Travels with Libby: Ecuador!!

The Peruvian/Ecuadorian border:
It was super laid back. That guy in the blue shirt running is chasing down our bus. After being on the bus for like 5 hours I had to pee so bad, I paid 1 sol ( $ too much) for the filthiest, foulest-smelling toilet I have EVER seen.

Ecuador...from the bus window.

We´re now in Ecuador!! We got here, FINALLY, last night after a seemingly never-ending bus ride from Piura, Peru, across the border through Macara and finally into Vilcabamba. It ended up being about a 13-14 hour travel day. The bus wasn´t nearly as nice as the Peruvian buses we had been riding on. There were two "bus drivers," one who drove and the other toothless guy who alternated between doing bus driver things like securing luggage and putting on horrible movies like "Rambo," and staring at us and any other woman or young girl who was near him. They were really sleazy and I was relieved to finally get away from them after 12 hours of being gawked at. We stopped so much. Whenever sleazy guy number 1 or 2 wanted a coke or a little snack or whenever they wanted to pick up random people on the side of the road to get a little extra cash in their pocket, we stopped. The only good things about the ride were the Peruvian highschool wrestling team that was on the bus with us and the scenary. Ecuador is BEAUTIFUL! It´s so green and lush and mountainous and wonderful.

Part of the highschool wrestling team that, for some reason, wanted a picture with us in it. I, for I guess the same reason, wanted one too.

The lushness of Ecuador!

We arrived in Vilcabamba tired and hungry and ended up staying at a little residential hostel where this kooky lady showed us a tiny room with no windows and no fan and two beds. We were really tired and accepted the rooms for $4 a night. We ate dinner and then went to sleep.

Vilcabamba, Ecuador.

This morning I woke up breathing stale air and sweating. I hadn´t taken a shower since we were in Huanchaco, about 4 days ago, because the previous hostels we stayed at had atrocious bathrooms. So I was really ready to take a shower. I tried for several minutes to take a shower before asking a man living there if he could help me with the water. He tried and after a while asked the Senora about the water and came back saying, "Que pena, no hay agua." So I washed myself in the wet-wipes Dana bought me. I tried the faucet again a little later when I heard the toilet running and out came a spew of brown sandy water.

I found Shay, we ate some breakfast and now have switched Hostels to one down the street for the hefty price of $9 a night, which includes breakfast, real hot water, a queen size bed, a pool!, a private bathroom WITH free toilet paper and clean sheets! It´s like a resort. It´s called el Jardin Escondido (the hidden garden) and has wonderful gardens throughout with hammocks and clementine trees.

Today, we are looking into going horseback riding tommorow through the mountains to waterfalls. There are horses and cowboys walking all through town here. Vilcabamba is a tiny quiet town. Everyone seems to know each other and it seems very safe. They use the american dollar here in Ecuador which is really weird but it gives me a real perception of just how cheap everything here really is. I was a little sad to leave Peru so soon, but I figure I will be coming back to it, so I´m keeping my Peru-God, I mean, -Guide book in the bottom of my pack.

I called Yves, the guy who runs the farm just outside of Vilcabamba and we are planning on hiking up to the farm two days from now. He sounds real nice and I´m excited to live like a comunal hippie on a farm and take care of the animals. There are lots of chores to do around the farm and you can choose which ones you want to do. I will hopefully take care of the animals!
Once a week, someone takes the donkey down to town to get groceries for the farm. There are no phones and no internet. Since Shay has only about 6 weeks left of travelling, we are planning on staying on the farm for only about 2 weeks.