Vilcabamba Ecuador

Hey...Hey...Hey... How is everyone doing? I guess it's been awhile since I've been out here making any new posts to the blog. One reason for my absence is that I got that altitude sickness again in Cuenca and had zero energy. The other reason; internet just isn't that reliable in some places. We are now in Vilcabamba. (that's a mouth full; took me a couple of times to spell it correctly, too) We've been here 3 full days now and it is amazing. I will blog about Cuenca on the next post. This city is worth writing about too. I just fell behind in my blogging. Sorry. From Cuenca we took a 4 1/2 hour bus ride south to a city called Loja. We were originally going to spend the evening here and head into Peru the next day but once again our plans changed. We had heard about Vilcabamba and thought it would be worth a visit. So, we boarded another bus out of Loja and Vilcabamba is only another 1 1/2 hrs south. Vilcabamba (I really like this word; can you tell?) claims to have residents over 120 years old. There's definitely a mystical and powerful feel here. The town is very slowed paced, relaxing and has some breathtaking views. There are tons of marked trails for hikes taking anywhere from 3 up to 8 hours to hike. Some trails lead to amazing waterfalls, other trails are for the more adventurous with steep climbs. Which trail did we take? None of them! We chose the spa route. Yes, even Bob had a few hours of pampering. I was so exhausted from Cuenca and the higher altitude, I need some down time to regroup. Bob spent a lot of time researching other destinations and the route to Machu Picchu/Peru. Which is another reason to kick back and relax. We'll be moving into some of the highest elevation of our journey. Woohoo! We stayed at this wonderful Hosteria & Spa called Izhcayluma. Pronounced eesh-ka-lú-ma, it's Quechua and means "Two Hills". The panoramic views are something to see and we spent a lot of time just staring abroad. Here's the website www.izhcayluma.com Their grounds are something to see. Hostels in Mexico, Central and now South America are nothing like back in the states. For us; it has been a fantastic experience. All the people we meet in the hostels are traveling the same routes we are. Some fellow travelers have come from the direction in which we are headed and they are more than happy to provide us with some fantastic insights, which we take to heart.

Here are some views from the restaurant area. We spend a lot of time hanging out here since WIFI is offered in this area. It's truly colorful as we watch the sun move across the mountain tops.

A little hard to tell from our picture, but the little town of Vilcambamba just downhill from our hosteria.

Now we weren't totally lazy; we did walk

into town to check out some sites.

The walk down was 35 mins. (easy)

For a small town they had a nice Town Square. Restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and internet cafes outlined the square. The park area was well maintained with a water feature in the middle.

OK, you know the saying "pictures just don't do it justice" Well, not the case here. This church looks beautiful here but it really wasn't.

Looks nice, doesn't it? It's really not that bad; just needs some work.

Here are some street views.

Really is a cute town.

Mountains surround the town.

Here's the police station.

Not much going on here.

Something to say for that.

A river runs thru the town as well.

Some days you will find a few locals washing their clothes.

We saw this cute donkey walking around town on his own.

This place does have tons of donkeys and horses.

In the mornings we were normally woken up by the Hee-Haw of a donkey. Annoyed Bob a little.

Brought a smile to my face. I'd rather hear that than a car alarm or someone honking.

The Man hard at work researching.

While all I do is socialize online. How does he put up with me?

Like I said, we did take in a few spa treatments.

This hosteria had a very cool setup. We were impressed.

Here I had the full body, facial and Reiki treatment Bob had the back massage, facial and Reiki as well.

What the hell is Reiki? We had no idea what we signed up for.

Reiki is a Japanese Technique for relaxation and healing.

It has something to do with "life force energy". Deep, huh?

If yours is low; more than likely to get sick and feel stress. When it is high; mood is happy and feeling very healthy.

Sound hoke?

Nah, man! I truly felt a huge difference. Like I said,

when I arrived I was down and out. I booked this treatment

the day after we arrived. I had so much energy and felt fantastic

afterwards. I was amazed.

Now Bob's experience. In his words, "it was OK". UGH! What's wrong with this boy? This was his first facial and didn't understand what the big deal is. He thought the Reiki was a crock and didn't feel any benefit from it. This was our masseuse. She was tiny but had some powerful hands.

But if by chance my masseuse, Ann Marie is reading this....

You truly are the ONE and ONLY. No one will ever come close to your healing hands.

Now this is the youngest bartender we've ever had.

She's 13 and from Alabama. Her family moved here 4 months ago and is in the process of building.

She apparently has been a great help to restaurants in the kitchen and did a good job behind the bar.

She's in the process of making me a Cuba Libra Nothing difficult but still needs to have the right balance.

I told her I would hire her if she wanted to move to the islands. You should have seen her eyes light up. She hopes to have her own business one day.

That concludes our travels in Vilcabamba. We're glad we ventured in this direction. We met some really nice folks and enjoyed the atmosphere here. Tonight we do plan to depart. We plan to leave the grounds around 8:30 p.m. and head back to Loja. There we'll board a bus to Peru. We'll have an 8 hour bus ride to a city called Piura. There we will change buses and head into Chiclayo. Should be a 3 hour bus ride from Piura. I am looking forward to the buses in Peru. We are told they are fantastic. You think flying first class is nice. We're told the bus is even more so. Stay tuned. We'll soon post our opinion on that topic. We're still a long way from Machu Picchu. But look forward to our ventures in Peru. We're going to miss this big guy too.

He belongs to the Hosteria.

Awesome dog!

We hope you enjoyed! Have a wonderful day.

Hugs to all - B&B