December 05: Vilcabamba

(1) I ended up catching a mid-morning bus with Rhett, who just happened to already be on board. With a mysterious bottle in his backpack, he managed to make our ride to Vilcabamba go down rather smoothly. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the vodka.

(2) I snuck this photo of a local girl on the bus. I couldn't help myself - it was too funny.

(3) After arriving at dusk, Rhett went to a less expensive hostel right in the center of town, and I set off for the German owned Hosteria Izhcayluma, two kilometers up the hill. I was happy to have arrived in Vilcabamba, a small town that developed into a hangout for backpackers after a 1955 Reader's Digest article touted it as the "valley of eternal youth." The rumors of longevity were found, later, to be highly exaggerated. Still, travelers keep showing up day after day, some in search of the hallucinogenic San Pedro drink. I was there for the scenery.

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