Lucie & Rhys´s Honeymoon Adventure: Week 23 - Vilcabamba, Cuenca, Puerto Lopez (Ecuador)

For our last full day at Izhcayluma in Vilcabamba we’d booked to go horse riding. After Rhys’s first attempt at riding in Chile he was a little concerned that a 7 hour day was pushing it but as some of the people in our dorm had done it and said it was brilliant he was happy to give it a go. We were collected by our cowboy guide (it was just the three of us for the day) then we spent the first 30 minutes galloping through the streets of Vilcabamba and down tracks until we got to a river, Rhys was starting to regret it. Once our horses had waded through the river we started climbing the hills surrounding the town into the Podocarpus National Park, the slower pace was a lot more bum friendly although we often found ourselves clinging on for dear life as the horses made their way up narrow gorges and climbing over boulders. After 3.5 hours we descended into a cloud forest where our guide had to use his machete to clear the path as we rode (I got a bit scared when I got a vine tied around my neck). We stopped to eat lunch by the side of a river in the forest before heading back along the track where we left the horses to graze while we walked down to the base of an 80m waterfall. It was magical with the water crashing down under the canopy; we were the only people there. Out of the sun it was a bit chilly so we decided not to swim and made do with paddling, supposedly we’ve gained 20 years from that alone. The ride back to town was equally as hair raising with the horses jumping down steep drops. By the end of the day Rhys was quite happy galloping and racing the guide as we headed back through town.

Back at the hostel one of the local kids was teasing the dog with a stick when he got knocked in the pool. Suppressing a giggle Rhys scooped him out and after empting his wellies I took him to find his mum. We spent the next hour throwing sticks in the pool for the dogs to chase, swimming and relaxing. That night we ate German food in the hostel again and played pool and cards with our dorm mates.

We left after breakfast the following day and took a pick-up to town then a bus into Loja where we caught another bus to Cuenca. After the ride the previous day we could barely walk. We arrived after dark and checked in to a hostel in the centre with dorm rooms around a courtyard café, El Cafecito, very chilled and a little bohemian. We dropped our bags and headed out to explore stopping at a little café for Mexican and happy hour mojitos. When we got back to the hostel the waiter told us our friend was looking for us and was in the garden. We found Monique (who we met in Vilcabamba) sitting with a group of older local men around a bonfire with a guitar and joined them. We spent the night listening to the men play and sing Argentinian songs before a French couple joined in with their own songs and then a mariachi band rocked in off the street and joined in too. By the end of the night there were about 20 people crammed on the logs around the fire.

The next day we were feeling a little fragile and had to deal with an 8:30am wake up call from a south Korean girl in our room who swore someone had come in while she was in the shower and stolen her iphone while the rest of us slept. She spent over an hour crying while the hostel manager tried to sort it out with all her friends coming in the room to see what was happening while we sat there in our PJ’s. In the end she found it in her sleeping bag and bought us all cookies to say sorry for causing a scene.

We ventured out briefly to the main square to admire the nuevo cathedral before heading back to the hostel to watch TV. That night we met Monique again and went out to a German restaurant with a group of people from our hostel.

The next day we checked out of our room before being told the room we’d reserved for our last night was double booked and we’d have to go elsewhere. An hour of walking the streets and we ended up in the hostel next door to our original place, El Cigale, which was actually a whole lot nicer, again a colonial building set around a courtyard but this time it was really clean and felt newly renovated, lots of dark wood and beautiful bathroom tiles and a big breakfast included to boot.

We headed out into town again to wonder the streets and admire some of the 52 churches (there’s one for each Sunday of the year). Unlike the intricate facades of Peruvian churches in Ecuador the statement is made with the roof, bright blue tiles or tall spindly spires. After an amazing ice cream in the main square we stumbled across a tattoo parlour and went in to see if we could get some better disinfectant for Rhys’s lip piercing. On the woman’s advice Rhys decided to change his hoop for a bar but after several tries the bar wouldn’t go in and we called it a day. I think Rhys may be over piercings now - or for a couple of months at least.

That evening we met with Monique and Anita for a few drinks and rounds of cards before heading into town for food. Calle Larga is a street with rows and rows of restaurants and bars, after a few laps we decided on a Moroccan bar for kebabs, cocktails and shisha. After drinks we headed back to El Cafecito for a few more happy hour mojitos before heading back to our hostel.

We were woken by our room mate, an elderly Canadian guy who spent 2 hours getting ready for breakfast. We packed our bags, ate breakfast and headed to the bus station for a bus to Guayaquil. In Guayaquil we had a 2 hour change over so we treated ourselves to McDonalds (Rhys’s choice obviously) then caught the bus to Puerto Lopez. We arrived in Puerto Lopez in the dark and caught a tuk tuk to a hostel we’d been recommended where we checked in to a private room with bunk beds for a bargain USD$13. We managed to buy a beer despite it being illegal to sell it on a Sunday after 4pm and sat in the communal area playing with the dog Spike, supposedly an American Staff but about twice the size, we swear there was some pit bull in there and were a little scared playing with him.

Our first day in Puerto Lopez the weather looked threatening so we decided to stay around the town. Before lunch we walked along the beach to the south then headed back to the hostel for lunch. That afternoon we headed out to the beach again and walked north for a couple of miles to the cliffs where the river mouth opened into the sea. It’s not the nicest beach, could do with a good clean but once you get out of town it’s very peaceful and the hills surrounding it are lush and green. We bought food from the supermarket and for the first time in months cooked our own meal in the outdoor kitchen. The hostel had a rescued honey bear who came out at night too which was pretty cool.

We had planned to visit Isla del Plata on our second day and got up and ready to go before finding out that the sea was too rough and no boats were allowed to leave port to go to the islands. Instead we got a free lift to Los Frailles in the Machalilla National Park, reputedly one of the best beaches in Ecuador. As we were there early the beaches were empty and we walked along the beach to a viewpoint before walking to the next cove and then along a track through the dry forest for a couple of miles back to the dirt track leading to the main beach. The sun was so hot and by the time we’d walked the 40 minutes back to the beach we were more than grateful to get a cold drink and an ice cream. We spent the next couple of hours on the beach, paddling in the sea and enjoying the sun. Despite the warnings not to swim Rhys was straight in diving in the waves. Once we were completely sun frazzled we caught a tuk tuk back to the main road and flagged a bus back into town.