http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Ecuador , South , Cuenca en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:10:09 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:10:09 UTC I cannot describe adequately the beauty that exists in Cajas National Park it was truly a soul stirring and mind bogglingly amazing natural wonder. I have seen so much natural beauty in my life which is so difficult to compare. I would easily line up Cajas with Zion and Glacier and the others that are tied for top places to be stunned into awe. As usual none of the pictures come close to capt http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-350477.html I am pleased to report a couple of great days have passed here in Cuenca Ecuador. On Thanksgiving day morning I woke up about 5am which still gave me the needed 8 hours of solid wonderful sleep I had been dreaming about so many puns. Got checkouted and to the Riobamba Train station at quarter 'til 6am. I just walked along the line of buses getting ready to leave the first guy yelling Qu http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-349477.html You have to be a Star Trek fan to get the heading this time but it sums up our reflection on how all things are comparative and nothing is absolute. After four days in the jungle and three in the tents for the first time last night saw us drive the truck into Cuenca Ecudaors third largest city and check into a hotel. Smiles from all the ladies as we were allocated rooms of our own with ensui http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-348494.html Hello everybody. I am a few cities behind since my lost blog. The Mr. Allen goes to the beach blog was from a small beach town about half way down the coast called Canoa. If it was too cryptic well I dont apologize but I wanted to try something different.From Canoa I travelled south along the Ruta del Sol a highway that runs along the coast. I dont think the highway got its name from this http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-342030.html Monday began clear and sunny and we talked Carlos our guide into skipping the scheduled market tour. Instead we drove to Cajas National Park 35k west of Cuenca for a 3 12 hour hike. It was beautiful there and reminded me of the Lake District or perhaps the Scottish Highlands without the heather mountain lakes everywhere and mountains green with vegetation.I was hoping to see a humming bird or t http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-341699.html On Friday we departed Quito with our guide Carlos and driver Ivan for a fiveday tour of the Ecuadorian highlands. The Cotopaxi National Park is home to the highest active volcano at 5897m. Unfortunately due to low clouds we only caught a glimpse of the snowcapped peak. Although we didn't see a puma we did see an equally shy Andean fox a couple of grazing llamas and several small birds on the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-341047.html Hierbij nog wat fotos http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-335576.html Det gaar gjetord om alle problemene som kan oppstaa ved grensepasseringen fra Peru til Ecuador. Helst boer denne passeringen skje paa natterstid da grensevaktene er mest interessert i aa sove og ikke gaar av veien for aa gjoere en slett jobb. Men vi tok sjansen paa en dagbuss og det viste seg at grensepasseringen gikk greit. Der i mot var bussen en liten overraskelse. Det ble ikke med to busstur http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-335565.html Fotos van Cajas en Cuenca http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-335564.html Hey all have a bit to catch up with. I started Friday with a relaxing morning lie in journal writing and massage in the hotel which wasnt as relaxing as I had hoped for I got my back massage and a few knots worked but also got a bum massage which was just weird So I told them to get back to my shouldersIn the afternoon matt and I want climbing with Paulo from yesterday and his mate Osc http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-331192.html We have finally been able to or more truthfully gotten round to setting up a travelblog. Hopefully it will be informative or even slightly entertaining for you to see what we have been up to and where we are going next. The trip started as you all know in Lima the not so scary capital of Peru we came before but did not see much more than the airport and a bus terminal. This time we went to the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-329202.html Domestic bus travel in Ecuador had novelty value from the very beginning with the toilets in Loja's bus terminal being free of charge. Any Peruvian visitors would have broken out in a cold sweat at the lack of security checks as we boarded the bus. The initial stretch of road was so poor that I could have hopped faster and the nearly 6 hours to cover just over 200km warranted a Laos comparison http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-327959.html Bijna een jaar na dato vertrekken we a.s zaterdag weer naar Ecuador.Vorig jaar hebben we de Galapagos eilanden en de Oriente bezochtdit jaar bezoeken we de Andes.Het startpunt is Cuenca en het eindpunt is Quito. Door middel van dit blog willen wij familie en vrienden op de hoogte houden van ons reilen en zeilen. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-325059.html Nach langer Zeit haben wir mal wieder InternetAnschluss da wird es Zeit Euch mal wieder auf dem aktuellen Stand unseres EcuadorAbenteuers zu bringen. Unser Schwerpunkt als Bergverrueckte lag ganz klar in der Sierra. Aber auch nach unserer Cotopaxi Besteigung wurden die Abenteuer nicht weniger. Hier die Highlights unserer Reise von Riobamba ueber Cuenca Richtung Sueden bis Vilcabamba unser g http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-324013.html Mancora is the perfect little beach town to rest a few days and even got a little bit of sunburn and a few mosquito bites just like home I met some hippiejewelry making types and was invited to a drum circle. haven039t been to one of those since Miami it was amazing and met people from as close as Chicago and as far a Australia. After spending too much time at the travel agent trying to f http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-323147.html Cuenca Cuenca Ecuador's 3rd largest city elevation 2530m is firmly anchored in its colonial past. It is a charming small city and has a similar population and size as Gothenburg.We stayed in the best hotel we've had so far very colonical colourful and characteristic with excellent breakfasts and free tea all day