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Vilcabamba Glimpse #49

Shangri-La?

Visitors to Hacienda San Joaquin invariably say that our web site photos of the ranch do not do it justice. Many who come here describe the ranch and its setting as idyllic, paradise, a refuge…Shangri-La.

What exactly is “Shangri-La?” Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. In the book, Shangri-La is a mystical, harmonious valley.

The 1937 film, “Lost Horizon,” tells the story of a group of travelers who find a utopian society in the Himalaya Mountains. Fleeing unrest in China, a small group of airplane passengers is hijacked by the pilot. The plane eventually runs out of fuel and crashes deep in the Himalayas, killing the abductor. The group is rescued and taken to Shangri-La, an idyllic valley sheltered from the cold. The contented inhabitants are enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains.

Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia—a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. In the novel Lost Horizon, the people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan.

Is Vilcabamba and Hacienda San Joaquin a kind of Shangri-La? The short answer: it’s probably as close as it gets.

For the long answer, have a look at previous Glimpses like, "Imagine."

The photos:

Best, Joe

Joe Simonetta
Owner/Architect
Hacienda San Joaquin
Vilcabamba, Ecuador


P.S. International Living named Ecuador "The Best Place in the World to Retire" http://www.haciendasanjoaquin.com/best_in_the_world.html