To La Balsa (Border)

 

The first stop after Cuenca was Vilcabamba, located in the valley of longevity, or something like that (probably only works for Incas) which has attracted a lot of foreigners who moved there. You will see lots of new construction in the area.

 

I spent only one night here, in this great place, and the next morning took a taxi to the village (Vilcabamba) that you see in this evening shot

 

That night it poured. I waited at the central bus stop in Vilcabamba, but there was no bus. Finally, about 15 minutes after the bus should have arrived, this 4x4 Hillux arrived. It belonged to the department of transportation and the driver asked me and some of the people there where we were going. I said Zumba, and he nodded and threw my backpack into the truckbed. We all piled in and off we went. There must have been 20 mud slides and that explained the absence of buses. The driver seemed to know about everyone of the road construction teams and stopped frequently for updates. Here he is taking some pictures of the action ahead, until they waved us through.

 

After a few hours we got to this village and the driver took a break and said to look around. 'Nice town, good park'.

 

 

Looks like much of rural South and Central America to me

 

Schoolgirls coming home. and then there's Central Park. The genuine small village experience.

 

 

 

And on we went, past more mud slides and road repair

 

 

A sight that worried me a bit. I knew that slope would not hold for long

 

Especially with more rain on the way.

 

Finally he dropped me and the remaining passengers off in this little village. There was to be the bus from Loja to Zumba soon.

 

The bus stop and general store

 

 

Since no bus showed up, I went for a stroll along the village, which was pretty much sitting on the edge of a very steep drop-off

 

No village will exist without a proper banana watch dog

 

 

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