Last stop in Ecuador was Vilcabamba, a village that sits in a valley surrounded by hills. It´s a tourist magnet for Ecuadorians and gringos alike. It first caught the attention of the outside world when Readers Digest published an article claiming that Vilcabambans enjoyed a considerably higher than average life expectancy with a very low incidence of cardiovascular health problems. Soon VC was touted as "the valley of longevity" or "the valley of eternal youth" as international investigations unearthed a string of people claiming to be 120 or 130. More rigorous studies revealed the claims to be wildly exaggerated!
We checked into "The Hidden Garden Hotel" & then did some reconnaissance. We found that there wasn´t much to see in the village itself. The following day we set off to climb Mandango Mountain (The Sleeping Inca) but a local told us of a robbery that had taken place two days previously where 6 tourists were held at gunpoint. Based on this we went to Rumi Wilco nature reserve instead, it was a good choice. The park had well laid out trails & on entry we got a map with info on the flora & fauna of the area. The downside was that it was just coming up on midday & the sun was high & bright! As we hiked up to the highest point in the park (ridge trail 3) we were baked in the sun. It did however provide amazing views all around the valley.Oh, & we should mention that as we were about to start the trek we bumped into Peter & Carol - who´s stalking who here?? They were just commencing their long motorcycle ride to the Peruvian border.
That evening we followed the route they were taking on an overnight bus followed by a day bus to Trujillo. Another border crossing that went smoothly ..... except that we had to wait 90 minutes for the "24 hour border crossing office" to open at 4am. The immigration guy was on a power trip, as he tapped his pen to the beat of some cr*p music on his radio, in between he provided us with an exit stamp (in a completely innapropriate place) in our passports.
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