Vilcabamba aka Gringobamba

Thursday, February 12th, 2015 Vilcabamba
Last night, our traveling companions in the van from Cuenca, Randy and Michelle from Toronto, took a cab from their hotel and joined us at the Izhcayluma Restaurant here for dinner. We showed them around and then enjoyed a tasty dinner and enjoyable conversation for several hours. We were actually out past 9pm, which is quite an event for us. Good people and a good time.
This morning we slept in until 8:30. All this holidaying is tiring. The buffet breakfast here closes at 10 so as long as we get there before then, we're all set. The granola, yogurt and fruit here is a nice change from the standard scrambled eggs, cheese and fruit we get at other hotels, although that's not a big complaint.
After breakfast, Anita did her laundry duty. We have a great spot for our clothesline, which we always carry, on our balcony. Then we walked the 2 km down into Vilcabamba. It's a pretty little town with the usual plaza in front of the church. Having a plaza, or park really, taking up a block right in the middle of each little town is a great idea. It's so nice to have big trees, flowers and benches right at the center of all the action. There are a lot of towns at home that could have benefitted from such foresight.

As we walked around and sat in the plaza, we became aware that we were seeing more expats than locals. There are travelers like us, travelers looking for future long-term stays and expats who live here. We talked to one expat couple from the southern US who have lived here for 4 years. They have a car, dog and presumably a house somewhere nearby. The expats here are all ages, not just pensioners, although there are lots of those. There are also young people, some with babies, who do anything they can to eke out a living here. It's possible to rent a house with water and electricity for $300 to $500 per month. Food is cheap and there are no heating costs. The weather is often described as "springlike" whatever that means. It seems to be about 25C every day, about 15C every night and a mix of sun, cloud and short showers. Living is easy.
We bought some beer, an avocado and a croissant in town. The croissant we ate in the plaza. The rest I schlepped back up the hill. It was a good walk but a little humid.
Back at our hotel, we chatted with a traveler from Oregon while we re-hydrated in the restaurant. He told us that he's learned that there are so many expats here that the town has gotten the nickname "Gringobamba". Apparently some of them don't integrate at all since there's enough of a social scene among the expats. It seems a little strange but, since it's such a nice, cheap place to live, that's the way it is.