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Published: July 14th 2008
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Ingapirca
las ruinas No me recuerdo que pasó en miércoles o jeuves pero este fin de semana fuimos a Cuenca. On the way there we stopped at Ingapirca, Incan ruins of the Cañari 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 bought these llama hair sweaters for $10 each. It´s pretty cool looking. Hippity Dippity. I also bought something for sister (not saying what on here!). Now I have gifts for Mom, Dad, sister, a couple friends and boyfriend. The ruins were small but have a lot of history. Apparently there are more all over the place but they don´t have the money to excavate. They drainage systems were totally awesome and the ideas are still used in Incan cities today. I didn´t realize that there were so many indigenous people of the Incan lifestyle still around in the Andes. We ate almuerzo at the site and has delicious spinach soup and this stuff called monte pillo.
After Ingapirca we finished the trip to Cuenca. The trip there showed us
Iglesia 1
Some big church a lot of typical Ecuador. Lots of tiny houses that look like sheds. Everywhere in this country we see houses or just places that we can´t imagine peopl living in and then see laundry hanging out. We also saw a TON of banana trees. There are stray dogs everywhere- it´s the country´s squirrels. For those who have seen Europe, apparently Cuenca is very similar. The roads are all cobblestone and the buildings line the streets like in movies. The people there even look more European and the town could be in the US because everyone speaks English. We went to a bar where they loved having us and they all spoke English. Everyone is much whiter but their Spanish (when they use it) is faster, typical of los serranos. There are no begging children in the streets. Lots of churches. Huge beautiful churches. Don´t worry, I took pictures. Friday night a couple of us went out and Cuenca is quite a boring place at night. More stories about that when I get home. Dayne met a guy in Guayaquil and of course he is charming and came all the way to Cuenca to hang out with us. Why are gay
Iglesia de San Francisco
HUGE church in the Centro. People actually pray here so I felt bad taking pictures but it is beautiful. guys so awesome?
Saturday we woke up way too early so we could go to Gualaceo and Chordeleg, about 40 minutes away from Cuenca. Chordeleg is a cute little town that is closer to what typical Ecuador is. We went shopping and I bought a couple really tiny sounveniers. I finally found 2 postcards but the postcards here suck. I think I am going to print out a few pictures and send them home as postcards instead. Sorry guys. Anyway, Chordeleg has tons of jewelery stores. They are way cheaper than the US but still not anything I needed to buy. So many of the girls on this trip are filthy rich. Heading back toward Cuenca we stopped in Gualaceo where we had lunch ($1.50, god I am going to miss this) and did a little shopping. I ate this fruit called Grandilla, which you crack open and eat these seeds inside. The seeds are in a clear goo and are crunchy and it looks like alien brains. Tastes sweet though. I also bought a salsa CD because they only cost a dollar. Anyone want any movies or CDs? Spanish or English.
By the time we got back
Cuenca
Cuenca from above. I felt like crap. We still went to a mall in Cuenca that had a wonderful hipermercado and then to this point on top of Cuenca where you can see the whole city. I bought this awesome shawl, scarf thing and it looks hot. Came back and we went to this restuarant bar thing that looked realllllyyy cool, but I left because I started feeling sick. Veronica had stayed in the night before with a stomach virus and I think I got it now. I just slept and took my first hot shower since I got here. I literally jjust stood there for a half hour. Soooo nice. Sunday we woke up deathly early again and walked around a bit. I felt sick and went back to the hotel. We left for Guayaquil via Cajas National Park around 10. Cajas is this huge park that is all religious. Apparently in 1988 some 16 year old girl saw Virgin Mary and was directed to build her statue, Jesus and hold mass every Sunday. It was really beautiful and creepy. There are mountains that just beg you to climb them and apparently a lot of extranjeros do and just never come back.
Granadilla
looks like alien brains but tastes pretty good. yea, I ate that they say the virgin took them. I had cachuetes dulces there, didn´t buy a roasy even though I was drawn the them, and then we continued through. It was a very rough ride because I felt sick, the roads suck, and the fog came so it was very scary. Really though, the Andes are beautiful.
Well I have a test project due in 2 hours and need to do that so I will write more later. Miss you home! I love hearing from you.
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