++Ecuador++

Today was all about traveling. Getting up at 4:30 (yuk), we walked 10mins from our cabin to the village main square to take a 30min tuktuk down to the main road. There, we hopped on the pre-arranged 3h shuttle to Jaén, which we explored a bit as we were early and had planned some buffer. The town is not pretty, but it was interesting as they don't see many tourists.
Finally at 1pm, we really boarded our unexpectedly comfortable bus that would take us all the way to Ecuador. The road was ok (but curvy) on the Peruvian side, landscapes went from rice fields (reminded us of East Asia), to lush green hills. Reaching the border at 5pm, we were nervous as this is the least busy border crossing, is not even listed in the website of the German foreign ministry and was sometimes closed in the past. However, the procedures went smooth and relaxed.
Back on the bus, the scenery stayed beautifully green, but would remain unpaved for the next 4 hours (40km). Therefore we only reached our final destination of Vilcabamba around midnight. What a trip.Read more