Day 16

Day 16.   Vilcabamba

Spent the day in downtown V.  It's Downtown is about the same as Canby.  Like most cities here it grew up around a church and town square.   It's just all in miniature.  

The big buzz about this place was the presence of lots of potheads who have made this their home.  

Not so much.  I think Portland has a higher density.  

It is an interesting collection of folks tho.  There are some folks who were pretty successful in their careers and moved here. 

I met a few of them at a coffee shop this morning. One fellow is intent on acquiring Spanish fluency.  He spoke with some

Disdain of gringos who come here and don't bother to learn the language.  I ran into one of those in Cuenca.  

Who am I to judge.  I can understand it takes more work to learn a language and in Cuenca and even to some

Extent here in V a person can get by with limited or no Spanish. Still it seems like

learning the language is a sign of respect for your host country. It also opens up more opportunities to engage locals.  

For now I'm back on the patio of my bungalow and back in my hammock and looking out

Into the big green valley ringed with sharp mountain peaks.  

I can see coming back here.  But I can also see myself visiting a different South American country each year.  After all there is a huge continent where I poorly speak the language.  

Tomorrow I am staying onsite for a three hour spa session.  I went for the whole thing except the colonic.  I need

To save something for my next trip.