After I felt super bad on the third day at the workaway place, I decided to leave and go to the beach. In Montanita I felt great immediately! It was raining and I didn’t see the sun at all, but I had a wonderful hostel (Moai) and great people around which whom I could go out for food, cocktails and walking around. After a scary first night, the other days were very relaxed and silent. As the weather was not too good, I walked along the beach with Guillaume (from France, as well in my dorm) and Oleg (I met in Quito and by chance again there) and we hitchhiked and hiked to „Dos Mangas“, a small village around 10km away. I ate a lot of good sea food, fish and tired real Bolónes for breakfast (dough of cook banana, cheese, peanuts - fried) and of course I drunk many Mojitos on the famous cocktail street. It was not possible to surf as a beginner (maybe I can try it in Peru?!), so I used the time to cuddle the cats (Sumo <3) and relax - living from food to food - I’m still a super foodie! ;-)
I went whale watching in Puerto Lopez, which was cool (in two ways, especially after snorkeling I was freezing like hell and got a big cold). I saw a lot of whales, even not jumping, but playing around the boat in the water - very nice.
Saturday we (Anna and Lisa from the neighbor house, Antonio the owner of the hostel and his two friends Cesar and Werner from Guayaquil) went partying after a great dinner and a lot of home made Mojito - a lot of fun!
Sunday, after the hangover (= chuchuki) breakfast, which is „Encebollado“ (fish stew with a lot of fish, potatoes, onions etc. - yummie) it was time to pack my monster again. I was lucky to had a private ride with Werner and Cesar (GRACIAS!!) to the bus terminal in Guayaquil. And then I had bad luck again, all night busses were full and I had to stay the night in that weird terminal, only Ecuadorian men were sitting there. You couldn’t sleep as the security walks around the whole time, waking you up as a safety thing not to get rubbed. The chairs were even colder than the floor, so I was sitting on the bottom, freezing, sweating, feeling like getting a big flue…
Finally at 6:30am the bus to Loja left and I arrived after 24h at my final destination VILCABAMBA. The hotel „Izhcayluma“ is probably one of the coolest and relaxtest places I’ve ever been. It is owned by two Bavarian guys, in the middle of nature in the mountains. There are free Yoga lessons included in the morning with a fantastic view, afterwards you can take a wonderful breakfast (natural unsweetened yoghurt, fresh fruit salad, muesli, bread which is worth the name, fresh fruit juice, coffee, milk, tea). Then you have the chance either to relax in the hammocks, take a massage (which I did yesterday - wow!) or do a hike (which I will do tomorrow). For dinner we go lazily to to restaurant which belongs to the hotel and serves as well German dishes (yesterday I ate Spätzle, mmmh).
The people are super friendly here in Vilcabamba (much more then in the rest of Ecuador) and my room mates are great (mostly Germans). I have the feeling everybody is hanging around here - Marcel I met in Cusco is here as well and today arrived Dori, I met in Guayaquil before. :-) Great to see some familiar faces.
So, what to do next? Waiting for a more stable internet to share as well some pictures on Facebook with you and thinking about the next food to eat. :-) Staying here until Monday and enjoying my life… Next stop Piuru - to be continued!!
NAMASTE!!