Another big city

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We seem to spend alot of time on buses. We had a 7 hour journey to get to Cuenca and headed back up to 2,800m so almost the same as Quito.

The coach journey was an experience to say the least. These were the worst roads yet. Sorry to go on about the roads but they have to be seen to be believed. And the drivers too!

Ecuadorian roads = potholes, mudslides, collapsing roads, rocks on the roads, no visibility due to cloud cover, overtaking on bends and at the middle of a hill so not seeing what´s coming, overtaking in thick clouds so no visibility, overtaking with sheer drops on one side and the risk of rocks falling on the other. Not to mention the animals on the roads and avoiding beggars who lift up ropes across the roads to try to make you stop to give them money. I was on the back seat of the bus (we had another private one) and took off a couple of times over the big bumps. Gained a few bruises from the trip when hitting my head and my arm on the bus during the bumpy bits!

IngaPirca Ruins

We took a quick detour and went to see the biggest Inca Ruins in Ecuador (which are apparently tiny in comparison to Peru but still good to see). It was good to see them although it was raining (AGAIN) and my so called extreme weather waterproof seems to let in alot of water. Quite annoying but as long as it doesn´t rain continuously I should be ok - it´s not too cold so I´ll dry out quickly. Having said that though, it was pretty cold there.

Cuenca
We arrived in Cuenca at about 7pm after a very hairy ´short cut´ through even more local, narrower roads. We did get to see more locals though and lots of children, dogs, cows, pigs, tiny houses etc. All the animals seem to be tied up individually on short leads. The colours of the traditional dress (blues, reds and bright pinks) against the almost irridescent green hillsides are quite amazing. They stand out so much and it looks fantastic.

The greens of the hillsides in Ecuador are pretty spectacular. There are little patchworks of crops on the hillsides, bananas, tomatoes, rice etc.

Cuenca is apparently one of the three largest towns in Ecuador. We stayed in a very old building - difficult to describe but lots of random hallways, glass fronted doors and porchways to the rooms, balconies, one room had stairs in it and more beds on the next level. A great little place.

Cuenca was a lot colder than Banos and higher - I got my fleece out for the first time. Although I´d done pretty well as most of the aussies and kiwis had been rugged up for nearly the whole trip so far - pathetic!!

The next day we headed off to Cajas National Park which sits at about 4,000m. We went for a two hour walk round a lake in rain and on slippery muddy wet paths. In a waterproof that isn´t waterproof it wasn´t much fun! Walking shoes didn´t let any water in though so that´s a bonus! Saw some very interesting plants. The altitude did affect me here - so to those of you who so kindly mentioned that it was just my lack of fitness - i can´t prove it´s not, but it was strange not being able to breathe, feeling dizzy and a slight headache and when leaning over to take a photo I would get a head rush when standing back up again!

Once we got back to Cuenca and dried off we went for a walk round the town and saw the old churches, the flower market, main square etc. Then to an Ecuadorian (Panama) hat factory. All Panama hats are made in Ecuador but called Panama´s because they are exported via the Panama Canal.

More packing...

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