E-1.1  Vilcabamba - Loja - San Lucas (via old Road)

Distance                     86.00 km          

Time                           2.25 hours

Altitude min/max     1522 m – 2880 m

Ascent                        2365 m

Descent                      1053 m

Rating                         Easy

Start                           Vilcabamba bus terminal

End                             Panamericana San Lucas

The old Cuenca road out of Loja offers a leisurely ride through narrow valleys along two different rivers, past secluded settlements & villages seemingly untouched by modern civilization, where the time stands still.

 

Route: Leave Vilcabamba on the northern highway to Loja. From the Loja bus terminal, take the Avenida 8 de Diciembre to the north, and pass the suburb Sauces Norte. Where the sealed road gives way to gravel, it changes the name to Via Antigua Cuenca-Loja, and follows the Rio Zamora. On this picturesque lonely road through the narrow valley of Rio Zamora, you hardly encounter any traffic. 10 km out of Loja, you get to the hamlet of Solamar, where the Rio Zamora turns east to cuts through the Cordillera Oriental on the way to the Amazonas. A road also follows the river, leading 15 km to Jimbilla and another 11 km to the Tapir reserve Imbana. But our track continuous north and shortly after, joins the Rio Vinoyacu. At the Barrio Las Juntas a bit further on, a road branches left, leading to Santiago on the Panamericana. Following the river to the north we pass the Hamlet Vinoyacu, before reaching the Saraguro town San Lucas on the Panamericana.