Vilcabamba

Just another BAMBA.....In Vilcabmba people that live to be up to 120, we did not see any but maybe they didn't walk to well......Its in the water....All Sally and Eric got from the water was not old age...

We stayed at a killer eco spot

Killer pool, alas it was cold as hell....

The view of the vally was epic......

A human sized chess board....

I liked the hamaca....

The town was a little underwhelming...very chill,,

Sally also liked the hammocks....

Our valley hike was great

Ecuador national dish, Salchipapas.......Kinda good...

On to the next Pias.......Number 17 I think...

Sketchy 3 AM night bus border crossing made it interesting

Cuenca

The road to Cuenca was a little sketchy,,,,,,,there was a small landslide....But the expert Ecuadorian road workers cleared enough debris for the traffic to 4 x4 through in no time......Thanks to Alisha's good luck.

Then we got a ride all over town looking for a place in this pimp ride......

Finally, thanks to Patricks insistence, we arrived in.......

Ecuador is where all of our roses come from.......only 25 cents each here, not 3.00$

Cuenca had a killer flower market....

Just a beautiful colonial city.....

Cuenca is the home of the famous Panama hat.......

You may ask yourself .....Why is the Panama hat from Ecuador? That is a mystery you all must solve for yourselves by visiting this wonderful town......

This is the Grandfather of the Panama hat in Cuenca.......He was the man.....Couldn't speak very well from all the Cubans and chincha, But the guy sure could weave a hat. For those of you that were lucky enough to receive one of the autographed addition hats.....You should treasure it like I treasure my Lebron James autographed rookie......After all the guy can't be around for much longer...

Alisha loves Panama hats.....

But Erik REally loved his Panama hat.......This one that Erik didn't buy would go for $10.000 in the US.....

And Sally loved her Panama hat but not as much as Erik.......

There were lots of kids.......

A great church......

And lots of old buildings........


And some killer Columbian food.......First Coulmbian meal for the team.......

Before dinner we stopped at a cowboy bar......Things got a little interesting.....

Got Brokeback!!!!!!

Nice hats.....

The next night we went drinking.......

And dancing.....

I taught Alisha the color trick on the camera.......nice.....

Cuenca rocked........It is a must on every Ecuador itinerary.....

The Devils nose

Team Ecuador boarded a very early bus to Aluisa, where we would take the exhilarating ride down the Nariz de Diablo....The Devil's Nose.

Our conductor;


The ride consists of a one of the oldest train lines in the world that travels down the side of a mountain. After a stretch forward the conductor jumps off the moving train, switches the tracks and we start to back down the mountain, this continues for about 5 switches.


Even more exciting than the technicalities of the train, is riding on top!




The photo opps are countless!

The morning light was spectacular....

Riobamba

We had an overnight stop at the darling colonial town of Riobamba. It was more than we could ever hope for.....although our backpacks seemed to travel in the "fresh catch" section of the bus and beore we could explore Riobamba we all had a mochilla (backpack) cleaning session. I don't think any of us ate fish for days.


Riobamba is an Ecuadorian University town, lots of great squares....

lots of colorful, sugary sodas....

lots of cool buildings....

lots of culinary delights, like Erik's prized hot dog......

and lots of fashion....my endless search for a warm layer brought me to this exquisite piece...those Seahawks are universal!

Alysha and I were also stoked on our stickers!