Ooh I went to my first salsa club, La Mesa, in Cuenca! It was so exciting! Okay, so I can't dance salsa...but one of the waiters who works at the hostel we were staying at came (followed by the other two when the restaurant closed at 12) and we sort of passed. He can salsa, I can move my hips thanks to those 8 bellydancing classes I took, so he would spin me and somehow we made it work ;) Salsa is very exciting, very fun, great music! Definitely doing that again soon.
So the next morning me, the two Germans I'm rooming with, and 2 other European girls took off to the bus station at 11 for six or seven hours on the bus, which actually was very comfortable and zipped by. At 6 we arrived in Vilcabamba, a small, peaceful town which is usually backpackers' last stop before they cross into Peru.
We're staying at this totally RIDICULOUS hostel for $10/person/night. You wouldn't believe me if I told you what it was like, which I intend on doing;
Entrance: A huuuuuge long driveway up stone paths through leafy green plants, flowers, bright orange birds, and papaya trees.
Restaurant: Open-air, huge and spacious, buffet-style breakfast included in the room price, good selection, with bamboo roof, the best view ever of mountains, Vilcabamba, forest
Bar: Open-air, pool table, darts, couches, hammocks, cheap caipiriñas, my favorite drink since my second night in town (made from cachaca and muddled lime and cane sugar)
A fountain leading under bridges into a big pool (nestled, of course, within flowers and trees, looking out into the mountains). Massages from $12-20/hour. Free bike use since it's 2 km South of town.
I think maybe millionaires built this place, then decided that they didn't care about profit, because this is a resort. A resort hostel. It's completely insane.
The walk into town (my legs hurt way too much from hiking to bike) was stunning, too! Green mountains everywhere, cars would wave as they drove by, I wandered by a patch of land with dozens upon dozens of yellow dragonflies, and there are butterflies everywhere!
So we're here for 3 nights, and THANKFULLY one of the girls I'm with told me on the bus she's crossing into Peru on Sunday night. TA DA! We talked, and now my problem of being scared to cross the border alone is a non-issue :) That makes me really happy since I was terrified to do it! So now today consists of making a phone call, interneting, swimming, doing laundry (it's been 2 weeks now in the same 2 pairs of pants and same 2 tshirts...time to wash), and being incredibly lazy in the sunshine surrounded by the best mother nature has to offer me.
