Well, a lot has been going on since our last post. First stop was Cajas National Park - according to Franklin, an Ecuadorean version of the Lake District. We camped here for one night and finally got a chance to use Franklin's stove using our wonderful new methylated spirits. Our original plan to wake up at five o'clock the following morning for a six hour walk was stymied by our general laziness so instead we went for an aimless wander in some mystical Lord of the Rings-style woods.
Then it was a public transport fiesta from Cajas, to Cuenca, to Loja, to Vilcabamba, where we shacked up in our best hostel yet. Vilcabamba is a really peaceful place renowned for the longevity of its residents and the massive number of weirdos living there. Most famous nutjob was Dr Johnny Lovewisdom, who started a cult there called the 'Pristine Order of Paradisiacal Perfection' some years ago. Not sure if that's still in swing but there were an alarming number of posters in our hostel calling all 'Keepers of the Earth and Workers of the Light to harness the violet transmutations and so bring order and perfection back into the community'. Which is nice. We didn't join a cult during our stay but we did go for a walk - during which we almost got flattened by a herd of cliff-top horses and thousands of ants crawled up my clothes. Also got massages, went for a swim, played numerous games of pool and ping-pong... Our last night there coincided with one of the owners' leaving do, which meant unlimited free rum & coke and pineapple wine. Which proved to be our downfall. Don't remember an awful lot about that night and we didn't wake up until past ten the following day, half an hour after we'd been planning to catch our bus into Peru. But no worries. Instead we went on a long and precarious bus-ride to an end-of-the-road town called Zumba and stayed the night in a dingy hotel.
Next morning, a 'ranchera', which is like an open-sided truck with benches, to the border crossing called La Balsa. Easily the least official border crossing any of us have experienced - when the lady running the migration office eventually turned up she spent most of the time telling us how good-looking we were and complaining that Peruvian men were so much uglier than foreigners. Then she took some pictures of us - nothing to do with security, she just wanted our photos - and we went on our way.
SO... here we are on our second full day in Peru. Next thing lined up is a hike/horse-ride to Laguna de los Condores, which Alex is currently getting organised. Franklin is on Facebook and I'm eating yoghurt. And that's our blog-post pretty much up to date.
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