In Paradise (also called Vilcabamba)

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I have found the perfect place, the Shangri-La 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 spring-like climate all year round, a healthy nutrition mainly consisting of home-grown vegetables, people walking around in the hills for hours every day to get to their fields, and a happy stress-free life.

And when you arrive here it does feel as if you have arrived at your final destination, the place where you will live happily until you die in the very far future. You feel entirely at peace, surrounded by greenery, hills, singing birds and flowers. The temperature is perfect, around 20-25°C, at midday sometimes slightly higher and I have seen very few drops of rain only on one day so far.

I am staying at the Izhcayluma Hostal which contributes substantially to the paradise-like feeling. Run by two Bavarian brothers, this is a wonderful place: for just 17 USD you get a beautiful room with pretty Ecuadorian carpets on the walls, good matresses, everything clean and neat, a big garden with loads of flowers and birds, an open terrace restaurant with a magnificient view over the green valley and the mountains, a buffet breakfast and the best - a swimming pool! In addition, one can have messages here, facials and other nce treats. The food is also delicious: there is a number Ecuadorian dishes to choose from, but then also things like Käsespätzle or Kartoffelauflauf! The owners are also hiking freaks and have marked a number of trails in the area. In addition they have purchased from the IGM satellite pictures of the area, and have generated maps from that. Every guest is handed out a whole booklet of maps and trail descriptions. However, they are the hostal’s big secret and every guest has to return the booklet after their stay and is not allowed to take photocopies of anything (as otherwise the material might get into the hands of the other hostal owners; and as they did not want to share the high costs of the satellite material, it is understandable that the Izhcayluma owners don’t want them to profit from their material). The walks around here which I have done so far are extremely beautiful, and I could be tempted to make a book just from walks around Vilcabamba.

In the hostal I met for the third time the Belgian couple, Chris and Luc, and we did a number of walks together and had most of our meals together. They are quite fun to be with. Also it is quite easy to hook up with other people, as everybody talks to each other and it’s a friendly atmosphere here.

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Comments

[barrygahan]

Can't wait for Vilcabamba and Izhcayluma...
...we're booked in there for Monday. I'm glad I've found all your blogs, they're very helpful for planning treks and climbs in Ecuador.

[Bonny]

Thanks. It´s very nice to hear that my entries are useful for other people. Let me know if you have any questions!