ecuador: vilcabamba

vilcabamba was our first destination in ecuador. it's a charming town that's up in the mountains and known for it's longevity (apparently people there live to be very, very old). we stayed in a hostel that was actually pretty nice. each room had a porch with hammock and picnic table. we played many a game of skip bo there. probably my favorite part were the 75-minute massages for $18 that i had. those were heaven. minus the facial i had when i was sunburned. bad idea.

here's the view from our porch.


this photo is taken from the restaurant at the hostel. it was an amazing view.


we were walking through town one day when school got out. i love this boy's face.


ah yes, what would any trip be without some soccer matches. we just happened to be there when the ecuador v. argentina game was on. that was fun. well, it was fun watching people watch the game more than i enjoyed the game itself. apparently argentina is a pretty big deal on the soccer field.


this is grayden and jess at the hostel's restaurant.


these two are so close.



i love this picture of odie.


we were there when the church was having one of their first communion sundays.


this truck pulled up and the guy would get fishes out of the tank and the lady would gut them for you. you can't beat the freshness...

ecuador: transportation

when traveling, there are many modes of transportation. let's begin with the photo below. this is us on a bus. this how we spent most of our time traveling. my favorite trip was going from guaya to vilcabamba which entailed an overnight, 10 hour bus ride. that was fun. especially when we were right next to the bathroom and the guy in front of me took his shirt off and reclined so he was pretty much in my lap.

this is us on the bus headed, er, somewhere. don't remember. but i do remember being sunburned, thus the aloe.


or one can travel in a rented van...


a pirate ship is always a good way to traverse the seas...


naturally, horses are always a good option...


but let's not forget about our dear taxi driver. who wouldn't want a ride with this fellow?


and my favorite, bike riding. this is us going through town in vilcabamba. i think only two of our bikes had legit brakes which was fun when we went downhill...

ecuador: horse back riding

ah yes, horse back riding. for one to fully appreciate the experience that was mine, let me first give preface to all of my interactions with horses. once, when i was nine, we went to the kentucky horse farms and rode horses for about 30 minutes. in a circle. at a slow pace. and another time, when i was 17, i got on a horse and felt, for the two minutes i was on it, that i was going to fall off it every step it took. needless to say, horses are not my forte.

but no matter. the boys in our group wanted to go horse back riding. i knew going into this trip that there were to be some adventures and i told myself i wouldn't back down, no matter the challenge (remember, i'm a WIMP). so monday morning we found ourselves in charming vilcabamba outside the tour guide's office with our five horses ready to be mounted. i can't remember the last time i was so nervous. my horse looked like the size of mount everest (in my mind), but up i went.

and up we continued for 3 1/2 hours on the mountain. it was pretty steep at points and the ground was wet which made for some scary, but beautiful, moments. the views were unbeatable. we stopped for two hours to hike up to two waterfalls. that was such a nice break off the horse and so fun. post-hike back on the horse we went for the 3 1/2 hours down.

other highlights included our darling tour guide who let me practice my spanish on him when i asked challenging questions such as "de donde eres tu?" i'm pretty sure it was a deep and meaningful conversation for him. that and when we were getting back into town and galloping on the horses i felt like the prodigal horseback rider returning having not killed myself on the mountain.

some times i looked like this:


but most of the time i looked like this:


our cute tour guide leading the way on our hike


about to start off for the day. i loved the hat they gave me.



this was my view for most of the day:


the gang.


i LOVED the hiking through the jungle. it was so fun!


ah yes, the kissing pose.

ecuador

here are some quick photos from the trip. i'm going to write more and add more photos soon. let these suffice until i beat off the cold i got on our trip and thus gain energy to be witty and clever in my writing.

enjoy the preview!

let there be transportation

after a month of walking around and being sans a car (both of our cars died in the last six months or so) we FINALLY have a new car! hooray for our new civic!

happy birthday, mauri!

on april 25 it was mauri's birthday. mauri just happens to be my friend, roommate and co-worker. it's like a three-for-one kind of deal. i like it.

we went to an italian restaurant in pentagon city that was pretty good. or at least i thought so. the pizzas were thin crust and not huge. something that was somewhat worrying to a boy like odie. luckily we got coldstone's afterwards to fill the boy up.

guayaquil, ecuador

hooray, i'm going to ecuador! i'll be gone june 13-22. i'm headed down with odie and some friends. one of my main purposes in going is to see if i can find these houses that google images so nicely gave me upon searching for "guayaquil." do the houses really look like this?

either way, i'm pretty exicted. time to start brushing up on my spanish...