izhcayluma and cuenca

we spent our first three days in ecuador at a resort called izhcayluma just outside of the town of vilcabamba. vilcabamba is full of ex-pats evidenced by the big beautiful homes dotting the hillside....lots of people retire here.  i can certainly see the appeal.....the valley is a lush beautiful green, with mountains in the back-drop of town.  the weather is not too hot and not too cold.  the town itself is super laid-back with lots of 'gringo' owned shops....we even had a delicious falafel for dinner one night!

izhcayluma is a resort that sits on a hill looking out over vilcabamba.  it has all the typical resort amenities but at budget prices and so is popular with backpackers....they have dorm room beds for only $9.50 per night!! we decided to splurge a little and got a private room for four (still only $55 per night).
the grounds were so beautiful!!

......there was a pool!

......and a pool table!

......and a yoga shala, with free yoga classes every morning looking out over the mountains.....what a treat!

hammocks everywhere for relaxing and enjoying the view.

.....not to mention a yummy breakfast of fresh fruit, granola, yogurt and homemade toast....plus ecuadorian coffee every morning!  it was so so delightful!


we mostly just hung out at the resort and relaxed but one day the kids and i went for a horse-back ride.

i forgot my hat so i had to borrow one....the kids thought it looked goofy but i think it helps me look like a real rider!

views of vilcabamba from the top of our ride

lucy loved it...riley liked it...and i was more than ready to get out of the saddle after a couple hours!!

instead of the ride todd went for a 5hr hike at a near-by national park which he very much enjoyed.  he said the hike was great but mostly he loved having time to himself....we are all together all the time and sometimes its just nice to be alone with your own thoughts.
i carved out a little 'me' time and got myself a massage.  the resort advertised a 75min full body massage for $22.  i usually don't get resort massages because i feel like they just finger-paint on my back and i leave disappointed, but in this case i figured for twenty bucks how bad can it be? plus we have slept in a fair number of crappy beds and i was due.  it ended up being great. i just had to say 'poco mas fuerte, por favor' a couple of times and in the end got a decent massage!



the last couple days we have been in cuenca which is a good-sized but lovely city that feels very cosmopolitan.  there are beautiful colonial buildings, a river running through town, parks with green grass (a rarity in our travels so far!) and an overall pretty chill vibe.
we strolled around town and took in the sights.

as usual there was a big cathedral on the central plaza.....it was huge and mostly brick with blue tiled domes. todd felt this was the most beautiful cathedral he has seen so far in south america.

we also climbed up to the top of the cathedral and enjoyed the views over the city.

one morning in cuenca we spent at a great museum which depicted various aspects of ecuadorian culture and history....including the amazonian tribes who would shrink the heads of their enemies....not sure how that process was done really.   (please forgive me, todd made me promise to include this picture!)

the museum also had a bird sanctuary with some gorgeous macaws.....(much nicer pictures to end on!)

and i can't forget the hat picture.  this hat is widely known as the 'panama hat' which it turns out is made in this region and not at panama at all.  it got called the panama hat because they exported it to panama early on.  anyway it is the hat of the region.

and that basically sums up our couple days in cuenca.

all and all our first week in ecuador has been a good one!
tomorrow we are going to volunteer at a dairy farm just outside of cuenca for the next week.  fingers crossed this volunteer gig goes better than the last one!
hasta luego!