TRIP TO VILCABAMBA....

Vilcabamba is a small town about 3 hours from Cuenca,  in a valley,  and known for how long people live...whether it's the mountain  water which is full of minerals, the clean air, or just the beauty and calm of the place,  people live to be very old in Vilcabamba.........

Now it is full of gringos - they come to live longer,  but most of them smoke?  Ecuador is full of oddities....

Deborah wanted to go somewhere outside of Cuenca, so we talked to Rene  (who really knows the country) and decided to rent a van from  Cuenca Car Share,  098 808 7261,  098 380 0162-- turned out to be a terrific experience....everything was handled over the phone and internet,  and we had NO PROBLEMS....we rented a new Hundai 8 passenger van, air conditioned, and Rene picked it up and off we went early Saturday morning.....Rene, wife Valentina, daughter Daya, Deborah, Cristina, and Rick and I.

There are several interesting stops on the way  to Vilcabamba .... towns like Ona  (for "Tequila"), and Saraguro for handmade jewelry and textiles.....BUT our first stop was a nice little roadside restaurant about 1 1/2 hours outside Cuenca....since we left the house about 7:15 am with no breakfast, we were ready to eat!!

We had a wonderful "breakfast" of chanco, corn roasted with cheese, chicharon, and mote.....  So lucky to have run into this cute primitive little place with really yummy food!

Rene Calle  (good friend & driver)  wife Valentina & daughter Daya....

On our way again we stopped in Ona so Deborah could get some "Tequila" to take back to Omaha.....

Next stop was Saraguro.....Deborah bought some darling jewelry pieces to sell, and Rene bought the hand woven  rug for his house...

 On to LOJA ..... Rene has cousins in Loja who own a wonderful restaurant way up high with fantastic views of Loja.....the food was delicious, and cheap!!!

Finally we arrived in Vilcabamba.....I had booked 2 rooms  at Hosteria Paraiso  thru TRAVEL ADVISOR/Booking.com

a triple $60, and a family bungalow $80...breakfast included...

 Nothing elegant, but comfortable.....lush jungle type gardens all around...  and a lovely pool....

Cristina enjoyed a swim even tho the water was not warm....afterwards  she relaxed in the hammock...

As it happened to be Rene's Birthday, Valentina and Deborah went and bought  him a cake,  and ice cream....

Later .... For dinner we found a nice little place that had fantastic shrimp!

 Vilcabamba is definitely not a late night town.....about the only thing open was the Church - so we went to Mass and then went to eat at Katherine's

 The next morning "the girls"  (except for me) went horse back riding....

Cristina had never been allowed to ride alone before  ....she always had someone holding the reins and leading the horse.....altho she was a little scared,  she learned to ride alone and control the horse!!

We went for a drive exploring with Rene.....after about a 15 minute drive up the mountains over a crappy road we arrived at a huge walled and gated compound....we wanted to see inside, but the guard wouldn't let us in no matter what we said....strange.....a Mafia hideout?  Drug lords?    This was the size of a small town and very hidden and secluded.....just another Ecuadorian  mystery...

Checked out and started  back to Cuenca,   but through the gold fields to Zamora......The scenery was very beautiful,  and as we neared Zamora we started seeing beautiful waterfalls along the highway...

Deborah, Valentina and Daya climbed up a tiny path to get closer.....this was amazing!!

Next we passed a huge gold mine....there are many smaller mines that can not be seen from the highway.....the mines here are operated by Chinese engineers and workers...they have the knowledge and experience,  and I suspect,  lots of gold ends up in their hands, unaccounted for!

  The Chinese keep to themselves in huts made for them so there is no integration...

Things are so different here....in the states,  in the Black Hills where they mine gold,  the towns are full of jewelry stores selling "Black Hills Gold" everything....it's all about marketing, promoting,  selling......here you would never know there is gold taken from the ground....no selling of gold jewelry, nothing!

******

On into ZAMORA where we planned to have lunch.....

Since it was Sunday there were not many restaurants open,  but we passed a house that had converted it's porch to an open air dining restaurant and we decided this was it -- we were too hungry to keep looking.....

