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Published: June 13th 2007
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The plan was to sell Miriam's Car in Cuenca with the help of her Brother Santiago, so that involved a fairly substantial road trip but first we would stop in Babahoyo to pay a visit to Miriam's Mum and Aunt.
I always enjoy coming out of Quito and hitting the tropical plains and feeling the warm breeze, looking at the local shops and houses as they pass by.
Babahoyo is a fairly plain town with no Tourist attractions as such and merely a place most people pass through to get somewhere else. It is surrounded by two rivers, the San Pablo and the Caracol, which joined form the Babahoyo river, which flows into the Guayas river, eventually ending in the sea.
A processing and trade centre for the surrounding agricultural region handling rice, sugarcane, fruits, balsa wood, and tagua nuts (vegetable ivory). Rice and sugar are also milled there.
Miriam's Mum I had met before but her Aunt I had not had the pleasure, she currently migrates between NYC and Ecuador and I was told she was a little Crazy.
I was told right, imagine if you will a female Latino Rab C Nesbitt with a mouth that would
Inside The Spanish Cathedral
The floor is covered with pink marble, brought from Carrara (Italy). leave a Duracell Bunny in a coma..........but friendly none the less.
The next morning we got up and in a semi state of consciousness packed and had breakfast while having another verbal onslaught none of which I could fully comprehend due to a lack of subject consistency and thankfully we were on our way again.
Cuenca The road to Cuenca due to it being in the mountains is a little less than safe especially in the tiny Chevrolet we were in, also take into the fact that we hit Cloud level and suddenly had vision of around 10ft and a somewhat damaged road made for an exciting journey. As you rise above cloud level however you are greeted with some spectacular sites of the mountainous valleys and surrounding parks and lakes.
Cuenca is a funny old place having British Weather, Spanish Architecture in a Latin American Setting. Cuenca also is a very cultural place and its 18th century surroundings has produced more notable writers, poets, artists, and philosophers than anywhere else in Ecuador. Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay province and was founded in 1557, the third largest city in the nation, and the economic center of
Ingapirca
The Incas used weapons and had wars with other civilizations in the area. The Inca army was the most powerful in the area at that time, because they could turn an ordinary villager or farmer into a soldier, ready for battle. This is because every male Inca had to take part in war at least once so as to be prepared for warfare again when needed. the southern Sierra. These distinctions, along with the city's incredibly preserved history, recently earned Cuenca the honor of being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site.
We spent most of our time here finding a place to sell Miriam's car with her Brother Santiago who we were staying with.
His place which had two floors, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, lounge and a small garden and patio cost only 28,000 pound which is amazing.
Anyway we were very well looked after, the only problem was the cold climate and that it rained while we there pretty much solidly for four days even causing the local rivers to overflow.
Ingapirca Santiago was also kind enough to take us to Ingapirca as I had not seen any Incan ruins what so ever and it would be a shame to leave without doing so.
located in Cañar province. Ingapirca sports 240 square kilometres and a population of approximately 14,000 inhabitants. The archaeological complex stands around 10,000 feet above sea level and is Ecuador's only major Inca site with a building intact, the so-called Temple of the Sun or Castillo, which was erected in an elliptical form, coinciding with the movement
of the sun. This complex was mostly a ceremonial site, used for worship and astronomy, which were one in the Inca's world concept and it is known that the great Inca emperor Huayna Capac, himself spent time there. It is built upon an older Cañari site. The Cañari nation was conquered by the Incas after a long and hard fight in the 1470's.
The site is pretty small and not very inspiring but maybe in its day it stood as an impressive monument to the Incan Culture and I was pleased to have seen it.
Home The trip home was fairly tiring being on a bus for so long but the trip back through the Cajas National Park was astounding showing some of the most beautiful views in Ecuador but I was pleased to return home to my apartment and bed in Quito after such a Long journey.
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