We walked around Loja in the morning and found the town nicer than Cuenca, as it is smaller, quieter and more typical. We went to a food market called Gran Colombia, which was very clean and organised (see picture) and the food looked fresh. People were very friendly and the town felt safe, we welcomed this relaxing time after all the stress we had with the stolen backpack and the long bus trips we did in the last two days Riobamba-Cuenca / Cuenca -Loja. End of the morning we went to the Terminal Terrestre (bus station) with a city bus ($0,25) and caught a bus to Vilcabamba ($1). After 1h15 bus ride which took us slowly through beautiful landscapes we finally got to the village of Vilcabamba. We shortly find out that accommodation is not cheap here, certainly not as cheap as planned in our budget. After visiting a few hotels with prices between $8 to $10 per person, we ended up taking a double room for $9 each in a very nice hotel called 'Le Rendez-Vous' offering lovely rooms with private terraces on a beautiful garden. Vilcabamba is very charming, people are very nice and you feel safe. The owners of our hotel are French, they travelled for 10 months 7 years ago and really liked Vilcabamba so they decided to set up their life here. We did a little walk in the afternoon for about an hour, until we have been stopped by two women who wanted us to pay $1 each to follow the track up to a waterfall! No way, we went back to the village and had a relaxing evening at a very nice restaurant called Shantas (meals between $3-$6).
