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Published: August 22nd 2011
When I started planning this trip to Ecuador I knew I wanted to go to
Cuenca. Don't ask me why, or how, I just knew. I guess I'd heard or read about it at some point, anyhow, I wanted to go. As it turned out, it wasn't that difficult to get to from Puerto Lopez, time-consuming yes, difficult no.
The first part of the trip was by bus from Puerto Lopez to Guayaquil. I had thought about spending some time in Guayaquil, but everyone I had spoken to said it wasn't worth it, so I didn't. The bus ride to Guayaquil was uneventful. Whilst waiting for the bus to arrive I saw, or rather, heard a big group of Brits arrive. I would be lying if I said that I was thrilled. Don't get my wrong, I like Brits, I am one... but big groups of young Brits abroad... not my cup of tea... especially when they don't speak Spanish. As my luck would have it, on the bus the conductor presumed that I was part of the group (I later found out that there were on a school trip... school trips have definitely changed since I was at school),
I guess my blonde hair decided it for him. No matter how much I told him that I was nothing to do with them and that my ticket said a completely different number he wouldn't budge. So I just gave up and settled down for the ride. It was only about 4 hours, through fairly flat terrain. Ecuadorian buses remind me of Thai buses, with food-sellers getting on all the time. There were also a few travelling salespeople... one of whom went into
far too much detail about the colour of his urine...
We arrived in Guayaquil at lunch time, and after a mad dash to stop my bag being loaded onto a porters trolley with the bags of the school group, I made my way into the terminal to find a bus to Cuenca. As luck would have it they left every 30mins, so I had time to grab a sandwich before heading to the platform. I ended up being on the animal bus. I saw birds in cages, sausage dogs, and two tiny kittens who were wrapped in their owners jackets... I ended up sitting right at the front of the bus, which sucked as I couldn't
see a thing as the door to the drivers seat blocked everything, and the seat next to me was occupied by a woman and her daughter, who was way too big to be sharing a seat, but the woman kicked up such a fuss when the conductor had a go at her. I tried asking to move seats, but to no avail, partly because if I did the woman (who was the stroppiest ever) would have just taken the seat without paying.
One of the reasons I wanted to sit by the window, or anywhere with a view, was that I had been told that the drive from Guayaquil to Cuenca goes through the
Cajas national park. Cuenca is at 2,400m above sea level, and parts of the park are even higher, going right up to 4,000m, and as you climb you go through the clouds and the end result is stunning... well the glimpses I saw through the gap in the window were stunning...
After another 4 or so hours on the bus we arrived in Cuenca, and I made my way to the taxi stand to go to my hotel. I had toyed with the idea of getting a hostel
in Cuenca, but I just didn't want to. I've spent many a night in a hostel, and truth be told I'm over them. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against hostels, but I just wanted to be able to relax, and relaxing is difficult in a hostel with people constantly coming and going. Whilst reading up about Cuenca at Michelle's place I'd come across
Hotel Milan. It was just I what I was looking for - private room with bathroom, cable tv & breakfast. All the reviews said that it filled up quickly, so I wasn't expecting much when I rang to reserve on my last night in Puerto Lopez. However, I was in luck, it turns out that mid-week there is less demand, it also meant that the rooms were cheaper. So happy in the knowledge that I had a place to stay I got in the taxi and headed to my hotel. It turned out to be right in the city centre, which was perfect. Whilst the room wasn't as pretty as the ones in the pictures (are they ever?) I was happy to see a double bed, as the website had stated single beds. Even better was the
library. It was technically a book exchange, but the guy at reception let me borrow a couple to read whilst I was there.
After a dinner spent people-watching I woke up to find that I hadn't fully recovered from whatever kind of stomach bug I'd picked up in Puerto Lopez (I later found out that Michelle had been ill too, so we put it down to something we ate). Not one to let a dodgy stomach get in the way, I headed out to explore.
Cuenca is pretty, really pretty. It's got all the charm of the Old Town in Quito, but much cleaner and much more compact, with no horrendously steep hills to navigate. There are 52 churches in Cuenca, one for every Sunday of the year. I didn't see all of them, but I saw a fair few. I took a
lot of pictures. I loved the colours of the old colonial buildings. Ecuador's colonial past is very evident in Cuenca, moreso than in Quito. I had no real plans for Cuenca, and was happy to spend my first day wandering around taking numerous photos and relaxing in general. I only really had one fixed plan and
that was to go to see the Inca ruins at Ingapirca, and I had set Saturday aside to do that.
