Vilcabamba

When you´re looking down at the road and saying to yourself, ¨yeah, maybe if this dirt gives way it will only be about a fifty foot drop into that canyon over there, and maybe that river will break our fall and we´ll be alright.¨ Yes, when you´re saying this to yourself as the bus driver takes turns as though he´s on a motorcycle you begin to wonder if this was such a good idea. Needless to say the trip from Cuenca south to Loja was by far one of the most treacherous bus rides we´ve experienced thus far. I was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of the six hour ride leaning up against the window and praying the road would remain intact. As we travel farther and farther south I begin to wonder about certain things, for instance how a one way road just wide enough for our bus can somehow expand and serve as two way road that services trucks and buses heading in the opposite direction. Sometimes these things just seem incomprehensible, but for some reason they work out and it never ceases to amaze me that we´re still alive.

Arrived in the small mountain town of Vilcabamba sometime just past sunset last night. We managed to encounter a friendly Canadian traveler who directed us on a ten minute tour out of the village down some rocky pathways, across a river along a broken bridge to a nice hostel owned by a friendly Argentinian couple. We were thankful to have a nice place to rest and ended up going to bed just past ten. There is not much to say about Vilcabamba thus far as we have just arrived. The scenary is beautiful and the atmosphere very tranquil. It´s close to one of the national parks and a good place to embark on nature walks and bicycle tours into the forest. On the ride here I found the landscape a nice change of pace, beautiful mountainsides covered in pine trees and and dark green bushes. It reminded me of something from Arizona or New Mexico, and if it weren´t for your fellow Ecuadorian travelers I might have mistaken it for the US.

Tomorrow we embark on our journey across the Peruvian border. We´ve gained some insight on just where to head and how to go about it from some of the American and European travelers staying in our hostel. I look forward to venturing into unknown territory, but remain cautious of sketchy people and places. Ecuador is familar ground and relatively safe compared to some of South America´s poorer countries. So far we haven´t really experienced any troubles, but I realize this might not always be the case.

From Loja to Lima is a lengthy journey, which we plan to break up into several trips over a period of about five days. Although I´ve heard that once you reach the Pan American highway along the coast of Peru the traveling is fast and direct. We´re set to catch a plane ride from Lima to Cusco on the 26th, where we´ll be hiking the Inca trail to Machu Pichu for four days. Then Danny heads home and I´ll continue onward into Bolivia. Next entry you´ll be hearing from us in Peru, while we attempt to entertain ourselves on long grueling bus rides. It´s not all fun and games, much of the time traveling on a shoestring is ardous business.