The last stop in Ecuador was Vilcabamba. A little pueblo in the middle of the mountains in the so-called valley of longevity. Aparently people live really old over there due to a combination of stable climate (very enjoyable) nice food and stress free life. It is also a hippy and old American nest. You can see loads of white haired Europeans and Americans with large colorfull trousers wandering around the main square. It is one of these places where people come for a couple of days and end up staying for 5 years in a community.
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| Vilcabamba main square |
We stayed in a camping, very basic, but very cheap populated with a mix of travellers and long stayers who seemed to have a particular taste for aguardiente (strong cane based alcohol) but nonetheless very nice.
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| Home |
The life was pretty relaxed there with quite a lot of reading by the river, some internet catch up and a few hikes.
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| Sunset by the river |
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We hike up the mandango, a mountain that looks like an indian lying down, in the hope to find a take off, but the slopes were too steep and the wind gusts definitely too strong. However we didn't regret our hike and enjoyed some stunning views of the valley.
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| The Mandango |
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| Vilca and the valley |
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| Geo and the valley |
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| Ready for the last push up the indian's face |
We did another good hike into the podocarpus national park to go see a big waterfall. We got absolutely soaked.
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| Fairy chimney |
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| Heading towards podocarpus |
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| Tree with bromelias |
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| Bath time |
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| River crossing |
After 5 days in hippy central we felt like it was the right time to leave if we didn't wanted tofind ourselves in a few years time with the same large trousers and weird music instruments as the others. So we headed to Peru via a dirt track in the high mountains.
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