Well, we had a wonderful meal looking at the mountains dining al fresco.....Most of us had the fried Tilapia -- fantastic!!

This was a mother/daughter operation - I'm sure our business  really made their Sunday!!

Huge amounts of food served, as ususal,  and the fresh tomatoes were the best we had ever eaten!!

Back on the road to Cuenca with  only a  little problem - Cristina got car sick and thru up,  but  it wasn't a major problem....it is a very curvy drive through the Andes and she held up well.....

This trip was so enjoyable.  We managed to cram a lot into 2 days.....now we are trying to decide where we will go next.....maybe to see how they cultivate and refine chocolate???

Ecuador just won  FIRST PLACE at a Paris contest - best chocolate in the world so we need to find out more!!!

 

HOUSEWARMING, CUENCA STYLE....

It was great that Carlos and Ximena Cabrera (neighbors) had their "CASA DE CAMPO"  housewarming while Deborah and Cristina were here.....they were invited along with us to experience this celebration......

We drove outside of Cuenca for about 30 minutes to an area called Descanso.....the "weekend getaway" house is very impressive and very lovely.....

It's built of stone & rocks found on the property,  and big timbers.  It sits high up on a hill and has the most fabulous view,  but then there are really no bad views in Ecuador...  This area is rather remote which is good because no one will ever built and block their view.....they have already planted a lot of fruit trees and the landscaping is lovely....

The celebration started with Mass in the Pavilion....the same priest Eduardo had when he "baptized" his new house...

Ximena is reading an epistle.....

 There are even two outside toilets....they thought of everything...

After Mass a wonderful sit down meal was served to over 100 people,  then the tables were cleared away and the dancing began....

Ecuadorians LOVE to dance, and no celebration is complete without a dance.....they had a terrific band and the music was lively, and good!

Carlos and Ximena, our hosts, put on a fabulous party.....tons of wonderful food,  lots to drink,  and fun people....even ran into Rita and Henry, old friends, whom we hadn't seen in ages!

This house is built for entertaining!!!   It's very roomy and spacious, and with a separate party pavilion it's quite unique!

 The floor plan is  very open and the centerpiece of the main living area is the specially hand made wrought iron stairway to the Master Bedroom suite....

The dining area is open to the kitchen -- note the table which unfolds to be twice the size....

A large comfortable "sala" can seat a big group in soft sofas and chairs....

It is very important to Cuencanos to have have a Casa de Campo  -- they range from small and charming to huge like this one....Susana talks all the time about building a country house.....Flavio and Eugenia have a darling small house that Flavio built himself ( I just love it,  and again it has a gorgeous view)

As the day wore on the stove was loaded with huge pots of tamales and humitas and everyone was fed again.....when they say "coffee" here it means coffee with something yummy to eat...never just coffee like the states!

Rita and Henry gave us a ride back to Cuenca....we really weren't up to dancing the night away with the Cabrera family...

but we had a grand time!!

AFTER THE GUESTS LEAVE....

"After the party's over..." really means what happens after the guests leave,  you COLLAPSE!!  ha!

Our daughter Deborah and grand daughter Cristina left after a wonderful month full of activity too much to put in one blog.....so this will be the first in a series of 3 which cover the month of July 2015....

We are sooo grateful to Deborah for the sacrifices she makes to come to Ecuador for a month with our darling Cristina....she saves all year to pay for the airfare and spending money to come see us ......

Our first outing was to the fabric shops to find  "tela" for a blazer for Deborah from a design we found on the internet.....and then to Anibal Usina - CIRCULO DE LA MODA, tailor on Juan Montalvo between Bolivar y Sucre....
           098 869 9596   

ALMUERZO after the tailors......huge amounts of delicious food for under $3 a plate....

We had "IN HOME" manicures .... fun, fun, fun...

Cristina and Titi played for days on end.... sometimes outside,  sometimes indoors,  and lots of times on their notebooks, kindles, etc.....

