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Published: August 21st 2006
Greetings to our friends and family from Cuenca,
Our group has split up now, with Rosemarie and Gail heading off north from Puyo to Quito, to catch a plane to Auckland and Lima on Tuesday. We´re hoping that they will be putting an entry on here themselves, so we can keep up with what they´ve been doing on the way.
Well after 2 days of traveling by bus Diane and Jean have finally arrived in Cuenca which is a beautiful city with magnificent churches, museums and lovely colonial buildings. We have found a great hotel , near the main plaza with nice room with private bathroom, breakfast included for $30 a night (and that is on the expensive side for Ecuador) The lobby is marble and has a sweeping staircase and a gallery around the top, very colonial.
The 5 hours bus trip from Puyo to Macas was bad enough but yesterday we spent 10 hours on bumpy unsealed roads travelling from jungle right up over the Andes and in the clouds to Cuenca. The buses here insist on having loud latin music the whole time so you can´t have a conversation. It is too bumpy to read
a book or do a crossword so it was a very boring uncomfortable trip with only one proper toilet stop (unless you wanted to go by the side of the bus)! However it was very scenic and we saw some amazing sights on the way and we did share the bus with a chicken.
You certainly don´t come to Ecuador for a gastronomic experience unless you love maize and beans and they eat a lot of stodge e.g. rice and potatoes together. However eating out can be a bargain. One thing which is very popular here is chicken on a spit and there are little cafes serving only this. In Macas we were stuggling to find anywhere that looked inviting to eat and we found the chicken so decided as it was hot off the spit it should be fresh. First we were brought a chicken broth with vegetables and gizzards (the broth was delicious but we left the ´bits´). Then we were brought a big piece of very tasty chicken with rice and fries and a bit of tomato and onion salad and we had a beer each. Total cost $4.00! (For 2)
The weird thing about
food here is that the markets are full of beautiful fresh vegetables but you never seem to get them on your plate even when we were staying with the family. There is always soup with a few veges in it to start the meal but thats about it.
Another bit of interesting info is that a guinea pig is not only a local delicacy, but is also used for diagnostic purposes. The patient visits a special hospital, where the shaman (natural healer) takes a live guinea pig, and rubs it all over the person´s body (clothed? We don´t know). Then the poor old guinea pig gets strangled, cut open, and then supposedly it has taken on the ailment of the patient (ie enlarged heart) - a sort of live X-ray. Natural healing is a big thing here, and Diane and Rosemarie never went anywhere without their supply of macas plant to keep the mozzies and fleas away!
Trying for photos ...
DJ
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Enid
non-member comment
!Que vacasiones!
!Que leyendo maravilloso! Have been incomunicado here due to computadora colapso total, so this is my first blog on to catch up on your adventures. !Gwow! It all sounds fascinating, makes me feel very nostalgic and wish I was with you so keep writing. En primer lugar estar picadoras de pulgas,?ahora de mosquito? pero -por favor - no mordiscos de cocodrilo!!!! !Que lo pase bien y hasta luego! it all sounds wonderful and