Loja is an unjustly overlooked town. It's one of Ecuadors oldest cities and a modern town with a rich cultural heritage. It was the first city in Ecuador to be electrified and it´s known for the rich culture of its habitants. This is the kind of city that can be best explored with help of a local: use the hospitalityclub.org to find contacts.

However, the city center can be explored in a couple of hours and there isn´t much to do around the city. That´s why most people just pass through, on route to the nearby Podocarpus National Park, which can be entered from tourist haven Vilcabamba and the more old fashioned town of Zamora, famous for having the biggest watch in the world. The advantage of going through Vilcabamba is that you can easily travel further south to Peru.