CRISTINA PLAYED THE PIANO IN A RESTAURANT IN "EL CENTRO"

WE ATE IN MANY GREAT RESTAURANTS......AND THERE WERE TRIPS TO "PARQUE DE LA MADRE" for CRISTINA and JUAN GABRIEL....

ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE PARK IS McDONALDS......and like every kid in the world Juan Gabriel and Cristina LOVE McDonalds.....

Took fabric and designs to seamstress FANNY DOMINGUEZ to have blouses made for Deborah, and dress, pants, vest for Cristina

 Fanny is a seamstress Deborah met a couple of years ago - her daughter was taking art classes with Cristina.....She does a great job....098 835 9451 and she works from her home....

We took the 2 deck TOUR BUS to Turi which overlooks the city and the view is awesome!

It happened to be the feast of ST. ANN  (Jesus Grandmother) the patron saint of Cuenca....so there was a big fiesta when we returned from Turi.....

We had dinner at Picanteria Leo which is housed in the first hotel in Cuenca...old building from early 1900's.....they have good fish and typical food.....

Street vendors were selling everything from cotton candy and grilled meats to jewelry and food...

Christina wearing the warm pullover shirt she picked out

and cost $10.....Jean had given her $10 a few days before and she whipped it out and bought the shirt.....she hardly took it off the rest of the trip...

and she wanted this lovely necklace handmade by the women of Saraguro

The evening ended with the burning of the "castillo" a tradition here that marks a real celebration....

DEBORAH WAS VERY HAPPY WITH THE JACKET from Anibal & wife.......

Hamburgers at Carbon y Lenya with our good friends and neighbors Eugneia & Flavio Cabrera

 OUTSIDE THE CATHEDRAL AFTER SUNDAY MASS.....Cristina loves the chocolate covered strawberries on a stick!!

The last manicures before returning to the states....Deborah wanted something very different!!!

Bertha and Geovani took us for a wonderful CHANCO meal!!

And there were many other activities..... trips to the Mercados ....     .eating in many terrific restaurants ......

 going to parties, etc.....

more on the parties in the next blog....

THE ECUADORIAN BBQ GRILL.....

Backyard grilling is not popular here as in the states - despite the great weather men just don't seem to take to "cooking", and eating outdoors is very rare....

But being American I really love to grill outside,  and so it was important to me to have a nice grill.....the old grill was pretty dilapidated and even tho Rene had installed gas to the grill,  we just didn't use it that much......

The landlord gave his permission for Rene to redo the grill to my liking,  and therefore now we have a very nice usable space that I really love......

There was no sink before so besides the new roof and more electric lighting Rene installed a nice stainless steel sink....everything was done to make it "Rustic Elegance" without losing any of the Ecuadorian feeling.....Rene got 2 huge tree stumps and a large plank, which we painted white, for a work table/bar area.....the shelf above the sink is an old drawer from my house in Omaha saved when we remodeled the kitchen...looks very cute.....

Around the tree trunk support we laid old broken china bits I have saved......

So now we have a lovely grill area we can enjoy rain or shine......the best part is that Rene  (who is also a professional Chef) came over on July 4th and grilled ribs to inaugurate the new grill.... we had a great meal with great conversation.....

Rene's contact info:  0997731068  --- dc-constructora@hotmail.com

We are back to redoing my bathroom.... after all the work was done there was still a small leak coming from the ceiling in the dining room.....Rene was determined to find the cause so he tore up more of the floor and discovered the hand sink drain had never been connected to the main drain, so the water from the sink just went into the ceiling and walls.....A perfect example of why it is SO IMPORTANT here to hire a person who has worked in the states and is trained to do things correctly...  I would ONLY have RENE CALLE do work for me....unfortunately too many people here only want someone cheap instead of someone good!!

Our daughter Deborah and grand daughter Cristina arrived Tuesday morning....Susana took us to pick them up,  and I immediately came down with some kind of virus - vomiting and diarrhea , so we've been taking it slow this week....but it is so wonderful to have them here...  They love coming to Cuenca and we have lots of things planned....this month will go very fast.........