Cuenca - Farewell to Ecuador

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The bus trip from Alausi to Cuenca was twice as long as we expected but we did eventually arrive at the bus station in the modern suburbs of Cuenca. Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city in the south of Ecuador - certainly not as grand as Quito but the old centre’s cobbled streets are lined with dozens of pretty houses and shops, most with lovely carved wooden balconies over the street. It was placed on the UNESCO’s world heritage list in 1999. We found a room in an old courtyard house and were given a suite out the back in the garden. It was great to have some space to spread out into for a change. We even had an armchair! Luxury after tiny little rooms, most which don’t even have single chairs in them. And for the same price! I think they took pity on us as I was obviously not well - I had woken up that morning with a heavy cold and was feeling pretty terrible.
We wandered the streets for a while before the cold weather sent us back indoors - it was much colder then we had been expecting. We actually had trouble finding something to eat as everything (because of the elections that day) was shut. Next day at breakfast we were speaking to an American lady who was booked onto a day trip around some of the villages in the area. After finding that were seats available on the mini bus we decided to join the tour. It was a good decision as we needed a day of not making decisions - it was great to be just taken! We didn’t even know exactly where we were going when we boarded the bus. Our first stop was the tiny village of San Bartolome where we wandered the small market area and viewed the church. To get there we passed through a new suburb on the outskirts of Cuenca which was full of big new houses. Our guide told us these houses had been built with money sent back from the US by Ecuadorians who were working mostly illegally in the States. I thought it quite ironic that the houses being built in Ecuador were probably far superior than the housing that the people who earned it were living in in the US.
We visited a workshop, very dirty and chaotic, under a house where a father and son were producing intricate silver filigree jewellery. Absolute craftsmen - it was wonderful to watch them turn a piece of thick silver wire, first into a fine silver thread and then twist that into amazing pieces of jewellery, all with intricate detail.
From there we drove to Chordeleg, the streets of which were lined with dozens of jewellery shops. I wandered the side streets and found many little shops where they were weaving toquilla straw into hats - the Panama hats. They are a major industry of this region - I was surprised to find that they originated here and not in Panama. The hats have been woven in Ecuador for the last 200 years but were given the name of “Panama Hats” because they were originally transported from Ecuador to Panama where they were given to the workers on the Panama Canal. They began to be shipped worldwide to the international market from Panama. Teddy Roosevelt also wore one (an Ecuadorian made hat he purchased in Panama) when he visited the Panama Canal construction site. News coverage at the time implied that it was a hat from Panama. I was surprised to see piles of them with unfinished brims, but they are only finished prior to sale.
It was Mother’s day in Ecuador (as in Australia) and the main square was full of families enjoying a day out together. A lovely custom here is to give out red roses to all the mothers - (the streets of Cuenca had been full of people selling red roses and heart shaped balloons the day before) - and I was given one as well as I walked through the square. It was still in perfect condition five days later when we left Cuenca. Another custom here for Mother’s Day is for the young people to make up a group with their friends and go from house to house serenading their mothers. They all sing the same song and the Mum’s have to stay awake until they have been serenaded. Our guide laughed and said that some of the Mum’s don’t like the custom because it might be 3am in the morning before the group actually arrives at their particular house!
We also visited the workshop (another dusty mud brick house) where a man was making guitars and charangas. His guitars were beautifully inlaid with tiny pieces of wood and he was in the process of making a charanga (a small guitar like instrument) with the traditional armadillo back. The shell is glued onto a wooden base and then the edges were shaved and shaped. Fascinating! Next stop was the market town of Gualeco where we visited the very traditional market where we watched dozens of guinea pigs be roasted over open coals. The guinea pigs threaded onto very thick bamboo poles and are then roasted - teeth and all - with the pole poking out of either end of the animal. They were really stretched around the pole so it’s no wonder they taste dry and crackly. Not that we’ve tasted them - Jerry wants to - but everybody we’ve spoken to says they aren’t particularly appetising. There was also heaps of roast pigs - their meat was much juicier. Very succulent!
A weaving workshop ( we’ve seen so many) finished the day off. The technique (Ikat - a form of tie dying) used was similar to that we saw in Cambodia - though the Ecuadorian version was much less intricate. Anyway we had a very enjoyable day - and it was topped off with a lovely meal in front of an open fire. The following day we walked along the river (Cuenca is actually crossed by four different, all very fast flowing, rivers) to visit the Museo del Banco where we spent a fascinating few hours enjoying the colourful displays of the traditional cultures of the country. They also have a ‘interesting’ display of shrunken heads - an obviously outlawed practice today - though some tribes are allowed to shrink animal heads still. There were Inca ruins next door, recently uncovered in Cuenca, but they weren’t particularly impressive. That evening a young Ecuadorian friend of Devin’s picked us up and took us on a city tour by night. A lovely young lady - we thoroughly enjoyed her company - she tried hard to find a restaurant that sold guinea pig but unfortunately (for Jerry) they were all closed. We did enjoy a very traditional meal with her, though both of us still find the food bland.
