Cuenca, Ecuador

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

In the three weeks since we arrived here, our trips outside of Cuenca have included the Inca and Cañari ruins of Ingapirca, the natural hot springs at Piedra de Aqua, the Cajas National Park, the El Chorro waterfall, and the towns of Girón, Chordeleg, and Gualaceo. Obviously none of these names mean much unless you are familiar with Ecuador, but they are all online for those who are interested in finding out more about them. Each of these trips has its own story, as do the roughly 1000 photos we have taken. So far we have had few mishaps, and the ones we have had were relatively minor - like getting locked in the Old Cathedral Museum in Cuenca with our guide when the guards went to lunch, and losing the photos taken of us in the mud baths of Piedra de Aqua because we forgot to give them our email address. Almost everything has required walking - from hiking for over two hours in the Andes at Cajas National Park, to climbing the waterfall of El Chorro (we didn’t think we could do that), to wandering around Cuenca and the surrounding towns for hours at a time. Though often tired, we have so far avoided injuries, serious gastrointestinal problems (despite eating roasted guinea pig, or cuy, with the locals at a festival in Girón), or getting burned by the sun in the thin mountain air near the Equator. We were interviewed by an Ecuadorean national TV crew (though I don’t think they used the interview), and we were photographed with the Mayor of Girón - not because of anything special we did but just because we happened to be highly visible Gringos in a sea of Mestizos. More to follow.

Best Wishes and Love to All

Niels and Kelly

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Comments

[Thomas]

Love the photo of eating with the locals in Giron
Niels & Kelly, I'm truly enjoying your blog and looking forward to hearing about your future adventures in Ecuador. I plan on traveling there in mid to late May and my interests are local culture and architecture. I try to avoid the tourist routes. Unfortunately I'm not retired and I will only have 10 days to spend there. I am from NY and have lived in Asia for several years but have very little experience traveling in South America. Thank you!

[jubilados]

Buen Viaje
Thomas: You may know this already, but we have found speaking even a little Spanish, particularly polite hellos and goodbyes, to be an amazingly effective way to elicit smiles and friendly behavior. Not sure exactly why. It could be because so many Gringos don't bother with this little detail, and it seems to really matter to the locals. You almost can't be too polite. If you have no experience with the Spanish language, even memorizing a few polite phrases from a phrase book might greatly improve the quality of your experience. Hope you enjoy your journey. Niels and Kelly

[gail l.]

Thanks!
Thanks so very much for taking time to do the blog. I\'ll travel vicariously any day, rather then not to learn about another people and place. Your photos are amazing and you look like your having a wonderful time!