Crespo Cuenca

... which was nice after roughing it for a few days and we went exploring. There were quite a lot of touristy shops which we didn´t bother with but we found the main market and had an amazing lunch just at one of the little stands there with small tables. Lots of ladies in aprons had mini kitchens going so we pulled up a chair and had the best chicken and llapingachos (traditional potato cakes) for about $2 total. Then we wandered to the lovely park and admired the clock tower and ...

... aangedurfd ;-). <br><br>Na de treinrit hebben we vanuit Alausi de bus genomen naar Cuenca, een rit van 4 uur in een vrij gammele bus. Maar we zijn er heelhuids uitgekropen :-). We waren al blij dat we een zitplaats hadden, ze hadden blijkbaar zitjes dubbel verkocht. Alles om extra geld te verdienen van de gringo's... <br><br>Ons hostal in Cuenca heeft een eigen keuken. Dus eenmaal we aangekomen waren, zijn we naar de supermarkt vertrokken en hebben we zelf ...

... plunge into a childrens play area that had two water slides. It was an area protected by rocks and was only worth a visit at high tide when the water breached the rocks and found its way into the pool area. Several large Sea Lions were lounging around but this did not stop Jody from trying out the water slides.<br><br>After our excitement we returned to our apartment. Christie knocked us up a spaghetti dish with tuna, tomatoes, sweetcorn and Spanish onion, and we retired.

... their sins (it took a long time) we have a mooch down by the river and head for some culture in one of the local museums. I know you might all be shocked by this...but they had some shrunken ecuadorain heads we had to check out! They used to do this to murderers back in the day. After we´re done we head to the nearest bar.....bottle of vino by the river just to get a balance between culture and booze. Great day.<br><br>

... roasted pig! Yummy! Whoever is in charge simply carves off such succulent chunks of pork, reheats it on a pan and chucks in some salad and potato and, of course, crackling. Delicious. Especially for $2.<br><br>Unfortunately, after all the excitement of the pork and the hats I began to feel rather tired. Nay, exhausted. Then came the banging headache, aching, and fevers. My first thought, in this world of pandemic paranoia, was of swine flu. So I checked ...

... a day a group of them (5-8) go up or down the road in front of the house. They are horses for hire--for tours. First they go up the street, all saddled up. Then they come down the street minus their saddles. Sometimes a guy on a motorcycle herds them down the road- a modern day caballero! The downside is that they leave little presents up and down the road. If I were mayor, they'd have to hit the outskirts of town. Oh wait-we are sort of in the outskirts ...

... the road opened up into one long straight, flanked on both sides by beautiful verdant green fields of a banana-esque crop as far as I could see until they reached the slopes of the mountain slopes. Incidentally, it's now a good time to go off on a tangent and mention the practice, favoured by bus drivers from this point onwards, of picking up what I like to refer to as "merchins", aka merchant urchins. The bus driver will sporadically stop and allow ...

... play some street soccer, and ride in a canoe down a beautifullll river, ohhh and I RODE A BIKE FOR 2 HOURS, yep me on a crowded road on the side of a cliff, youd be proud dad.and then did riverrafting, sooo i guess i cant really complain,but the guides were kinda iffy to say the least. haha. ooo and then on the way back they had to repair the road and we had to sit on rocks for like 3 horus waiting for it to be done...ahhh es latin ...

... th*t h*d been uncovered, hum*n s*crifice, re*lly nice cer*mic tiles etc, but it w*s still English L*ngu*ge for Peruvi*ns 101. We *mused ourselves gre*tly sh*dow d*ncing, m*king *t l*st count; * be*r, r*bbits, YMCA *nd * shiv* style d*nce, it w*s prob*bly * bit rude but in f*irness your ment*l he*lth is your most precious gift. We *lso met our first h*irless dog, there h*s been some deb*te *s to whether it should be c*lled * &#8216;pog&#8217; or ...

... AFTER the bus left I learned fr*m the bus attendant dude that the bus wasn't g*ing t* my destinati*n - I was t* cr*ss the b*rd** int* Ecuad*r with the bus and then be dumped. I was t* wait f*r a lat** bus fr*m the same c*mpany, flag d*wn the driv** and pay them $1.50USD m*re than I had already paid. <br><br>**** NO I AM NOT. <br><br>Aft** a lengthy "discussi*n" I was taken directly t* an*th** bus and was *n my way with*ut paying any additi ...