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Leticia & Pastora

13 October 2005 (Thursday) – Vilcabamba, Ecuador to Piura, Peru

I could not see the two elderly ladies outside their house and I was afraid to wake them. So, I left it as it is, and headed towards the path to climb up Mandango.

Mandango is a unique-looking mountain that one could climb up in 1.5 hours. It was on private property, so we had to pass through a gate, pay an admission and fill up a form that asked us for our blood type. Blood type? Gee… why??

Anyway, the girl explained that it will take us 1 hour to reach the first cross and 30 minutes more to reach the second cross. I took about 45 minutes to reach the first cross. Wow, from there, I could see both sides of the sharp ridge! Amazing view of the valley of Vilcabamba and the green mountains all around. However, the way onwards to the second cross looked absolutely treacherous! No way anyone could do it in 30 minutes!

View of Vilcabamba on the hike up Mandango

The strangely-shaped peak of Mandango

I rested up here with a Canadian-Australian couple for about half an hour, chatting about our trips. They pressed on, but I was happy to go back. I am not an overachiever. It was more difficult to head down due to the steepness. By the time I reached the bottom, my legs were all shaky.

After lunch and a short rest on the hammock next to the swimming pool in my hotel, I headed out to town again, with half a mind to go for a massage.

I passed the house of the elderly ladies again and this time, one of them called out to me. She invited me in. Her name is Leticia, she is 76 years old. She asked me where I was this morning, as she was waiting for me. Oops, I explained that as I did not see them, I did not dare to disturb them, thinking they were resting. Anyway, the other elderly lady is her sister, Pastora and she lives in the house behind. She popped over and waved ‘hola’.

To my surprise, before I could ask about her family, she started telling me her story. She has 10 children but few of them give her money and they do not visit her either. So, she said she is really poor and lonely. What, 10 children!! Some are engineers, teachers, army officers, doctors… Yet, she has hardly any money to buy anything to eat.

I sat with her for perhaps 1.5 hours, listening to her stories, looking through her photographs. As she showed them to me or recounted her tales, she was wiping her tears away. At the end, I suggested that we go to a shop nearby and let me buy her something to eat… maybe, rice or whatever. She thought for a while… “¿Carne?” (Meat?), she softly requested and I nodded my head. Her sad little eyes lighted up and she hastened to comb her hair to get herself ready to go to the shop.

When we returned with meat and platanos (huge green bananas), I could tell she was obviously very happy, as she mumbled to herself that today, she would have something special to eat. She tried her best to offer something to me in return. I refused, but she searched her near-empty refrigerator and insisted on offering me one of her two apples. Alright. Anyway, as I was leaving tonight, I promised her I would pass by and visit her again tonight.

By the time I reached the town centre, the idea of a massage did not appeal to me anymore. I felt really sad for her. But what else could I do? This was the least I could do… my company, listening ear and some food for her to eat.

That evening, I had my entire backpack with me when I passed by her house. Both she and Pastora were absolutely delighted at the sight of me, proclaiming that they sat here waiting for me in order not to miss me this time. They thought I was moving in to stay with them! I explained to them that no, I was leaving tonight for Peru.

They took me to the kitchen and started preparing dinner. Oh, the meat I bought just now, they now wanted to invite me for dinner. Gosh, how sweet they are! Again, I could not say ‘no’. I felt bad, for they had very little with them, and yet they really wanted to do this for me.

Leticia preparing dinner

I left Ecuador with the sweetest of memories…



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One Response to “Leticia & Pastora”

  1. Nancy Says:

    Just finished reading through all your Ecuador entries and found your experiences really charming. I spent a month traveling Ecuador in January 2005 and absolutely adored it. January was low season so I barely saw any tourists when I was there, it was very different. I also enjoyed reading this because I too am an Asian (American) woman who traveled alone, and never saw other Asians around…always felt sort of alien with all the pointing and staring! It’s nice to hear how it went for you. Looking forward to reading your Bolivia entries, as I am headed there in a month.

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