Since I had been to Peru before and was eager to get to Ecuador, I went from La Paz all the way through Peru and into southern Ecuador in just a couple days. It was an exhausting myriad of taxis, shuttles, little buses and big buses, but it was cheap. Once I finally got to Vilcabamba, it was all worth it. This small town nestled in the mountains is the definition of tranquility. My room had a huge window with a view of the mountains and a church in the foreground and breakfast was served outside on a balcony with another beautiful view. The hiking was amazing if not a little scary on some of the high ridges.
After Vilcabamba I went up to the beautiful colonial city of Cuenca where I was given a tour by a local girl I met through the couchsurfing (CS) website I mentioned a while back. It´s my goal to use this site as much as possible over the remainder of my trip as its a great way to meet locals and to practice my Spanish.
After a short visit I made my way north to Riobamba for a CS-Ecuador meeting. About twenty of us from all over Ecuador and the world were hosted by a young Ecuadorian guy very enthusiastic to share his culture and beautiful country with fellow travellers. Over the weekend we tried many local delicacies including pig for breakfast (see photo) and had a couple great days of hiking in the area. The weirdest point of the weekend came when we made it to a mountain refugio on a local volcano and saw a plaque in memory of a group of climbers that had been killed in an avalanche fifteen years ago. Unbeknownst to most of us until that point, one of the me
n killed was the father of one of the guys we were with. Wow.
n killed was the father of one of the guys we were with. Wow.
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