Blogs from Vilcabamba, South, Ecuador, South America - page 11

Hola amigos y familia, Well I am in Loja about to leave on a nine hour bus ride to Piura, PERU!! Finally a new country! Arriving early tomorrow morning the plan is to continue along to the coast for a much...well NEEDED isn´t the word.... nor is deserved, maybe....-wanted- dip in the ocean. For the last two days I have been in Vilcabamba post carnivale to experience why exactly it is known as the most desirable retirement town in south america. And experience that I did. The town seems to settle into a very slow but productive pace. Slow enough to stop and say hello to the fellow townsmen that everyone seems to know but fast enough to make it feel like there is lots going on. Also the town is flanked by gorgeous mountains on ... read more

Hola, Well it has been a very exciting week or so with lots to report although I don't really have enough time to type it all. After spending a night in Loja, a charming university city towards the south of Ecuador. Enjoying it but not loving it, I left the next day for Vilcabamba, where I am now, possibly the most gorgeous place I have ever been. After spending a night drinking rum with a nice, but quirky, British lady I stumbled back to my amazing hostel about a ten minute walk out of the small town. The next day, the first day of Carnivale, I moved to another hostel to meet up with some friends and to test out my new watergun, nicknamed Terminator. After settling in, Eva and a new friend Ory and I ... read more

Out of Peru and into Ecuador. We had intended to miss Ecuador entirely, thinking it was small enough to make a separate trip on a different trip further into our dotage (no comments please). But somehow we had seen enough of Peru and Ecuador was in the way between us and Columbia, and therefore needed to be explored some. So we make a break for the border, leaving Claire’s mum in Lima for her own tour and flying way north to Tumbes to cross over. Upon leaving the airport we meet a friendly guy called Walter who promptly ripped us off for a significant sum of dollars. Due to intense embarrassment and probably blame on my part I am not prepared to divulge the amount or the details of this scam, suffice to say we weren’t ... read more

My time in The Valley was like nothing else I have experienced on my trip to date (and that is all I ask of each new destination). I arrived at the secluded hostel feeling broken and tired but still able to smile happily at the sweet girl who checked me in. I explained that I was sleep-deprived and manic from the buses and she took this as her cue to transform into Florence Nightingale, helping me with my bags and hurrying me into the restaurant so that I could eat before they closed for the night. I thanked her and waited for my menu. Looking around I could see why this place had been so highly recommended to me. (I decided to come here after a Cuba-Libre-conversation with a cool couple in Cusco who had raved ... read more