Loja, Ecuador, South America I took a trip to Vilcabamba today, and was totally disappointed. I got up early, had breakfast, dropped off my laundry at a lavanderia, and got the 8:30am bus to Vilcabamba. It was an hour ride and only cost $1.30, so at least the disappointment didn’t cost me too much. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. Vilcabamba is a town known for people that live to be over 100 years old. This…
Loja, Ecuador, South America I got up this morning, packed up my stuff, and checked out of La Querencia. It’s been a really nice place to stay for the last six nights and I can only hope my next place is as nice. I got a van from Cuenca down to Loja that took three hours and cost $12. It was a pretty easy ride, no surprises, so that was good enough for me. We got to the van company’s…
Cuenca, Ecuador, South America I did nothing today except watch NFL football, which was great! I thought about heading down to Loja this morning, but I figured that since it’s Sunday and I have good wifi here, I might as well take advantage and watch football while I can. I only left the hostel to go to Subway to get lunch, and I spent the rest of the day watching football. I got to see the Pats beat the Raiders…
Cuenca, Ecuador, South America I had a nice day hanging out with Andrea, her mom and her sister today. They picked me up from my hostel at 11am and we drove about an hour to a town called Gaulaceo. It is a nice quiet little town with a little river running through it. We walked around for a while and saw a lot of locals called Cholas, cleaning their clothes in the river. Saturday must be the day they all…
Cuenca, Ecuador, South America I had an awesome day hiking around Parque Nacional Cajas today. I got a local bus over to the south bus terminal in Cuenca, and then took the Occidental bus out to Cajas. I got off the bus at Toreadora which is one of the main places to start a hike in Cajas. It was a bit unclear where to start when I got there, but luckily the guy working in the cafe was able to…
Cuenca, Ecuador, South America I didn’t do much today, but had a nice relaxing day again. I went into the center and went up the tower in the “New” cathedral. It was not a very good view. It felt like there should be another level that you can climb because the view from the main viewing platform is blocked by the domes on the church and the towers on each side. Oh well, it was still a nice day to…
Cuenca, Ecuador, South America I really enjoyed my day in Cuenca today. It was pretty relaxed, but it was great. I had a good night’s sleep at my hostel, had a great breakfast that was included with the room, and then went out to explore. I had a short walk around the historical center and then went for a bite to eat. I met a nice american couple from Arizona who are living here for a year to learn spanish….
Cuenca, Ecuador, South America I took my time getting out of the hostel today, and checked out at 11:30am. I got a taxi to the bus station and found a van that goes to Cuenca in just three hours, instead of the normal bus that takes six hours. It was $12 instead of $8 for the bus, but that was well worth it to me. The van was nice, and I got to sit in the front with the A/C…
Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America I did nothing today, and it was great. I watched a few TV shows, uploaded some blogs that I didn’t have good enough wifi to upload when I was on the islands, and just chilled. I went for a walk around the mall down the street, did a little shopping, and got to go to the cinema. I saw the movie Lucy, with Scarlett Johansson. It was weird, but good. It was nice just to get…
Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America Today was football day, and it was phenomenal! I got up late, had a great breakfast at the hostel, and then got to watch the pre game shows, and all the NFL games that were showing on my dad’s TV. It was brilliant! I wasn’t able to do that last week for the opening week of the NFL, but I got to see it this week. It worked out well though because I missed the Patriots…