Twist my arm will you?

I was trying to put this off until later, but it looks like we´ll be here for awhile, and by here I mean Vilcabamba, a town known for its old people and their uncanny longevity. We´ve met our fair share of seniors here, although most of them are old American and German couples trying to drink from the fountain of youth. On the other hand, the rumors might be true. These kids, for example, are each 98 years old. Tonight´s Carnaval celebration does feature a dancing competetion between local senior citizens however, which unfortunately we will miss. Vilcabamba is the ´spiritual party village´ that our erstwhile Swiss colleague/nemesis raved about. I can´t imagine that he stuck around here for very long, as this place is a bit sleepy, full of holistic massage spots, the Dutch, and horses!

Our horses did not frolic quite so gracefully through fields of lilacs. My horse, Corazon, was however, a trooper. And let´s face it, if a horse is going to carry my gringo ass uphill through first growth jungles for four hours, he better be a trooper. Ben´s horse was named ´Ingraido´, which, if my calculations are correct, means ´Ingrate´ in English. To be determined. Ingrate seemed like a cool horse as well, and ben is a fine horseman. We did some galloping, a little bit of trotting, and what horse ride would be complete without a little bit of cantering? There, now that I´ve exhausted all of my horse vocabulary, I can stick to what I know: comic misadventures. My horse ride actually went as well as can be expected. It was my first time. I think I rode a camel in the Palestine once, but who hasn´t done that? Another question, who knew that horses had to be driven? They just stop when you don´t direct them, and mine stopped quite a few times. Also, my shoes don´t fit into stirrups. Also, horses don´t have pockets. Our guide did a lot of the work for me, giving Corazon an occasional rope lash to the ass whenever he slowed down. All in all, a rich experience, very nice scenery and a nice bonding moment with a large mammal. Good times. Climbing onto the horse, and being around horses in general (we´re sharing a bathroom with a horse couple from Montana) reminded me of this classic clip, particularly when President Bush questions whether or not the horse he sees is in fact a bear or a puma. Enjoy.

Will check in from Peru...

Toodles!