Loja, Ecuador Travel Blogs

Waiting for a bus in Loja
Jul 26, 2006

... , and some unkind treatment in a restaurant in Cuenca, I was happy to get on a bus for a five-hour ride to Loja. It´s in the far south of Ecuador, and I´m taking an eight-hour bus ride south of the border to Piura, Peru. I have a flight to Lima on the ...

Long bus rides and strange spa shenanigans
Jul 26, 2005 (17 photos)

... the snow capped volcanic mountains, known as the "Avenue of the volcanoes". These people are mainly the indigenous peoples of Ecuador: the Andean Indians, and every so often I could just about make out a brightly dressed Indian woman wandering high in the ...

Feliz Navidad means too much rum!
Dec 27, 2005 (5 photos)

... spectacular views. In the evening we said farewell to all our drinking buddies at Izhcayluma and headed to Loja. Caught the night bus to Piura, Peru, at about 10.30pm. After a fun Christmas in Ecuador it was time to hit the next country on our list!

Bruised Bacon
Mar 1, 2005 (8 photos)

... a night in the medium-sized city of Loja. The next morning we took a mini-bus (basically a conversion van, our first in Ecuador) to Vilcabamba. At first we thought it looked like a pretty easy trip, because there were only five passengers who got on at the ...

Sitting still for a change
Oct 11, 2006 (7 photos)

... ins anymore. After a nice breakfast in the restaurant where we met some Swiss Germans who we swopped our Peru book for an Ecuador one! We then looked around the lovely gardens with hammocks, pool, etc and were glad we stayed here. Walked into town ...

Heading South to Vilcabamba
Aug 10, 2004 (20 photos)

... to fame is that a small hydroelectric scheme which started generating in 1897 (producing a massive 34 kilowatts!) made Loja the first town in Ecuador to have electric power. Perhaps more important was the first documented cure of malaria using quinine ...

Disneyland Wannabe
Jun 5, 2004 (2 photos)

... pedestrian overpass it felt like a theme park waiting to come alive. Parque Jipiro This is about the only interesting thing in Loja, with minitures of famous buildings. I slid down a slide that formed the exit of a replica Russian church. It was a ...

Classes de Espagnol!!
Jun 18, 2005 (2 photos)

Next morning started very early with a bus ride to Loja and onto the laidback town of Vilcabamba! Our main reason for going here was for me to have an intensive course in Spanish! We´d already contacted a hostel called Izhcayluma which sounded amazing but ...

Surprisingly nice!!! but where can you eat
Dec 12, 2006 (3 photos)

Another bus journey...far too many of them recently. Our taxi took us to our hotel...looked okay...but there was no one on reception......someone shouted to an old woman on balcony...she shouted something back and eventually some lad arrived. We managed ...

Relaxing over Easter in the hippy hangout
Mar 21, 2008 (2 photos)

... weeks ago and it seemed like the perfect place to chill out after not stopping for a very long time. In the south of Ecuador it is situated perfectly in the mountains where it has now become a gringo hangout, filled with lots of cool people as well as ...

Visit to future site in Loja
Aug 7, 2005

... site in Loja. I will work for the Social Development division of the Municipality of the city of Loja. Loja is a beautiful city in the Southern part of Ecuador, located in a valley in the Andes Mountains near the Peruvian Border. I work in the urban ...

Hortalizas Paccha Uchuary
Sep 9, 2006 (2 photos)

Hortalizas Paccha Uchuary is my bread and butter. As i explained earlier, it is my first small business venture down here. I have been learning alot from them, and it looks like they're learning alot from me. Have meetings with this group 3 days a week, ...

Ecuador: E Pluribus Unim, et al.
Apr 15, 2008

... . (see last post...haha). they were going to travel to ecuador anyways i tagged along for the visa. left monday morning for Loja, Ecuador after a demoralizing trip to the market in Piura. a lady asking us for money stepped on a casi dead kitten. it ...

Loja for a night
Feb 20, 2007

Passing through Loja for the night, catching the 7am international bus to Piura (8 hours) in the morning.

