BEAUTIFUL CUENCA

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Well we have been blown away by Cuenca. We arrived 3 days ago after an arduous 11 hour bus trip from Quito, checked into an interesting Hotel where we stayed in the loft and had a very chilly night.

After a quick change of hotel in the morning, we headed off to a Military Parade. We had timed our trip to Cuenca to coincide with their annual celebration of their Independence from Spain. (189 years this year). The parade was impressive and went on for well over an hour. So many people had turned out for the event that it was hard to get a good spot (particularly as the crowd we all armed with umbrellas to keep the warm sun off). The atmosphere was electric and it was a real family event.

Off to the historic centre (UNESCO) and Cuenca really is a beautiful, classy city. It's very European, probably most like an Italian city, with tree-lined plazas, ornate buildings, marble churches and well dressed people. The new Cathedral is very special and grand.

We ate at a nice restaurant on the main plaza, trying the traditional Cuencan food. It was good, without being sensational.

On our walk back to the hotel we went to a very good craft fair and then on to an outdoor market.

That evening, the celebrations escalated with a visit and address from the President of Ecuador. People were cheering and clapping him and shouting out his name - we thought about whether Gordon Brown would get the same reception at a public gathering in London? ... The evening climaxed with the funniest fireworks we've seen (Jan & Gary - it made Cropredy look good!). The fireworks were arranged on a sort of platform and went off in lots of directions (a bit dangerous really). This was followed by some wonderful traditional music and dance performances. All in all, a really fun night.

Yesterday we booked some flights to the Galapagos -hurrah! We leave on Saturday. Very excited about it.
We then went to the inside of the new Cathedral and while it was not as ornate as the exterior it was impressive.

Today we did a City Tour with another couple. We're not usually into the tour group thingy but it was well worth it. We started with a visit to the Modern Art Museum - much of the art was not for us but the building itself was nice (a converted prison). We saw some shops which restored Panama Hats (sort of recoated them in a white paint so they looked good as new). We went to the most wonderful permanent indoor food market, filled with fruit, veg and meats. Most of the stalls seems to be run by indiginous women, many of them in their customary dress, and the quality of the goods was impressive. We walked through some interesting and crumbling streets, some with Inca ruins, with unusual shops - including one museum which was all about satanic things (probably not that welcome in such a Catholic city!). We went to see Panama Hats being made and actually did resist the temptation to buy one, although they are beautiful ... Finished off with a trip up to a lookout over the city. Almost half a million people so it was a big sprawl of building.

Off tomorrow to visit the Ingapirca tribes and another market, then to Guayaquil overnight before our early morning flight on Saturday to the Galapagos. Until next time...

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Photos

Military Parade
Celebrating Cuenca's Independence