The
last instalment ended in a bit of a hurry so let me take some time to tell you
about the excellent place we’re staying in during our first 3 nights in a new
country. Le Rendez-Vous Hostal
Guesthouse (French owned you may have guessed) is pushing the boundaries of our
accommodation budget but believe me its money well spent. Our spacious, en suite (oodles of hot water),
clinically clean, secure room complete with private balcony including hammock
plus breakfast (homemade bread) thrown in is costing us $30 a night. The cabana style rooms are set in lovely
gardens and we can see hills all around. I’ve not finished; there is a water
fill service, the rooms are spruced up each day, there’s heaps of travel
information lying around, laundry and hand washing facilities. All-in-all just the sort of place we’d love
to have and to top it all off there’s a resident cat. In fact the cat has just
wandered by to meow hello but it’s got a bit of a Parisian attitude to it! We’ve stayed in some wonderful places over
the last couple of months but we felt this place deserved a special mention. http://www.rendezvousecuador.com/index.php?page=hotel&lng=eng
So
what about Vilcabamba; it’s a very small, incredibly quiet, pretty little town
that has more than its fair share of ex-pats / hangers on residing in it. That said; we can readily understand why
people would want to stay as it’s a cracking little place with just enough
places to stay and eat with enough to do and see in the surrounding area. We’ve contented ourselves with utilising the
room and balcony as much as possible so have been self-sufficient for
lunches. However last night we parked
ourselves on one of La Terazza’s tables overlooking the main square and tucked
into a Mexican feast. All the food was
excellent and the portions were huge resulting in us ordering more food than
strictly necessary. It’s been at least a
week since we’ve had a really good, tasty feed so it was well worth the
splurge. Although in actual fact at less
than $20 including a beer each we’d found it great value for money. The only way they could improve on what we
had would be to remember to buy and include the jalapenos that were listed on
the menu description – but I’m nit-picking.
At the other end of the price scale we popped to Papaya Café near the
bus station and were served a tasty plate of chicken, rice, yucca and salad for
just $1.50.
It
hasn’t all been lounging around stuffing our faces and I’m sure you’ll have
noticed from photographic evidence that we’ve both put on too much weight. We just don’t seem to be able to get out of
holiday mode and it’s so nice sitting somewhere pleasant supping a tall cool
one. It’s now reached the point where
clothes are beginning to feel uncomfortable, and there’s no room in the budget
for garment shopping, so we’re going on a health kick. Well we’re going to cut out the beers and do
more trekking. Vilcabamba has proved to
be the perfect place to wake up our trekking legs and lungs. The guesthouse
we’re in furnished us with a map and details of some shorter walks worth doing
in the area. Here’s the best bit; you
don’t need a guide so they are free except for a $2 donation towards a small
reserve.
Yesterday
afternoon we went to Rumiwilco Reserve which is located just to the north of
town. Basically someone owns this huge
plot of land and has added a few basic cabins and made trails around the rest
of the property. As you enter you leave
$2 in an honesty box, pick up a map and information booklet and self-guide
yourself around a variety of trails.
It’s not an extensive reserve but it has a river running along one side,
gulleys you can walk up and ridge walks to take you to the top of a steep bluff
for views overlooking the town and surrounding hills. The only problem with one of the ridge routes
is that you have to briefly cross over into the neighbour’s cattle land and
should you encounter him you’ll be met with a wrath of fury. Other than that we enjoyed spending a couple
of hours in there and used most of the trails.
The owner has also gone to the trouble of naming and labelling many of
the plants too.
The
following morning we set off on the longest and most challenging (though still
in the easy category) walk described, namely; Waterfall del Plato. To begin with headed out of town in an easterly
direction and popped into a book exchange place on the edge of town. They have a reasonable selection including
travel guides in a range of languages with some tomes for borrowing only. We swapped ours plus $2.50 and Steve now has
something to read again –phew!
Anyway
we followed the road out of town, pottered along a track for a couple of
kilometres until we reached and crossed a bridge marking the beginning of the
walk up to the waterfall. We walked
steadily uphill for a while and then the gradient lessened as we walked through
cattle pastures. You go through several
gates until reaching one that is locked.
Our instructions said if anyone was around to pay $1 entrance fee but if
it was unmanned to climb under the barbed wire fence. The fence has been repaired reducing the gap
considerably so we got the message that the land-owner really didn’t want
people traipsing over his land. After
our run-in with an irate farmer the previous day we took the hint and simple
carried on along a trail that continued up the hill. About an hour after crossing the bridge we
found a look-out point and declared that the end of the walk. It had been a good little workout (about
12kms) and it was great to be walking in the hills again – even better that we
were on our own and could go at our own pace.
Vilcabamba doesn’t have jagged, snow-capped peaks but the autumnal
scenery is beautiful in a very different way.
All-in-all
a fantastic start to our exploration of Ecuador and we’re very much looking
forward to seeing more with walking and trekking featuring high on the
list. Obviously there’s the highlight of
the Galapagos to look forward to but I’m trying not to get too excited too
soon!
