My first impression of Vilcabamba was that it was a complete new-age hippy fest. Chakra re-alligning, rolfing and pranic breath workshops sat alongside expensive gringo run and frequented cafes with names like Cosmos. There was a Raw Food Festival on when I arrived which meant the aforementioned cafes were full of mainly American hippies basically just talking about food ('I can't eat sweet fruits, just sour ones') and in some cases taking time out of the hectic schedule to roll another rollie - local organic tobacco of course.On the first day I visited my friend Peter who I met in Quito and had offered me a recently closed bar position at his hostelresort. I then headed for Mandango Mountain on a complete weed-fest of a trail up an eroded but spectacular ridge line with great views of the valley and township. It had been a long while between drinks for Jesus porn and me, so at the top I was inspired to make my own. Please note the real crown of thorns. I don't intend offense to the big J-dog in the sky or those that hold him dear, but definitely a big skyward middle finger to all the trippers that have and continue to cause fear, destruction of culture and death in his name. Ahh, I love a blog, I can rant as much as I want! * Note > please don't copy or distribute my high-quality erotica as I do not wish it to end up on the Christian home-porn web-site, J-tube.
I charged on to finish quickly but took the wrong ridgeline and soon found myself staring down an ultra-steep descent on both sides and directly in front of me, barely navigable with such dusty, crumbling soil. I made it though, continuing on to soon find a true 90 degree cliff this time. I had to switchback slowly across, around and down to get back to the ridgeline, then jogged through the thorny African weeds to reach the road.
That evening I ran into Umberto and Layla from Madrid who I'd met in Cuenca and together with Laura from Belgium we organised to hike the waterfall circuit near town the next day. This turned out to be quite difficult to follow and we eventually gave up, instead settling for a swim in the icy river and almuerzo at Little Italy. Anna and Niall had arrived from Cuenca the night after me and we caught up one morning for coffee before they set off for the waterfalls (after each hiring a whole horse) and I for Podocarpus National Park.
The walk was about 22km all up apparently and with an altitude change of 2500m up and down was quite a strong day. Once through boring Vilcabamba town I ascended through shit weeds and farmland for a good few hours. The vegetation eventually turned to fire-altered native scrub. The day was clear and ht and I pushed myself to get to the shade of the forest-line, which never came until right at the end. There were some nice views into the park but all in all it was another disappointing day - in my opinion Vilcabamba is well over-rated in terms of natural beauty. After 4.5 hrs of caning it I arrived at the park boundary where the vegetation immediately became beautiful cool cloud-forest. I chilled at the little refuge there for a few hours, including lunching, meeting Fernando from Spain (yes, I have again taken up the huge challenge of trying to understand rapid and blurred Spanish from Spaniards) and his guide and a lush waterfall swim to wash off the sweat and exploring the few trails available in the park. The vegetation and colours in the forest were amazing. After taking some more sun I ran and rock-stepped back the looong descent from whence I came to Vilcabamba before being sold an humita, moist warm corny stuff with cheese inside. Mmm, choclo con queso!
After an expensive but yummy Mexican dinner with Niall and Anna that evening, we caught up again briefly in this morning before departing, they to Peru and I to the other jungly side of Podocarpus NP near Zamora. Bye Niall and Anna, nice hanging out with you! The bus transfer in Loja was quick and easy but the subsequent bus to Zamora made me feel like I was in Peru again - stuffy and hot because of cold-fearing locals, blaring cumbia music and a crazy irresponsible driver. But while being quite torturous it was simultaneously beautifully scenic at times driving through the National Park and steep jungle clad valleys. Upon arrival with travel headache I walked around in circles to eventually find a quite useless Environment Department, had lunch (next to some psycho-looking husband monologuing at his wife who stared off with vacant eyes while holding the baby - ahhhh, life´s good) and then hiked out the 7km to the park. It was a beautiful walk in the afternoon sun into the rainforest alongside the raging river and past pretty waterfalls. But hang on, some of that land could´ve been farmed... What are you doing Ecuador¿ You´ve failed in your mission to deforest and farm every possible skeric of terrain possible in your country... For shame!!
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