Cuenca to Vilcabamba

Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Yesterday, after breakfast we packed, got some money from an ATM and checked out at noon. It was only about 6 blocks to the Hostale Cigale where we were to be picked up by the shared van service taking us to Vilcabamba.
At 1:30 pm, right on schedule, our van left for Vilcabamba. The Toronto couple that we had talked to in our hotel were also travelling there in the van, but to a different hotel than us. There was also a Swiss woman traveling alone, and our driver Guillermo.
Guillermo seems to know the road pretty well and wasted no time. We traveled south through Loja and eventually to Vilcabamba by about 6 pm. We made 2 bathroom stops, which was quite civilized, and generally had a good trip with our traveling companions. At one point we were at 3,500 m elevation and gradually descended to 1,500 m at Vilcabamba. The 2 lane highway was in good shape but very steep up and down and very winding. There was hardly a straight 100m in the whole trip. For $15 each, it was a good deal for a 4 1/2 hour drive.

 There are often rainbows here.

Our hotel, Izhcayluma Hosteria, is set on a hill 2 km south of Vilcabamba. It's a series of stucco cabins run by a German expat. Everything is beautifully built and well maintained. We have a deluxe cabin, which was all they had available, for $59 per night. The bathroom is bigger than some hotel rooms we have had in Europe. We have 2 queen beds, a huge amount of space and our own 12 foot by 12 foot balcony with table, chairs and hammock, overlooking the mountains. Best room yet.

 The view into our cabin from the balcony shows our two beds and huge space.

Our bathroom and shower are handcrafted from stone.

The restaurant is also very good with both Ecuadorian and German food. Last night we went for German, including beer for $18 total. Excellent.
We don't get free breakfast but for $3.90 each we get the all-you-can-eat buffet of juice, coffee, yogurt, granola, fruit and toast. Very good and filling. This hotel has a relaxation and wellness theme so there are yoga classes at dawn, inexpensive massages, lots of hiking opportunities and delicious, wholesome food.
After breakfast, we climbed the hill on the hotel grounds, up a trail they have cut. It took us about 1 1/2 hours for the whole trip but we sat at a lookout at the top for quite a while.

From the restaurant there is a good view down into the town of Vilcabamba.

Everywhere we've been there are many different types of flowers and flowering trees. Gardeners would love Ecuador.

There is a big yoga studio here that is very beautiful.

Anita is admiring the scenery.

Our hotel pool is small but very nice.

This afternoon we had beer and fries at the restaurant (not that wholesome) and are just relaxing on our balcony. We're supposed to meet our Toronto traveling companions at our hotel restaurant for dinner at 6. I'll have to extract Anita from the hammock by then.