Any Hippie or More Liberal Communities in Loja?

alli.guaman21 wrote:

Ecuador has it's own unique taste of culture and life....but I can't leave behind my more liberal lifestyle. So does anyone know of a hippie community in Loja? Or perhaps a more liberal neighborhood with open minded people and less judgment?

Nards and Alli,

The hippie and alternate-lifestyle community may be just down the road from Loja.

San Francisco, CA-based travel blogger Jill Permadi, who visited Ecuador a while back with her companero, Jack, posted about this in an essay titled "Where Have All the Hippies Gone" in their blog at jackandjilltravel.com ...

Seems Jack 'n Jill were rolling down the hill (possibly from nearby Loja) when they stumbled upon the unexpected:

"Vilcabamba is experiencing some sort of Gringo boom," wrote our Jill, "but we certainly didn't expect a town overrun with Gringos and hippies."

Jill said:  "I've never seen so many old and tie-dyed people -- sometimes they're one and the same....Then there's the yoga, the meditation, the natural yogurt places, the 'Biodynamic farming workshop,' the raw food potluck."

What follows Jill's piece is a lively discussion involving Vilcabamba residents, about the nature of folks who have been attracted to Vilca in recent years.