Glad to be back on the highway!

We tried to actually head back to Vilcabamba on Monday afternoon around 1 once the rain stopped and the clouds cleared. But as Dwayne went to put more air in the back airbags he noticed that the pin that locks the spare tires to the frame was broken.  He tied up the bracket and we went searching in for a welder in Zumba.  Took only a couple of stops before he figured out to try the motorcycle mechanic since he would have to weld frames etc.  So we went there and we got it welded and fixed. But by this time is was 2:00 to late to start the trip back so found a parking spot for the night. Did some reading, watched a big funeral procession go around us and later went for a walk. The town looks very pretty at night with all the Christmas lights in the park in front of the Church.

even after the fix Dwayne tied it down to make sure it would stay on the rough road

In the morning we were ready to hit the road by 9:30 and by 2:30 we were in Vilcabamba - 156 kms! Yes that is an average of only doing 30kph!! Even when we got to the concrete highway there are still lots of spots where they didn't finish it, or there is mud across the road etc etc. VERY slow going!!
Here are some more pics of that bad road!!

The view is really beautiful coming along here

Glad they have these signs since buses go thru here at night!!

Road disappearing

Gravel dropping away

Nice that equipment is out but pretty tight passing!

This town is built right on top of a ridge so no grassed areas for soccer for the kids so just put it on the road :) 

Road thru the towns are always good then we go back to one lane on the right

Ya this was no fun either!!

No not planting a tree in the road, just marking a sink hole!

We started down by that river and go down and cross it many times and up again

Road work :)

This part is getting very narrow!! With buses coming thru not sure how long this road can stay open. It is VERY steep where the road is dropping

This "barrier" has been here so long the posts are starting to grow LOL!!

There is equipment along this road but they dont seem to come out!!

We started over by the arrow

Yup this is on the concrete road

This to - but only one lane is concrete but we weren't driving over on the muddy side!!

Soupy messy!

Dont know why they dont scrap up the mud and make the road wide again! Some spots there is grass growing so not new slides

The reason for so many slides is because the hills are just rock, gravel and sand. They have tried to cement over this but it doesn't last very long

Once we got to Vilcabamba we filled the water tank and we parked near the river, brought out our recliners and enjoyed a couple of beverages while reading and listening to the river.  I enjoyed our lunch so much the other day at a nearby hostel that I figured that we should go there for dinner :)

We noticed there was a lot of water under Vanna a while later.  Dwayne checked and yup there is a crack in the corner of the water tank that is leaking! Damn not good! It could just be the age of the tank because we weren't hauling much water back when driving from Zumba.  So Dwayne bought some 2 part epoxy to fix the crack next day.

We headed to the restaurant since it was shortly after 5 but got there to early because they dont open for dinner until 5:30 so we had a beer while we waited.  While we were waiting the couple from Switzerland that we meet back at the Condor Park and the train ride were staying here at the hostel for a week!! They are only travelling in Ecuador and next week they head to a farm where they will stay with a family and work on the farm for 3 weeks. They thought this would be a great way to spend Christmas with a local family.  Then a friend (I believe just met at the hostel) came and joined us. She is from Ontario and travelling by herself- Katherine.  Well it didnt take long once she heard how we are travelling that she asked if we knew Kevin and Ruth. Yes and said we had met up with them twice in Europe a couple of years ago and follow their blog!! Katherine said Ruth's dad use to do a lot of work for her at her house. Yup small world it is!! We continued to visit for awhile and by 7 we headed back to Vanna to go park by the river for the night.

Dwayne's pasta with mushroom sauce. Mine was really good but the picture was blurry- maybe to much beer?? LOL!!!

Pic with Katherine

In the morning the tank was not leaking as much since the water level had dropped. But I decided that I would take a shower before all the water had to be drained so Dwayne could do the fix.  We moved over to the hostel that Annette was staying at so I could hook up to their wifi 😇 and work on my blog, might as well do the fix here.

Passing by this morning on the way to the gas station for gas