I was feeling slightly brighter the next day so we decided to go on a walking tour of the city. We had a fabulous morning. Lots of history which brought the city to life, a visit to a tinsmith (many ‘over the top’ candelabras which are used on religious altars), a visit to one of the oldest areas of colonial Cuenca which is currently being restored with UNESCO funds before, a visit to a shop which restores the worn out panama hats that the local women wear. They are cleaned and shaped using sulphur - our guide told us it’s a difficult and dangerous process and one of the city’s leading hat restorers had recently died from a cancer caused by inhaling sulphur fumes. The hats are passed down through the generations which is why they need to be restored. To buy a new panama (basic) hat was only $10 so to keep the old ones must be very important to them as restoring them costs much more.
A fascinating visit to the local market followed where we spent a long time watching (from above) a group of indigenous women cleanse the spirits of fellow indigenous adults and tiny babies. Large bundles of herbs were thrashed against them as prayers were chanted - the ladies skirts were lifted, as were their blouses, so the skin under their clothes could also be thrashed. After that they were rubbed with an egg which was then broken into a bowl. The egg yolk revealed was supposedly the bad spirit which had been taken from their bodies. The price for the service was one dollar! We figured that the lady performing the rituals made a lot of omelettes as she was very careful to save the eggs inner. Maybe she sold them to local hotels for their guests breakfasts….. The tour took us to the new Cathedral, which stands on one side of the main plaza, opposite the Old Cathedral which is now a religious museum. It was a massive church with many domes - the second largest in Latin America - the interior domed space made you feel as if you were in a mosque. The cathedrals construction began in 1880 when the city of Cuenca outgrew the much smaller ‘old’ cathedral. It is constructed from alabaster and marble. Partway through the construction they decided to start importing marble from Italy - unfortunately for them the Italian marble was much heavier then the local marble and they were never able to complete the spires above the church as the added weight of the Italian marble caused the church to start to crack. The crack is very visible above the main door - I would hate to be inside if they have an earthquake - the cathedral shall definitely fall apart. Our final part of the tour was by bus - to a lookout over the city, a ceramic workshop and to a museum/workshop for the panama hat. It was the oldest (and most successful) exporter of hats in Ecuador - they design fashion hats from toquilla straw and some of their traditional style panama hats sell for thousands of dollars. They are so fine they can be pulled through a small ring, take months to weave and are the hats you see all the celebrities wearing. They had dozens of photos of well known people wearing their hats lining the walls. I loved the ceramics we saw - one of the countries leading ceramic artists - we had seen in pieces in expensive shops and couldn’t resist buying a tile with a humming bird design. I now have to carry it around with me until the end of the trip!
It was wet and very cold by then and has I was feeling pretty miserable by then we spent a quiet afternoon in our hotel before venturing out to sit in front of the fire in a restaurant. We had planned on visiting the bleak moor like scenery of the Cajas National Park, full of glacial lagoons and at a much higher altitude than Cuenca (though only 19klms away) but because of my heavy cold decided not to. We spoke to somebody who had a lot of trouble breathing there and spent a lot of time stuck in the mud as they walked around the lake. We were advised not to travel alone there as there had been recent muggings on the trails and as all the guided tours involved a walk around the lake meant we couldn’t really do it.
We visited the old cathedral instead and spent a slow day enjoying the city street scope. It really was a beautiful place - though you spent most of your time with your head in the air looking at the lovely carved balconies and window frames. We visited some shops which sold the local traditional clothing - the women here are much shorter and stockier than further north. They are called Cholo, and all the women wear their hair in two long plaits as apposed to one elsewhere. Their skirts are much heavier and most wear more then one so they stand out from their bodies. Again heavily embroidered at the hem, they are worn with shawls and blouses and the panama hat. The women in the villages wear big aprons over their clothes, shawls with large checks and of course the ever present panama hat.
We woke on our last morning in Cuenca (and Ecuador as we were flying south to Lima in Peru) and went for a walk along the river bank, visiting a museum operated by the Craft Council of the city. A wonderful mix of old traditional costumes, and modern contemporary items using the techniques of the indigenous groups. Thoroughly enjoyable and all situated in a lovely colonial Spanish house, full of stained glass windows and hung with filigree chandeliers! We loved our time in Cuenca, despite my feeling far from my best. We enjoyed Ecuador much more then we expected to - the scenery was absolutely stunning - looking all the better from the heavy rain received within the previous months. We particularly enjoyed the Quilitoa Loop - it will remain a highlight of our time in South America I’m sure.

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Photos

Cuenca skyline
View of the new Cathedral and rooftops nearby

Traditional hat shop
These hats are mainly old ones which are being renovated and resold. Sulphur is used in the process - the shop smelt very strongly of it.

Leaving church on Mothers Day in Chordeleg, a small town near Cuenca
Every mum (including me) received a red rose from the young people in the town that day.