The valley of longevity

We arrived by bus (16 hours) to Vilcabamba, Ecuador. This is an Andean village in southern Ecuador that lies in a historical and scenic valley surrounded by Mandango Mountain. It's known as the Valley of Longevity because there were claims of it's many inhabitants to have reached over 100 years old. Much research was done on the reason for such a long life expectancy in Vilcabamba. Researchers attributed it to medicinal qualities found in fruits, roots and herbs near the equator, the mineral rich local drinking water found in Vilcabamba, healthy lifestyle and good treatment of the elderly in the community. Unfortunately, as time went on  and Vilcabamba's international popularity grew many researches fell skeptical and continued to study the reasons for longevity. Two particular scientists discovered that there were errors in the data. The errors were that villagers were exaggerating their age and as they grew older the greater the exaggerations became. The other error was the use of identical names in the village. The two researchers concluded that life expectancy in Vilcabamba was actually  a little less than  in the U.S. Despite these findings, Vilcabamba has attracted many tourists as well as expats from all over the world. The quiet , beautiful landscape, the abundance of fruits and vegetables, the relaxed way of life and the low cost of living has actually brought  expats in droves and hiked up real estate prices. There are gated communities in Vilcabamba with $3 million  homes. Prime real estate are lots in the mountains with 360 degree views of the mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in Vilcabamba on a Friday night. The small town square is surrounded by cafes and restaurants , some owned by local Ecuadorians, some owned by expats. There are a few stores and boutiques as well as bakeries. The faint sound of big band music playing in the background, gringos sitting at street side cafes, everyone speaking English. It was like a scene from the "Twilight Zone". It was very surreal after traveling through  many countries in South America. It felt like a small rural town in America trapped in 1970. The presence of ¨"hippy backpacker" types was evident. Not that there´s anything wrong with" back packers", it´s  the dread locks and the Bob Marley hat along with the hand woven man-purse you're wearing and brightly colored striped pants that identifies you as a "hippy backpacker".

We hopped into a pickup truck cab and went to our hotel, Hosteria Izhcayluma. It was a property on a hill overlooking the mountains and the valley. Our room was very rustic , like a cabin in the woods but nicer, on the level of a hotel. It was rated high on Trip Advisor. The room cost $35 for a queen and a bunk bed with a shower made of big stones. It was night when we arrived so we had no idea how beautiful the property was until we awoke to the breathtaking views.Our hotel had a restaurant, swimming pool, a pool table, ping pong table , lawn chess, a book exchange, board games, spa for massages, mani's and pedi's and laundry facilities. This was the kind of place where you could stay and just relax and not have to go anywhere. We decided this was finally the opportunity to do just that. For the last 3 months we have been on the go trying to see everything we could see. We really needed some  R&R from our travels. We stayed for  a week. We had planned on just staying 3 days and then moving on to Cuenca but we kept postponing our bus tickets. This place has been known to suck people in. I was reading some travel posts on the internet and other people have said the same thing. An interesting thing that also attracts people to Vilcabamba is that it is considered a"spiritual " place. Every hotel, cafe or store that had a bulletin board was covered with flyers for reiki massage, metaphysical healing ,meditational meetings, and sweat lodges. So not only are there hippy backpackers but many new -agers seeking something that they will never find.

one of many paths at Izhcaluma Hosteria

View of the restaurant and common area

View of private rooms where we stayed, 4 rooms to a building



View from a bench on the property overlooking the valley

Another great view from the property, see some of the million dollar homes in the distance

Lawn Chess




 We went horseback riding into the mountains.I could only spare two hours because we left the baby with the older boys.We rode on trails in the woods and around the village. I have not been on a horse for about 20 years and my anxiety was kicking in . I finally got comfortable the last 15 minutes of the ride. The husband and kids went on a four hour ride to a waterfall and onto the top of mountains and down. They said it was terrifying but exciting climbing down steep cliffs on a horse. They made it back safe and we were all sore the next day.