Alright, I´m a bit behind the 8 ball with this blog I realize, but I´ll try to make it up to you and give you a nice short version of my last few days.
So, after saying good bye with little hesitation to Mancora, I left Peru Thursday evening heading north to Ecuador, and for the first time in a few weeks I wasn't alone. A few nights prior I had met two travelers from Ireland who had the same plans as me to cross the boarder, so we decided to do it together. And when we rolled into the bus station we picked up two more from Israel. The journey dragged on from 5 in the evening to 7 in the morning, and included very little sleeping. I was a bit nervous to cross the boarder into Ecuador -- I had heard plenty of difficult boarder crossing stories to scare me. But this turned out to be a very easy experience, especially seeing as it was done at 1 in the morning. I paid my fee to the Peruvian government because I had overstayed my time and got my Ecuador stamp on my passport. One of the nicest experiences, though, was standing in line at customs with the two Irish, Natasha and Nick, and the two Israelis, Chen and Ronnie, talking about the similarities and differences in our countries.
I arrived in Vicabamba accustomed to brown, dusty landscapes and high altitude mountains, and my eyes found lush green mountain sides, flowers growing everywhere, and fruit falling off the trees. Although this is not officially the jungle, it is a perfectly comfortable medium between the sierra and tropics. And there is humidity, something many of you may be surprised to hear I miss quite a bit. After taking stock of my new surroundings, I followed the four others to a hostel they had heard about, Hospadaje Izcayuma which is one of the nicest places I´ve stayed yet on my trip so far. It´s a bit expensive, but in the middle of the forest above the town and to our overtired eye, an absolute gem. Every time I saw something new in this hostel, like a swimming pool, clean sheets on the bed, a shower that promised hot water, I felt overjoyed and ready to dive into comfort. So, Friday I focused all my energy on recuperating from my bus journey and slept, followed by exploring this town.
Saturday followed much as Friday went; I enjoyed the unlimited breakfast at the hostel (pretty much unheard of in these parts) and talked with some Israeli girls about their experiences in the army which was very interesting (all Israelis must serve at least 2 years in the army in some capacity, usually after highschool). I then went for a nice little hike with Natasha followed by walking down town for lunch and made it back up to the hostel in time for my massage. Yes I indulged, and it was lovely.
And today I went for another hick with Nick and an Australian girl. I really can´t get over the climate, the trees, everything, and I got to see a lot of it on my walk. We then headed in to town just in time to watch the long soccor match, and was very happy when Spain finally put an end to the suspense!
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