Vilcabamba: hiking and horses

We are in Peru now, but I want to make sure everyone knows how wonderful the little mountain town was before we start talking about Peru too much. Vilcabamba was amazing. We stayed at Izhcayluma which was a nice treat since it is more like a resort than a hostal. But it only cost us nine dollars a night and included breakfast (all you can eat) so we did not feel too bad about it. Katie and I (hallye) hiked the Izhcayluma loop on Thursday (2-26). It took us between four and five hours. We hiked up a mountain and at the top we had to cross the ridgeline where some parts were only two feet wide. The views were so breathtaking that my camera could not even capture the beauty (but we tried, check the picture to the right). The second half of the hike consisted of what was supposed to be a dry riverbed. It was actually a wet riverbed that was more like a river. We got soaked.

On Friday we went horseback riding. If you know me, you know that I ride horses back home...so I was a little worried that our ride would not be very exciting...but I was dead wrong. They gave us some rubber boots and cowboy hats and tossed on some smaller horses (probably about fifteen hands for the horse readers). My horse was named Increida but most of the time I called it ´buddy.´ It was my buddy while we trekked up huge mountains that were covered in rock and mud. I was amazed that the little horse could do it. I kept telling it that Kentucky horses could have never handle such a climb.

I felt sorry for the horses because I am pretty sure they do not receive the best treatment. They take gringos like us up these huge mountains on six hour rides and then probably come back to muddy lots. They were all wearing four shoes which made me feel a little better. But horses in Kentucky are incredibly spoiled compared to the little horses we rode in Vilcabamba. It is just like the difference in people from here and the U.S.

Our guide from the horse ride was a real South American cowboy. He told me that he was a the champion from a recent rodeo and I believed him because he looked the part. He hacked away stray branches on the trail with his machete and even let Katie take a few swings with it. We got to the stopping point with the horses and began our hike to the waterfalls. It was a very difficult hike. We were literally crawling up and down steep ravine type passages for about an hour. But the waterfalls were amazing and a little chilly! For lunch, our guide brought us wheat bread, guacamole, tuna and cheese. It made suprisingly good sanchwiches. We mounted back up after the lunch and made our way back down the mountain. We crossed the river (which we had already crossed once and was very cool to do on horses) and then literally galloped back to town. It was awesome and nothing like what I expected.

I was sad to leave Ecuador but ready for Peru. So far, Peru has been wonderful. Katie is getting ready to post our ´top ten´from Ecuador. Hopefully I will be able to report back more from Peru in a few days ! Love, Hallye.