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Published: April 20th 2011
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Dessert
Had to take a picture of this one. This is the dessert that I got while we were in Loja. Who knew that peaches, whipped cream and a lady finger could look so perverted. My class schedule requires me to work on Saturday, so I have Friday and Sunday off. This is great, but when you don’t get two consecutive days off it can be difficult to go anywhere outside of Cuenca. Well, because of the holiday in Cuenca we had both Sunday and Monday off. So, my roommate and another teacher decided to go to a town called Vilcabamba for the weekend. We were told that Vilcabamba was about a four hour bus ride and that it was a gorgeous town with plenty of places to hike.
Well, we took a four hour and a half hour bus ride, but that only got us to Loja. At this point it was about 8:30 and we were afraid that if we got on another bus we might not be able to find a place to stay for the night. So we made the decision to stay the night in Loja. Once we checked into the least sketchy hostel we could find, we decided to look for some dinner. Literally the only places we could find open were two hamburger restaurants. I leave the States, and still all I can find to eat are hamburgers.
After dinner we went back to the hostel and decided to go to bed so that we could wake up early and head straight to Vilcabamba. Well, one of my traveling partners decided to talk about his complete knowledge about bed bugs and how terrible they were. On top of that, when we looked at the sheets, they were covered in stains. So we all decided to sleep on the outside of our covers that night and between being cold and thinking about bed bugs, none of us got much sleep. In the morning we decided to get some coffee first thing and then head out. We searched for about an hour for a place with coffee. Most places were closed because it was Sunday, but if it was open all they had was Nescafe. Nescafe is this terrible tasting sour type if coffee that is really popular in most of South America. No amount of sugar or milk can make it taste any better. Anyway, we gave up and decided to at least get some breakfast. Well, with our lack of Spanish we managed to order warm milk and deep fried eggs. All in all, I am not a
huge fan of Loja. Maybe if I was there on different circumstances and if half of the restaurants were open it might be better, but I am definitely not dying to go back.
After leaving Loja, it was only an hour and a half bus ride to Vilcabamba. However, this did make the journey there 6 hours and not the 4 hour bus ride we originally thought. As we drove into Vilcabamba we could immediately tell how beautiful it was. The entire town and the land surrounding it was green. When we got off of the bus we grabbed a taxi up to the hostel that fellow teachers suggested. I could not believe my eyes when we got the hostel. It looked like a tropical paradise. There was a pool and little trails made out of stone that lead through the tropical plants to the different rooms. To top it off, the hostel was up on a hill overlooking the entire town. After we got over the initial shock of how beautiful it was we decided to check in. Well, there were no rooms available. No more paradise for us.
Well, after talking to the hostel owner (a German man)
about another possible place to stay, we settled on El Jardin (The Garden). Once we were inside this hostel, in the middle of downtown Vilcabamba, we realized that it was also very beautiful. Not as majestic as the first one, but it was very nice. After our traveling and all of our mishaps we decided to go to the nearest convenient store and buy some beer, a bottle of rum and some juice. Then we went back to the pool at our hostel and did not move until it got dark.
Later that night we ran into two guys at our hostel. One man was from Germany and the other was from Ireland. We talked for about two hours before a guy from France walked past and then decided to join our conversation. The group of us sat talking until about 1:00am. I think this was probably my favorite part of the trip to Vilcabamba. Each of us was there for a different reason, but all very much enjoying Ecuador.
The next day, we got up and decided to go on a hike. We followed signs towards hiking trails, but we never actually found any hiking trails so we decided
View
This is from the hostal we wanted to stay at. :) to try to find this river that someone had mentioned the night before. We walked for about a mile before we found the river. Then we decided to walk up the river to search for a good swimming hole. Well, I am pretty sure that we walked on private property since we were having climb under barbed wire and over fences, but we found a sweet place to get into the river. The water was freezing, but it felt great since we had not showered in three days and were really sweaty from walking around trying to find a hiking trail.
After we got back from the hike we went and checked out of our hostel and got back on the bus that went back to Cuenca. Six hours later we were back in Cuenca. I was much more relaxed after our trip, but I was also really tired after all of the different obstacles we went through and the huge sunburn that I got from hiking without sunscreen. Tip: When you are really close to the sun you get burnt really easy, even if it is cloudy out. Lesson learned.
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anonymous
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We should make a movie out of your trip to Ecuador. haha I have never laughed so hard manda. BTW I don't think it's a good idea to crawl under barbwire fences in a third world country. I know you wanted a good swimming hole but come on!! Also when dad and I come I will bring you some instant coffee. That way if you travel all you need is hot water. P.s your roommate looks very nice. Can't wait to meet her. Skype ya soon:):) Go Blazers Love Jamie