Cuenca Ecuador

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DAYS 33-34 Today started with a 2 hr local bus trip to Riobamba, where we swapped for another 6 hr bus trip south to Cuenca. Long bus trips will become the norm going forward but its the only real option to cover the distances between stops in such a vast continent.



The exit out of Banos was another drizzly morning with lots of mist. The start was more rugged mtns, deep canyons, fast running rivers & intense agriculture. Every shade of green was on view giving a stunning patchwork of crops of all shapes & sizes on every square inch of available land along the valley floor right up to the roadside & rising to incredibly high terraces. Usually above the terraces were dwellings on precarious cliff tops.

The route was climbing much of the way to Riobamba off the main roads past poor villages where like the rest of the country most of the dwellings are of poor cement brick construction, all looking semi finished, abandoned or un-occupied. Most are occupied but the family only lives on the bottom floor with steel reinforcing rods & concrete supports up to 2nd & 3rd levels waiting for later construction so their children can move in when ready to start their own families.

Once we reached the top our guide asked us to look out to the left & use our imagination that it was a sunny day as in better weather we would have a clear view of Mt Chimborazo, the highest mtn in Ecuador at 6310 mtrs. While disappointing I have seen very impressive photos. The guide cheekily said that the peak is the closest point from earth to the moon! Past Riobamba the views were just as stunning until almost all the way to Cuenca but less intense farming. The B grade movies on the bus was getting more attention than the spectacular views outside. Amazing as it was in Spanish as well! It was one of the most sustained panoramic drives I can remember. Our guide said we were very lucky as he has travelled the route many times & said it is almost always shrouded in mist. Unfortunately no photo to show as too difficult from a moving bus.

Cuenca (Valley) is considered the most attractive city in Ecuador by retaining its Old World charm of many 16th and 17th-century buildings from the Spanish era with an historic centre, cobbled streets and elegant squares especially the Parque Calderon & the Cathedral Nueva. However, the city's history stretches back hundreds of years earlier from pre Incas time and called Tomebamba. The city was said to have rivalled Peru's Cuzco for its beauty, but the glory was short lived and the city was razed during the Inca civil war. Such well preserved modern history has earned Cuenca a Unesco World Heritage listing.

Cuenca is staunchly RC & sunday pretty much the whole town closes down. We were able to go to a Panama hat factory to see how they are made & to understand the history of why Cuenca is only 1 of 2 places in the world where the genuine hats are made & the other is not Panama.

In the afternoon we hired taxis & headed out for a self guided trek to the El Cajas National Park, which features some of the most varied and spectacular scenery in the country from cloud forest to rocky lunar landscapes, but it's the many beautiful lakes scattered among jagged peaks that most characterise the reserve. The park gave us our first real experience with altitude where parts of the park reach nearly 4000 mtrs. Generally we all coped with the flat parts of the trail but could feel some breathlessness on the upward sections. Most felt re-assured they could cope with the Inca trail.

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Photos

Guide buys all the girls roses
Flowers are a massive export for Equador

Comments

[maureen]

Hi
Great happy picture