Today we headed for Vilcabamba after a reluctant start on my part, I really liked the luxury of the hotel in Macara and apparently the croquettes at the restaurant were to die for and I wasn’t going to get to try them! Vilcabamba is supposed to be a bit of a hippy town full of expats from the States looking for a cheap place to spend their retirement. The food is supposed to be good and the towns dubious claim to fame is the longevity of it’s inhabitants. If nothing else it was reportedly a great place to relax for a few days and we needed it after 3 days of riding long days through the remainder of Peru fearing death on the roads at the hands of completely crazy drivers. Surprisingly they only have around six thousand deaths on the road a year!!
The roads in Ecuador seemed relatively empty and were perfectly formed through the tropical mountains. Paul and I leisurely rode to Vilcabamba, absolutely revelling in what we classed as motorcycle paradise, the corners were all beautiful sweepers twisting their way non stop for two hundred kilometres. We stopped for a few photographs, ice cream and lunch marvelling at the cleanliness of the country, so noticeable after Peru. How can two adjoining countries be so different!
We manage to find a hostal to stay in and safely park the bikes. It seemed to be some type of retreat. I spoke to an older guy sitting near the door to our room. He had what looked like a relatively new tattoo down the side of his face, all over his hands and chest. He informed me he was sitting outside a doctors rooms and was just resting after one of a series of intravenous vitamin c courses. He was detoxing and it had done him the world of good as he did have the beginnings of a cold and this had been stopped in it’s tracks but his wife who hadn’t had the treatment was suffering from the same cold. There were a lot of ageing people wandering around the gardens of he hostal and I was wondering where we had ended up.
After unpacking and showering we headed into the town centre to try to find a place yo eat. I felt a little self conscious as I was very, very straight looking compared to the old and young hippies roaming the streets and entering the vegan and vegetarian restaurants. As we wandered around I commented to Paul regarding the ever present smell of incense. I ran into a German lad and his girlfriend cooking on the side of the town square next to their DR650, we had seen them on the road just outside Vilcabamba. He was having trouble with his stator having changed it three times already, he thinks this may be the cause of him having problems with the spark and ignition of his bike. I merely gave him Niki and Motocars details in Sucre as he was heading that way, if he can’t fix it nobody can. Continuing on my wanderings I noticed the obligatory jewellery selling, of course bongo playing and guitar toting, I also caught snippets of conversations relating to health remedies, weed smoking, detoxing and a host of other alternative therapies.
Paul and I decided to eat at a restaurant serving falafels, kebabs and all sorts of foods other than pollo, the food was excellent. The waitress was interesting in that she had been a professional in the US, had opted for Ecuadorian citizenship. She did not agree with her countries politics nor way of life and was going to relinquish her US citizenship. She also told us there were around a thousand US citizens residing here due to the low cost of living, there was even gated communities and a country club. Nothing like escaping your own country, living in another country and trying to make it the same as what you left!!
Paul has also told me he is not feeling well. He has booked in to see the doctor tomorrow.
26th May
A relaxing day writing and staying at the hostal. Paul has been in to get treatment for his problem and we will leave for La Cuenca tomorrow.
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