Ecuador

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Cuenca - Day 12

At 7am we heard some kids singing. Must be a school nearby. Decided to get going early. Took a taxi to the bus depot, found Alianza to get our ticket to Cuenca. The bus driver was at the counter, so we just followed him out to the bus, which was up one floor. Tickets were $8, and the ride about 4.5 hours. There was a big Mac's at the terminal. They seem to be all over Ecuador, including a very conspicuous one on the north end of Malecon 2000 in Guayaquil.

Bus stopped for a couple of tolls and for gas ($2.29 here). Saw some egret and hawk-like birds along the way. Out of the town Jesus Maria, we bought a chicken empanada to tide us over. This guy made quite a few sales on the bus.

The bus traveled through the national park, Parque Nacional Cajas. This is an extremely wet and foggy area, which feeds rivers that flow into Cuenca. Lots of small lakes within the park. The area is very cold, and can drop below freezing at night. Many miles out of the park we were still experiencing heavy fog. Once the fog cleared, the area was beautiful, very big hills and valleys, a couple of waterfalls, and a few llamas and sheep.

We took a taxi from the depot to our hostel, Hostal Hogar Cuencano, at Hermano Miguel 4,36 and Callle Larga. The hostel had a nice airy room with a huge window, WiFi, open staircases full of plants. This was a perfect location for us, close to some good restaurants, the main plaza, and the river. Found some lunch at a good Cuban restaurant around the corner from the hostel. This was an amuerezo (set lunch) for the unbelievable price of $2.50, which included a big bowl of potato soup, delicious fish, rice, salad, and a glass of mora (blackberry) juice. The recommendation came from the owner of the hostel.

After lunch, we started to explore the city. We walked a few blocks to the city's largest plaza, Parque Calderon. The plaza is dominated by Catedral de la Inaculada Concepcion. This is the "new cathedral", started in 1885. The towers are a little short because of an engineering error, and the original design couldn't be supported by the building. The "new cathedral", El Sagrario, was begun in 1557. All around the plaza you see amazing architecture in the old buildings. All the little streets leading to the plaza are very picturesque. Many have balconies with wrought iron railings and colorful flowers.

Mid-afternoon the rains set in, and it poured for quite a while. Later we walked around the area at night. The plaza and the churches are beautiful when lit. We found a bakery and someone with a wheelbarrow full of cherries. That's our breakfast for tomorrow. We had good sandwiches for dinner at the Moliendo Cafe around the corner from the hostel.

Fun day in Cuenca. We'll explore more tomorrow.

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