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Published: December 29th 2005
After not doing Riobamba justice (didn't really look around that much) you would have thought that Emma and I would do a better job of seeing Cuenca, Ecuador's third largest city. Unfortunately the laziness hadn't yet worn off so we really only saw a portion of the city and didn't explore as we normally would.
That said, we immediately felt at home in Cuenca. Despite the warnings in the guidebook that care should be taken after 10pm, we didn't once feel threatened, which wasn't true of Riobamba. We were in Cuenca as we'd heard that the Christmas processions were something worth seeing, and we didn't want to be travelling over Christmas, despite my "bah humbug" tendencies! Cuenca lived up to our expectations and then some....
We'd arrived with the same crew that we'd been in Ingapirca with; Rein and his wife Char (she won't tell me what it's short for!) and Olivier (the French rocket scientist and generally nice chap). Whilst there we met up with a host of characters that we'd seen along the way, Cuenca at Christmas turned out to be a popular choice.
On our first night we set off and wandered around, only to
stumble across a festive choiral display by some of the city's children. The display was great fun, all the more for the 5 year old boy in the front row who was really getting down to the tunes, funking the evening away (but only when the teacher wasn't looking - I saw him reprimanded a couple of times for being too damned funky!). I'm trying to get hold of some video footage of the incident so we can share the humour - would have been a winner on You've Been Framed for sure!
The rest of Cuenca was equally enjoyable. The processions for Christmas are famous across Ecuador and attract huge numbers of spectators and participants. The whole thing goes on for about 6 hours so we didn't watch it all, but what we did see we very much enjoyed. Again the music got a bit draining, the same distorted Ecuadorian Christmas tune was played over and over and over again such that I couldn't stop humming it when I left..... very annoying, for those around me as much as me! The procession itself was really good as everybody involved has made a massive effort. Parents had dressed their
kids in a variety of Christmas themes and although not all the kids seemed to see the fun side of the event with most it went down well.
On Christmas Eve Emma and I went, along with numerous friends from our travels thusfar, to a local restaurant that was offering proper Christmas dinner. On the other side of the world I didn't expect it to be like Mum's home cooking, and in fairness it couldn't have been, but what we got at the Eucalyptus Café was plenty good enough. Shame that the previous evening they had live carols sung by a professional choir and we instead got "It's a Beautiful Life" on a huge screen, but there you go. To top the evening off, Char bought everybody a small present so that they'd have something for Christmas even though they were far from home, which was a lovely gesture and one that everyone appreciated wholeheartedly. Thanks Char!
The rest of our time in Cuenca was spent either avoiding rain or playing pool in our hotel. Mick, another ex-inmate of the Secret Garden, was also staying at our hotel. This lead to he and I spending an unhealthy amount
of time in the pool room, inventing a new billiards-based game, and generally making the most of the facilities (without going outdoors, which was wet and orrible). After weeks of being on the road I think we all appreciated having a base for a few days, but on Boxing Day it was all over, and we were on the road yet again. The destination this time? Our first border crossing of the journey...... Peru. We didn't know what to expect, and we didn't expect what we found!
** By the way, a belated Merry Christmas to all of you who are following our travels on this blog, and may you have a happy and prosperous New Year...... **
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JILL GREENGRASS
non-member comment
enjoying
Happy New Year to you both. Am enjoying reading your adventures though quite envious. Makes my trip to Spain seem tame! Will have to just get on and start arranging my next trip to some distant lands. Enjoy Peru as I certainly did,awaiting next instalment! Cheers, Jill