Ecuador!
Jan 28, 2009 (5 photos)

... hiking, and a nearby national park.. So in crossing the border some changes between the two countries became evident.  Ecuador seems to have a better economy, there indeed seems to be more money/better standard of living. Their national currency ...

Rest and Relaxation in Southern Ecuador
Oct 22, 2007 (6 photos)

Spent a few days in Vilcabamba.  It´s know as a bit of a hippie town and has a reputation for the longevity of it´s residents (many centigenarians in the area).  I stayed at a place called Izhcayluma where for the whoipping price of $9 I got a bed ...

Return to Loja
Jan 17, 2006

Jan 17th LOJA I have finally returned to Loja. It has been around 22 days out of my site. The new year has brought new opportunities. I will be able to work more closely with my communities, and I am very excited about this. This year, hopefully ...

The Hut
Dec 25, 2008 (2 photos)

After limping up to the porch of our lodging, Jorge made us tuna sandwiches.  We sat down, slowly, to eat them, and fed the dogs the burnt crusts of our bread while the horses, tethered in the front yard, rested one hind leg at a time and dozed. ...

Full Circle in the Valley of the Huilcos
Nov 11, 2009 (28 photos)

We arrived and went back to sleep for a few hours, since the power was out anyway.  Apparently, rainfall in Ecuador is at an unprecedented low, and the dams retaining water for their hydroelectric plants are nearly empty.  As a result, the power ...

Loja
Oct 31, 2006 (1 photos)

... Trujillo, 20 hrs by bus, 30 hrs with required stops. Bus is a great way to see the countryside. Beautiful mountains to Loja. Bus is a local. Many people from small villages on board dressed in traditional, brightly colored garb. As is frequently the case, ...

A relaxing stay in Vilcabamba
Jul 15, 2007 (9 photos)

AFTER crossing the Ecuador Peru border, we traveled to Machala, banana capital of the world.   From there we traveled into the mountains once again to the quiet cloud forest town of Vilcabamba. We stayed in the Rumi Wilco eco- ...

Hola Loja
Mar 12, 2007 (5 photos)

Not much to say about today, Loja is just another city to me chosen primarily so I could get to the second border crossing @ Macará as an access point back to Peru. Nice gates though (Puertas De La Ciudad). The botanical garden on the outskirts was a ...

Valley of Longevity
Feb 7, 2009 (12 photos)

Vilcabamba, called theValley of Longevity by the locals is maybe one of the biggest tourist towns in the country given its small size, one central intersection and a few shops and restaurants along the streets. Known for the tendency of locals to live ...

Loja
Jan 24, 2009

town.

Loja
Jul 21, 2008 (19 photos)

... quick and no money, finally! The road from Loja to the border was excellent, although I ended up on it by accident due to Ecuador´s fabulous road signs, it took an extra hour it was worth it. Some sections had good tarmac, mostly not and a few gravel parts ...

COS
Jun 2, 2007 (10 photos)

As our service is coming to an end. Peace Corps Ecuador sponsors a few days of relaxation, bonding, and information sessions to get us ready to move on with our lives. I'm very excited to go back to the States, but it was tough thinking about all of the ...

The first is paper...
Nov 8, 2009

... the special date with suitable aplomb! All the romantic preparatory work took place: 1. plush hotel - tick, 2. scenic location (Loja) – tick, Mrs. Boote – tick! One outstanding box remained sadly "unticked" – namely Oliver! Thus, on the ...

Deliverance
Dec 26, 2008 (6 photos)

... nbsp;stay, and Sarah was happy to keep us supplied with toast, boiled rice, etc., as part of JJ's Ecuador diet plan.  Kara read and gloated over her good fortune in having her and her nauseous husband's giant pilsner that had been ...

Vilcabamba
Nov 29, 2006

Vilcabamba

The Valley of Eternal Youth
Nov 3, 2009 (13 photos)

So we left Huanchaco at 10pm, and got an overnight bus to Piura which arrived at 5.30am. Upon arrival, we booked our bus to Loja, Ecuador for 9.30am and headed into town for some breakie. Luckily we found a nice taxi driver who drove us to what must have ...