Cuenca is actually quite small. All my wanderings on Thursday meant that I had seen all the main sites. There were many museums that I could have visited, but none of them really appealed to me. Instead I spent the morning sorting out a few things. I booked my ticket back to Quito and also sorted out how to get to Ingapirca for the following day. In the afternoon I made my way to the nearby
Mall de Rio. Opened in 2006, the shopping mall and multiscreen cinema is one of the biggest in Ecuador. I had planned on seeing the new Harry Potter movie, but when I arrived I discovered that all the showings were in Spanish, and the only English one wasn't until 9pm. So instead I went to KFC... We don't have KFC in Argentina, so it was a pleasant change... After an hour or so wandering round the shops I made my way back to the centre of Quito to take more pictures of churches.
Saturday meant an early start as I needed to get to
the bus station to get the bus to
Ingapirca. There are lots of tour groups that will take you to Ingapirca, however the cheapest tour starts at $49, plus park entry fee of $6. That seemed a bit steep to me, especially as it didn't include lunch. A bit of investigation on Friday and I discovered a public bus that will take you there for $5 return, and you get about 2 hours to explore the site. Included in the entry fee is a guide... so really there was no need for a tour.
On arriving at the ruins I saw that the weather wasn't exactly brilliant... and at 3,000m it was kind of chilly. This didn't bode well as I wasn't exactly wearing my warmest clothes (there were all back in wintery Buenos Aires...). However, being British and not afraid of a bit of rain I headed off to explore. The site at Ingapirca was originally a
Cañari settlement, that was taken over by the Incas when they invaded (according to some sources) or a joint Inca-Cañari venture (according to other sources). It was interesting enough, there were some ruins and some reconstructions, so you could see what the
site would have looked like. After the guided tour of the ruins we were directed to a path heading into the valley, where we were told that we would see an Inca face in the hillside... with nothing to lose I headed off. After a ten minute trek through very wet and muddy terrain I was at the bottom of the Inca face. After the obligatory photos I made my way back to the main site and the bus back to Cuenca.
Whilst at Ingapirca I heard about Pumapungo, a small Inca settlement in Cuenca. I decided to go and check it out once I got back to Cuenca. I located it on the map, and off I went... by the time I got to the edge of the Old Town I began to realise that it was further away than I had first thought... I checked a map by the side of a church and yes, it was quite a way out of town. Given that it was getting late and the light was fading I decided to head back to the hotel and leave it for Sunday.
Whilst it hadn't been the main reason I had
booked a hotel with cable, it certainly played a big role in my decision. Sunday was the
German Grand Prix. I hadn't expected to be able to watch it as I thought I'd be in Quito, but when I realised that I would be in Cuenca, it made sense to watch it. It's been a long time since I'd watched the Latin American coverage on Fox, as I usually watch the BBC coverage on the IPlayer, mainly because the Fox coverage is shite, and you can't beat the beeb. So I set my alarm for 7am... I needn't have bothered. In Ecuador Sunday church services start at 5am... and in a city with a 52 churches, that's a hell of a lot of church bells... Needless to say I was wide awake by the time race started. Sunday also turned out to be a pretty miserable day weather wise, so I scrapped my plans to visit Pumapungo and had a lazy morning in front of the TV before checking out. I had some time to kill so I went to take even more pictures of even more churches before heading to the airport.
As luck would have it the weather brightened when
I arrived at the airport, but that didn't bother me, as I settled down in the departure's lounge to watch the beginning of the
Copa America final. The flight was scheduled to be 45 mins to Quito, and I was expecting some turbulence, as we were going to crossing the Andes, however, it got off to a fairly smooth start. Once the drinks service started I relaxed, as we were nearly there... and then it hit us. Just as the lady next to me was pointing out the volcano to me (there are lots of volcanoes in Ecuador, and we were flying right next to one) the turbulence hit us. And it was bad. It was like the plane was being thrown around by two invisible giants. And right in the middle of it the pilot decided to turn to approach the city of Quito... I've never been so relieved to land before... However, I'd made it back in one piece and was looking forward to spending my last few days in Quito with Michelle.
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