Valley of longevity

Horse Riding in Southern Equador,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

Our last stop in Equador was Vilcabamba in the "Valley of longevity". The valley itself is set in beautiful green rolling hills, has a great atmosphere and was a great place to chill out before the long journey south into Peru. We spent a few days hanging around playing pool with a bunch of Irish guys and getting stinking colds into the bargain!

On our last day we took some crazy horses high into the mountains surrounding the valley. The paths we went along were steep and narrow and the horses insisted on galloping at the most hair raising moments along the edge of sheer cliffs and steep drops. We eventually came to a beautiful waterfall before setting off back to the valley. The scenery was absolutely amazing and all in all an absolutely amazing horse ride. A Swiss guy who was with us had a fall when his saddle slid off his horse! Luckily it was on the road at the end and not on one of the narrow mountain passes!

We tried to leave Equador on the night bus from Loja the nearest big town but we felt so ill, with our colds turned flu, that we threw away our bus tickets and checked in to the nearest travel hotel and slept until we felt able to travel again! The next morning we felt well enough to travel and set out on the long journey into Peru...

Luv Holland and Becky