After
experiencing Carnaval once the first year we spent in Salinas, every year after
we have escaped to explore another part of Ecuador. The first escape we spent a
month in Cuenca
http://uwepetrastravelyear.blogspot.com/2013/02/february-1-to-7-first-week-back-in.html
The second
year we spent two weeks visiting Mindo
http://uwepetrastravelyear.blogspot.com/2014/03/february-23-to-28-our-trip-to-mindo.html
Otavalo and
area
http://uwepetrastravelyear.blogspot.com/2014/03/february-28-to-march-4-our-trip-to.html
And Ibarra
along with a train ride to the other Salinas.
http://uwepetrastravelyear.blogspot.com/2014/03/march-4-to-march-7-trip-to-ibarra.html
This year we
were going for one week visiting Cuenca, Vilcabamba and Loja. As well, this
year for the first time we would be travelling with friends, Kathy & Bill,
Connie & Murray and Lee.
Early Friday
morning, five of us( Connie & Murray were meeting us in Cuenca on Saturday)
took 2 taxis to the Santa Elena bus station in order to take the bus to
Guayaquil where we had arranged to meet our van driver, Javier, who would take
us the rest of the way to Cuenca. Javier was right on time with a 7 person late
model van with lots of room for our luggage.
The first
part of our trip was uneventful, except for a road closure due to an accident,
causing us to have to take a slight detour. And of course, per usual, it was
raining.
Once we were
into the Cajas park, the sun came out and we got to see the awesome scenery.
Uwe and I had done this leg of the trip many times but Kathy & Bill had
never been to Cuenca so for them it was a first and luckily Mother Nature
provided good weather.
The hotel we
stayed at in Cuenca was called Cuenca Suites and rated a 10 by all of us.
Huge rooms
with modern bathrooms and a small kitchenette
And a pretty
central courtyard
We walked
the few blocks to Calderon Park exploring Cuenca’s pretty streets and churches
along the way.
Next day our
friends took the 2 decker sight seeing bus for a trip around Cuenca. We had
done this trip many times before so opted to walk around Cuenca’s downtown
neighborhoods instead. We had also made plans to meet our friends who lived in
Cuenca for lunch and after for a beer in a new Brew pub ( those of you who know my
husband know he LOVES Brew Pubs).
Later in the
afternoon the seven of us met up again at yet another Brew Pub- life doesn’t
get any better than that LOL
The next day
Javier picked all 7 of us up for our next leg of the journey, this time +3
hours south to Vilcabamba. The scenery was amazing- mountains, green meadows,
curvy good roads, little villages, a must do on everyone’s list.
Half way to
Loja, we stopped at the little town of Ona in order to pay a visit to the
Tequila farm & factory that we had read about.
http://cuencahighlife.com/ecuadors-tequila-maker-artisanal-distiller-angel-salvador-produces-world-class-aguardiente-de-agave-in-a-dessert-valley-south-of-cuenca/
There were
no signs on our road but I recognized the entrance from the description in the
article. The place where the tequila was sold (not called tequila here but made
organically from local agaves) was very
small and owned by the wife of the producer.
She gave
each of us a taste test- maravilosa!- and we all bought several bottles ($16 )
including our driver Javier!
Our whole group outside the Tequila sales place
For lunch we
stopped at a very pretty restaurant/bakery/shop owned by indigenous people. We
had a great meal of the local trout and spent some time shopping in their
stores.
They had some amazing wood work
We finally
arrived at our destination, Vilcabamba. We had heard about Vilcabamba for
years, the valley of longevity, lots of old age hippies etc etc. Well, first of
all, it is very small, just a few commercial streets, but surrounded by the
most incredible scenery consisting of green mountains, valleys, and waterfalls-
stunning. As for those old hippies, hmmm, I do believe we saw two maybe smoking
up at some street corner LOL, And instead of many old people that we had been
led to believe lived here- nada- must have been hiding the days we were there.
We stayed at the Hotel Descanses de Rames here- a hotel with awesome grounds but with much room renovation to do. I would
maybe recommend it in a year or two, once the rooms and plumbing are upgraded.
A very nice lobby but......
Now back to exploring Vilcabamba-The lovely
town square & church
Lots of
local artisans with some beautiful stuff for sale
Some of the
streets- very clean
We had a
great dinner in one of the local restaurants- highly recommend- run by a woman
from Belgium- called Jardin Escondido
Two days
later we took two taxis- we were a crowd of 7- to Loja for the last part of our
trip.
Loja was a
huge surprise! Very pretty, clean and much larger than I had thought.
We stayed at
Hotel Ramses , which we found out later
was owned by the same man as our hotel in Vilcabamba! This hotel was in much
better shape, old and distinguished though their breakfast, especially the ugly
coffee, left much to be desired.
The
beautiful common area
Our
breakfast room
We arrived
in Loja on Fat Tuesday of Carnaval and expected great crowds of people but the
city was absolutely deserted! Where was everyone? Salinas ? LOL So we really
had escaped Carnaval- perfecto!
Some of the
pretty city scenes
Though we
had some trouble finding even a restaurant open for lunch and dinner, we
definitely enjoyed the tranquilo of Loja during what was a noisy Tuesday back
home on the beach.
The next day
we took the city tourist bus to check out the rest of town.
We saw some
beautiful scenery
And were
very impressed with the cleanliness and architecture of this city.
We also
explored some of the river paths- very nice
Our last
lunch all together before going home.
The original
five of us had decided to fly back from Loja to Guayaquil rather than endure a
7 hour bus or van ride. Connie & Murray were going to spend some additional
time in Loja & Cuenca.
While
waiting at the Loja airport coffee shop( very nice airport by the way, maybe 45
minutes away by car) first I, then Bill and Lee were called down to security.
Seems those pesky Tequila bottles safely wrapped in our luggage looked
suspicious! After we opened our suitcases and showed security that these were
only local Tequila bottles- gave the local distributor a good recommendation-
we were allowed to put them back in, close our suitcases and be on our way.
Our flight
back was short- hardly time to go up and down- half hour plus- and thus ended
this year’s escape from Carnaval at the beach!
