Malacatos and Loja Day 3

Malacatos

This beautiful, sleepy town is between Vilcabamba and Loja.
Few expats, traditional Ecuadorian town.
It is know for it's bead work.  Lovely

 beaded jewelry - I bought a necklace all hand beaded.  
The people were so welcoming - as we walked along the central park area
a woman came up to me and wanted Bob to take her picture with me.
Very tiny people!!!!!!

My new best friend, 

Some of the hand-beaded necklaces for sale.

This is the church that anchors the town square. Another very different cross on front of the Cathedral.

Town Square

Then off to Loja

Scenes along the way

Loja is in the southern part of Ecuador with Peru as it's close neighbor.
population 170k+
This city is very rich in the tradition of the arts
Known as the music and cultural capital of Ecuador.
Loja is at 6750ft. above sea level and supports 2 major Universities.
The climate range is between 60 F (16C) and 86F (30C).
This very artistic city is one of the oldest cities in Ecuador at about 500 yrs. old.
It holds the honor of being the first EC city to be wired for electrical power.

We took a city tour and the first thing the guide told us was how devoted the people of Loja are to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Seen on the facade of a building in the middle of town.

Town Square

Town Square in front of Cathedral

From ecuadors.org:

The pure air that is breathed in this city is another fact that attract visitors, the city enjoys a temperate spring-like climate all year round, although evenings are cooler. Loja counts with many parks, that gives fifteen square meters of green space to each inhabitant of this city, for this reason it has been declared as an ecological model to the World. Loja is both an important provincial capital and a college town, two important universities, one national (founded 1943) and the other private (Catholic).

Some of the most beautiful art works painted on sides of buildings throughout the city.

The parks were amazing - see the kids playing chess with large pieces that are easily carried and moved.

Beautiful parks.

New housing construction

Lunch with our tour group.

Off to Cuenca and home.

Ever see the end of a rainbow?
Captured this from the bus on our 4 hour ride home.

Vilcabamba - day 2

Vilcabamba is located in southern Ecuador,  45K (28 miles) from Loja.

5,000 feet above sea level

A mountain, called Mandango overlooks the valley and is said to protect it from

natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes.

It originally was a retreat for the Inca royalty.

It is a definite tourist destination because it is believed its' inhabitants grow

to a very old age.  It is not uncommon for people to live past 100 to sometimes 134.

It is often called VALLEY OF LONGEVITY.

Some studies show diet and climate to be the reason.

From Wikipedia:

Medical researchers have confirmed that the retinas of 100 year-old residents are often comparable with those of 45 year-old city-dwellers.

(I thought this was pretty funny.)

Even as Vilcabamba's international fame grew, scientists continued to investigate the secret of the villagers' longevity, but some were beginning to grow skeptical. In particular, Dr. Alexander Leaf, the Harvard Medical School researcher who had been among the first to conduct research in Vilcabamba, was having doubts. His suspicions were aroused when he realized that the villagers were inconsistent in their self-reported ages. For instance, in 1971 he had met a man who reported his age as 122. When Leaf returned three years later, that same man claimed to be 134 years old.

Temps range from 65F - 82F year round.

Two seasons, Oct. to May, rainy, June to Sept., dry.

On entering Vilcabama all we see are gringos.

This town is known for younger gringos with an alternative live style (hippie type).

They have meditation rooms, lots of yoga studios etc. and

they had 3 gringo babies born here in the last 6 months.

I'm not implying it's bad, just different from what Bob and I would want.

Vilcabamba even has a gated community for

gringos.  Beautiful homes and landscapes.

Gated community

 The center of town park.

Almost every town has a central park where the church is located.

Bob in the central park

 Church

 Interesting cross with the risen Christ above

At the holy water font

Local Taxi

 Street scenes

 Outdoor restaurant with painting by local artist

Our lunch spot!  

This is the path to our hotel room - more like individual cabins. 

From inside our cabin - each cabin comes complete with a hammock.

Bob enjoying our patio

The entire area was filled with flowers, plants and trees.

This is the outdoor area where we had breakfast each morning.

In the afternoon, we took a bus tour of the whole Vilcabamba valley.

We saw the sugar cane fields as well as mules being packed with the canes to carry them to the  top of the hill because the valleys are so steep.

Our guide for this tour was John Curran from Wisconsin. He also, we found out, is a friend of Heather and John, our friends that have the B&B on the coast of Ecuador.  He and Heather went to high school together. Such a small world!  John and his wife Sue have lived in the valley for several years.  They own a house in the middle of a conclave of an Ecuadorian family - brothers, uncles and grandparents. They have a garden, dog and chickens.  They love it there but rarely go into town. John told us that when Sue went to the states to attend to her father, he realized he had not left their home for 33 days. They like their privacy but also dislike all the gringo's that have infiltrated the area. Most of their friends are Ecuadorian.

The scenery is absolutely beautiful.

We left Vilcabamba early morning for Malacatos and Loja then home.

More later............