is known to be one of the places in the world where people reach an unusually old age some as much as 120 years or more. It is believed that this is due to the following factors a perfect springlike climate all year rou http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-223580.html We just spent a very relaxing four days in Vilcambamba known as the Valley of Longevity. We didnt really find out the secret but the local residents are known for their inability to kick the bucket living very long lives. Considering that they have their very own spring water that is heavily marketed with a pretty old man as the poster child we assume the secret is the water although weve http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-220727.html I arrived in Vilcabamba on the 31st October. Journey details OrigenDestination... Piura Per Loja Ecuador Loja Vilcabamba Mode of transport... Coach Company... Transportes Loja Vilcabambaturis Cost.... 28 Soles 1 USD Duration... 8 Hours 1 Hour Remarks... The first bus was fine and the border crossing into Ecuador was easy enough. The second bus was a bit of a death trap... and http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-217218.html Dutch VersionHier volgt het 2e deel van onze gringotrail op weg naar het zuiden van Ecuador. Vanuit Banos zijn we vertrokken naar Riobamba. We wisten eigenlijk niet zo goed wat te doen daar. Riobamba zelf is niet veel aan maar ligt vlakbij de Chimborazo vulkaan de hoogste berg van Ecuador zon 6.320 meter. Beklimmen ging ons wat te ver dat heilige vuur is inmiddels wel wat gedoofd moet ik zegg http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-215933.html I did not spend too much time in Guayaquil just one night did not fancy being in a huge city for too long largest in Ecuador and was not well in Cuenca so did not do much sightseeing there.Vilcabamba was superb and just what I needed total RR... I guess it isn't called the Valley of Longevity for nothing as soon as you come through this place you feel relaxed... it was brilliant looking http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-213579.html So me and Kat set out on our great adventure today Having said goodbye to all of our Cuenca friends family babies and kids at school and of course the remainder of the Cuenca crew having already said our tearful goodbyes to Matt and Jack much to their disbelief..me and Kat left Cuenca and headed off for the little town of Vilcabamba Had two days well doing nothing really Had a massage and http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-185159.html