We’ve had a busy two weeks since our last posting, and were cut off from the internet (how horrible!) for a time. In summary, we had a 4 day break from classes July 20-23, which we spent traveling to Vilcabamba, staying at the Izhcayluma Hostel, and then back to Cuenca for classes. This weekend we took two local trips, to Cueva de Chobshi (an early habitation site) and to the Ingaprica ruins of Cañari & Inka origins. On Sunday we encountered our first real rainy day since our arrival. We’re now in our last week in Ecuador and its sunny and warm again.
We had learned about Vilcabamba from our travel guide books. It has a reputation for the longevity of its inhabitants, and has become a mecca for both hippies and ex-pats with large homes in the fertile valley area. It appealed to us because it’s at a lower elevation and thus warmer than Cuenca. The hotel we stayed at, Izhcayluma, was rated highly by the books and other recommendations, and it met our expectations.
After narrowly avoiding (by less than a minute) being stuck in our Cuenca building’s elevator by a power failure (which reportedly lasted hours) as we left early Friday morning, we took a 3-passenger taxi-van South along the Pan American highway to the city of Loja, about a 4 hour drive through several mountains and valleys. In Loja we quickly transferred to another taxi which took us directly to Izhcayluma. For the two of us, the first leg was $24, and the second leg was $20, arriving around 3pm.
Izhcayluma is about 10 minutes outside of Vilcabamba, but we were delayed about 20 minutes by road construction where they we laying out a new stretch of concrete highway to complete a link to the Peru border. Izhcayluma is owned by Germans and has lush gardens, a pool, a bar and wi-fi. We were given a nice room, at $45/night including breakfast, in a cottage with a private deck overlooking a hillside and a hammock. The hotel has an open-sided dining pavilion with views of the Vilcabamba valley and serves a delicious menu with choices of Ecuadorian and German dishes. It was warm enough that we left the door to our room’s deck open all night, but it seemed to have a constant breeze with strong gusts from time to time.
Street food in Vilcabamba
We walked down to the Vilcabamba village on Saturday, a pleasant stroll through neighborhoods of small houses and gardens of banana trees and other tropical treats. One patio was covered with coffee beans drying in the sun. The village itself is about 6 blocks by 8 blocks, seemingly consisting of vacant houses on the outer perimeter and most activity and businesses centered around the town square. Several of the food establishments were apparently owned by ex-pat Americans, and there were several Americans (hippies and others) hanging around in a very relaxed atmosphere. We had pizza & beers at one place run by a Mexican who had gone to high school in Boston.
Dining at Izhcayluma
Sunday John took one of the recommended hiking routes around the perimeter of Vilcabamba valley, along a dirt road which became a narrow trail that followed an irrigation canal. It had beautiful views of the valley and included dodging lounging cattle and grazing horses. Jessie stayed at Izhcayluma with her computer, taking advantage of the wi-fi. We had a great meals Sunday night of chicken strogonoff & roast chicken with pineapple (about $15 each with wine).
Mid-morning Monday we took a taxi to Loja (shared 3-ways for $15 total) which dropped us off at the bus terminal where we immediately boarded a bus ($15 for both of us) with reserved seats. The bus was comfortable but crowded, and Jessie shared her seat with a woman & young child who traveled about 2 hours before getting off in a village. Time to Cuenca was about 4.5 hours.
Back to school on Tuesday morning followed by an energetic one-hour Salsa lesson Tuesday night, which about did us in. We had a couple of lunches at El Tunel during the week, a local place which serves very tasty 3-course meals (fixed menu almuerzo) for $2.25 each with quick and efficient service.
On Friday the school held a special event, with the students and teachers presenting the various features and dress of the 4 regions of Ecuador: the Amazon basin, the Andes, the coastal areas and the Galapagos islands. It was great fun for all, and Jessie’s team won 1st prise for their Amazon presentation.
Jessie, Laura & Ann at la escuala Simon Bolivar
Afterward, Jessie & I visited the Museo Del Banco Central, aka Pumapungo, which has informative displays of the earliest habitation of the region (from about 1500 bc) through the Cañari and Inka and early colonial periods. It also has displays of typical ethic groups of the 4 regions of Ecuador. The museum is situated on a large Cañari & Inka temple mound, and the grounds include old foundations and a terraced hillside, a well-maintained garden area with typical
Toucan at Pumapungo
plants and agriculture, as well as an aviary (since the Inkas also had one on the site) featuring toucans, several types of parrots, large parakeets and buzzard-eagles.Saturday, under threatening skies, we went on a school-arranged bus trip to an early cave habitation site called Cueva de Chobshi dating from before 1500 bc, and a Cañari (pre-Inka) fortress. The fortress was situated on a bluff high above a river in a beautiful countryside and had many stone artifacts scattered around the area.
On Sunday we went on an AHI-arranged tour to Ingaprica, a temple used first by the Cañari and then by the conquering Inkas, with examples of both styles of construction. On the way we stopped by a roadside vender for some typical roasted pork skins and boiled corn. Then we stopped at the Sactuario de la
Sactuario de la Virgen del Rocio
Virgen del Rocio (Sactuary of the Virgin of the Dew) built on an Cañari and Inka temple site integrated onto a stone hillside high above the town of Biblian.
We arrived at Ingaprica in a steady rain, and found it an intriguing site that was belatedly preserved starting about 40 years ago. Before that some of its stones were used to help build the newer town near-by, so some of the current structures on the site are reconstructed. Nevertheless, it shows the transition of the two types of usage and the distinctive Inka precision stone construction.
Inka temple at Ingaprirca
After a wet and cold day amble about the site, especially uncomfortable since we were at about 10,000 ft, thankfully the trip included a great 3-course lunch in a nearby old farm-house-turned hostel.
On the Go with John and Jessie 