too which made San extra happy Cuenca has been described as Ecuadors most bea http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-321115.html After arriving at 5.30am in the morning I was delighted to find out that my hotel room was ready I straight away jumped in to bed and thought I could get a few hours kip. This was short lived as the buses soon came roaring past my hotel room And let me just add here that I really needed the extra hours sleep as the bus from Riobamba to Cuenca was hardly a smooth or comfortable ride. I would be http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-315474.html Day 41 Saturday 9th August Colonial CuencaCuenca is Ecuador's third city after Quito and Guayaquil and its colonial beauty is supposed to rival that of Quito's old town. Enjoy a walk around the town in the morning and I have to say that whilst it is very pleasant I think Quito's old town has the upper hand. Although a city of some 400000 people Cuenca is relatively compact and you can ea http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-310199.html Our journey Loja to Cucena took 5 12 hours and ranks up there with one of our worst bus journeys there was air con instead of windows that open and we were both feeling rough before we even got on the bus. With high speed and bumpy windy roads most of the people on the bus were sick but we made it. Cucena is Ecuador's third largest city with pretty cobblestone streets lined with modern ammeniti http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-306890.html Cuenca is a lovely well preserved colonial city in the south of Ecuador. We only stopped off there for a day on our way to the Peruvian border.After our night of no sleep and silent resentment we went out to explore the city. I proved definitively that I am turning into my parents by spending the morning looking round a market commenting on the size of the fish and how interesting the potatoes http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-305341.html We arrived in Cuenca back in the mountains again this time further south and quickly walked round the standard sights. There were 2 cathedrals an old and a new the latter being so much more impressive with big blue domes and decorative facades. Heading down to the river we past what turned out to be the flower market which was really just a couple of flower stalls. The river was pretty with http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-303387.html During Puerto Lopez I decided to tag along with a friend from the Galapagos tour who was doing some heavy duty travelling around South Ecuador thanks Claire for the trip and your excellent spanish speaking skills mine were very poor but youll be pleased to know are getting better now. Cuenca was next on the list. From the Puerto Lopez hostal we got the the strangest moto taxi Ive ever s http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-300254.html No me recuerdo que pas en mircoles o jeuves pero este fin de semana fuimos a Cuenca. On the way there we stopped at Ingapirca Incan ruins of the Caari people. The ride up the mountains was beautiful but extremely painful scary and sickening because the roads are dirt and rock and curvy. When we finally got there it was drizzling and freeeeezing. The Incan locals were very friendly and we bou http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-299703.html Day 68Bus arrived in Trujillo and had to sit around for hours waiting for the connecting bus to Piura. From Piura we had another little wait and then got on the next bus to Mancora a little beach town in northern Peru which didnt arrive till about 11pm. Stumbled to the hostel which was a hell hole but we were too tired to do anything about it so decided to crash out despite the shower full of http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-296270.html So I have told most of you about our time in Quito our wonderful Christmas experience at the local shelter and our exciting out of town travel adventures but now I would like to give you a glimpse into our daily lives here in Cuenca Ecuador. Today our first alarm went off at 615 a.m.mdashthree alarms later Chris is up out of bed and doing pushups. Irsquom still half asleep gra http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-295024.html Sair de Guayaquil foi um alivio. Nao via a hora de deixar esse calor dos infernos e voltar aos bons andes. impossivel ser feliz nos tropicos ja dizia a Patimonia. Nao bem assim mas um bom ar condicionado ajuda muito. E isso falta nos onibus e em muitos lugares dessa cidade. Ao menos sair de Guayaquil foi barato. 6 dolares. Vamos Cuenca. 4 horas de uma viagem com uma bruta mudanca climatica http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-290627.html Getting to Cuenca was a pretty long journey.... but I suppose everything is long here compared to tiny Ireland First we got a bus back to Ambato then a long bus journey to Cuenca. Cuenca is a beautiful colonial town in Ecuador with lots of little cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings. We stayed in a cool hostel called ElCafecito which is a funky caferestaurant with rooms out the back. We http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-288536.html Well Im back in mi linda Cuenca after almost a year. I was woken this morning rather annoyingly by peals of bells at quarter to seven I would be greatly indebted to any Catholics out there who could inform me just what is so special about 6.45am on a Thursday morning...and 7.05.....and 7.23.....in fact the bells continued at frequent intervals until eight so I just gave up on trying to readju http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-286995.html Today we hit up the most important Inca ruin in Ecuador Ingapirca located in the Canar province. No Machu Picchu but impressive nonetheless. The area is named for the Canari peoples who used to inhabit this part of Ecuador some time ago. The Inca's eventually conquered the Canari after a long and hard fought war in the late 1400s. After conquering their foes the Incas razed the existing Canari http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-282635.html We opted for a lowkey Saturday there was 1 museum that we wanted to hit up laundry shop for souvenirs and eat some guinea pig. Yes that's right guinea pig...but more about that later.We strolled along the riverbank enroute to the Museo Pumapungo it was teeming with folks out enjoying the sunshine. Some local ladies even hauled their laundry out and were washing it oldschool style in the r http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-282632.html