Banos and south to Vilcabamba

Hello all!
Last time we wrote we were in Latacunga, frowning about our failed mission to circumnavigate Cotapaxi. Things have much improved since then! After Latacunga, Dave, Emil and I headed south to Banos, a touristy town well known for their hotsprings and beautiful hikes. As we were packing up our things to get ready to catch our bus, we happened to open our guidebook and read that Banos is extremely crowded on weekends and during holy week (la santa semana). The weekend that we were planning to go was the weekend of holy week, but we thought we´d go for it anyway and called a hostel in advance just in case. Banos turned out to be absolute chaos! During holy week, banos turns into a huge ecuadorian destination spot, and people from all over the country come for easter to enjoy the hotsprings, relax, and view the statue of the virgin, one of the most well known in ecuador.
We decided the town was too crazy to hang out in all day and we rented bikes with Robin and Brett, two fellow Americans we met at our hostel, and rode a well traveled bike path in the direction of Puyo, stopping to take pictures and go swimming in a waterfalls along the way. It started raining heavily about halfway to Puyo (which was a 60 km bike ride), So we stopped in Rio negro, had lunch, and caught a bus back (getting our bikes underneath the bus was quite an endevor).
We also spent some time with some wonderful people from the farm who were taking a well deserved break in Banos from work. We were happy to catch Andrea (from Austria) and Pablo (from Argentina) playing music in the square. They had played for us at the farm, but this was the first time we saw how big of a crowd they can draw in to listen! Andrea plays the hong, a beautiful hand drum made in Switzerland, and she and Pablo have been traveling and playing music all over the world for over a year. We spent our last evening in Banos on the rooftop of our hostel playing music, cards, and cooking a huge meal for the 10 of us.
The next day Dave and I left for Vilcabamba, a little town on the southern tip of Ecuador that we heard we just couldn´t miss. Vilcabamba was the subject of many studies in the 60s, because it was found that a good number of people who are born and raised here live well past 100 years old. The studies concluded that the farming culture, climate, and clean air and water contributes to a particular vitality of the people here. Since the 60s, gringos have flocked to the area, setting up intentional communities, meditation centers, and organic farms. The trip turned out to be quite an ordeal, involving 5 different buses and a late night arrival in Cuenca, but we made it to Vilcabamba by mid afternoon on Monday. (Emil stayed an extra night in Banos, but promised to come down to Vilcabamba the next day)
When we arrived in Vilcabamba,Dave and I decided to splurge on a nice hostel with the nicest beds EVER and a hot shower with water pressure! Ahhh the luxury! Then, crazy things started to align for us. First, we ran into Nalasa, a 24 year old from Massachusetts who we had tried to contact via couchsurfing the week previous and had not heard back. Upon meeting us, she offered to host us for a few nights, and then remembered that her friend was out of town and that maybe we could stay at his house. She called her friend, and he was fine with this arrangement, and so we hiked out a mile from town to a little cabana on a hillside that overlooks all of Vilcabamba to stay the night. Nalasa just let us know today that her friend will not be back till this weekend, and if we help a bit around her cafe and cover his shifts,(she owns an organic cafe in town) we could stay a few more days! Not only did this wonderful blessing come our way, but Nalasa co-owns her cafe with a couple from the states who are in the process of constructing an intentional artisan and farming community about 5 miles from town. While having lunch at the cafe, we got to know them and it became quickly obvious that we clicked very well with them. They offered to have us up to their farm this weekend, and if we like what we see, they would like us to help them put together a volunteer program, as they have been looking to start one up, but have not yet found the right people to help. We are meeting up them today to discuss the conditions of some possible volunteer work! You can check out their website at gardenofparadise.net
It´s looking like we might be in this town a while. There are also lots of opportunities for hiking and volunteering with the local kids afterschool program, which we are very interested in. So, in short, aside from the sandflies, we find ourselves in paradise.
Be well all and we shall update again soon!

-Lilli:)



ready to ride!


waterfall!


dave and I, taking a break from the ride


views from the ride


intense riders


swimming in waterfalls, a good break from the bike ride


Andrea and Pablo making sweet music


Dave with Nalasa´s kitty:)


the sleeping loft, glad I brought my bug net


kitchen view of the cabana



The view from our cabana, drinking tea and burning pablo santo (local amzing incense!)