February 6th-8th 2015

From the coast I headed back to Cuenca where I spent the better part of two days on Camera detox, something I think I really needed, and I know my brother agrees. Either way I met some more wonderful people at Mallki hostel and enjoyed seeing the dogs and cats again. I visited a sprawling market where few gringo’s tread and enjoyed a delicious meal carved from a full hanging pig while also buying some replacement shoelaces which proved quite fun. But before too long I was standing outside ) La Cigale hostel waiting for a shuttle bus to Vilcabamba, my final Ecuadorian destination, at least for now.

The shuttle is run by Izhcayluma hostel, billed as a backpackers resort, and the new minibus from the center of Cuenca cuts about 2 hours off your journey time and cost 15 dollars (likely about 4-5 dollars more than the bus taxi combination would cost) that said, for me at least it was worth it.

Our driver Guillermo is friendly and about ten minutes late at 1:40 we we’re pulling out and onto the road for still more stunning mountain scenery. Only four people use the shuttle today, though more had booked and not shown up.  Myself, a wonderful british lady, and a charming american couple, although they were Packer fans. Still, it’s great and very much worth the few extra dollars. The bus is spacious, the ride is smooth and we’re able to stop whenever we need, plus it leaves myself and a very nice British woman right at reception of Izhcayluma located just about 1.5 kilometers outside of Vilcabamba proper, up in the mountains with beautiful views.

As we walk into the sprawling property it certainly seems more resort than hostel, and when we’re shown to our dorms that assessment doesn’t change as we each have a spacious and comfy double bed in a 2 levelled cabin holding 5 people. We eat dinner that night at the in house German restaurant which is very tasty but pricey (5 dollar pasta, 8 dollar pizza, 7 dollar stroganoff and so on) and I go to sleep thinking I’m going to love Vilcabamba.

Those late night thoughts unfortunately turn out to be quite wrong, and personally Vilcabamba ends up being my least favourite place in Ecuador (though not entirely without beauty and merit.) I want to be clear, me not liking a place should not discourage you from going too much, as most everyone else seemed to truly love this little town in the valley of longevity (people are said to regularly live to over 100), and I’m sure there are many enjoyable things to do. Most people extend their stay in Vilcabamba. Some never leave. For me that was the problem.

The town is overrun by Gringo’s and it just bugged me the whole time. It’s summed up perfectly by my experience having lunch at Charlito’s, A gringo run eatery with great food, but at 1 pm on a Sunday I did not particularly enjoy hearing three gringo men getting loaded and complaining about everything and everyone in Ecuador. It was loud, misogynistic, very stereotypically American, and frustrating to keep from saying anything. I should be clear that this is not an indictment on Charlito’s as the food was very very good and pretty reasonably priced too. But it was just the breaking point of my experience in Vilcabamba which is being aggressively marketed as the place in Ecuador for Gringo’s to come and live for cheap. But this is all very judgmental on those people which probably isn’t fair, as I don’t know them. Still hearing them rail against Ecuadorian women, their neighbours and life in Ecuador in general was endlessly frustrating. “Go get drunk back home then.” I bit my tongue but it just kind of summed up the feeling of Vilcabamba.

In a taxi with a local man I asked him what he thought of this gringosization of his home and he shrugs explaining that it’s good for his work, but bad for just about everything else. Kind of like Banos, I don’t get why people love this place so much. That said there’s beautiful mountains, lots of great hiking opportunity and plenty of friendly locals and Izhcayluma is a fantastic place to stay as a resort type place. It’s not like I didn’t have fun in Vilcabamba, just that it wasn’t that great,  Lots of pretty plants though.

But let’s dwell on the good times. My second night at Izhcayluma we made good use of their ping pong table playing until about 1 in the morning with a whole group of different people, all pretty damn good. I finished the night covered in sweat and blood (slippery floor) but feeling like there was only one person there who was better than me. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t beat him. I also enjoyed wandering through the vast grounds of the resort looking at beautiful flowers, buzzing birds both humming and otherwise, and swimming in their grotto style pool.   Best of all was the view from the restaurant though.

The owners and staff were also kind enough to help me decide which way to cross into Peru, an interesting and off the beaten path route through the Andes mountains involving 1 bus, 1 taxi, 1 minibus, 2 collectivos, 4 tuk tuk’s and 2 whole days travel.