Walks from Vilcabamba - the Mandango trail

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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 small camera. We did not encounter any robbers, luckily, and in fact the only person we met was a farmer, towards the end of the hike.

We first had to walk down the road from the hostal for a kilometer or so, then pay a 1 USD entrance fee, and then walk up the hill to the first cross for about an hour. We first went through some fern tress, and then some other light vegetation, always with magnificent views over the village. Then there was a steep part down, followed by about a quarter circle around the Mandango and then a very steep part up the second summit. There was another cross here before, but somebody had thrown it down the hill. The hike then followed for a long time the ridge all the way around and we had beautiful views to all sides. It is so pretty there! There were also a number of steep parts, and we had to be very careful, as slipping would have meant falling down some hundred meters.

On the way back down to the road we lost our way a bit, as the description had not been very clear for that section. Anyway we soon found the way and got back home. By that time it was already very hot, and we happily jumped into the pool (except for Luc who is a bit shy of water).

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