Crespo Cuenca

... fault of course.
4) Repeat for 7 hours.

Thats about it. Lessons over, here's your licence.

And that was our intro to Ecuador! As you can see we did actually arrive and are alive. Our time in Ecuador is sadly a short time so we have only allowed a day for exploring Cuenca.

Cuenca is located in the Andes (2500m above sea level) and is a really pretty little city with countless ...

... Inca Trail that extends into Ecuador. The color of the earth was pretty interesting...in certain areas the dirt was yellow, green, and pink due to the minerals in it I think. We had lunch in the sacred area. It was presented on a white cloth that was laid out on the ground. The food was placed directly on the cloth and we all shared and ate together. The presentation was really cool. Before leaving this area Alfonso guided us in a 2nd ritual that was basically an agreement that ...

... it in, lined it with plastic and put the dirt back in before you could ask ”what are they doing over there?”

Q Do you miss the US?

A: Folks yes, the place: No, not yet!

Q How’s the internet access?

A: Has been pretty good with one very sloooowwww day. Nice to be able to Skype you guys!

Q: What are you doing on your house?
A: We’ve painted the smaller of the two (3 bedroom apartments). Bought ...

... case we’re just affectionate siblings), where we met, how long we’ve been married, which always seems to be working towards a direct question of whether she’s really happy with this schmuck and doesn’t she know that he manages an entire hostel, cooks breakfast and later did our laundry too. I can’t blame the guy for trying.

Typically we didn’t get started until quite late as we meandered through bathroom routines and getting ...

... pieces of dubious fat-like consistency. After our meal we continued our wander around the city taking a multitude of photographs in the sunshine, looking not just at the churches - Santo Domingo, El Cenaculo, and San Francisco - but also the other beautiful buildings along the way, of which there were many. The town hall was particularly impressive. We finished our promenade by walking along the river bank; the river is just behind our hostel and flows east to west ...

... chips. Upon arrival to Cuenca, a charming colonial city, we gratefully unloaded in our hostal and wandered through the cobblestone, empty streets (despite its size, it’s an absolute ghost town at night) to an inviting Mexican restaurant where we feasted on fresh corn chips and salsa, tortilla soup, a scrumptious fajita platter and beer, where we also learned that nicer restaurants whack you with 12% tax and 10% service fee. Still, a great end to an exhausting day.

... peak hour at this point and we waited for a few full buses to go past until we forced our way on about the fourth.

Didn’t get pickpocketed though I was vigilant and I did feel someone brush a little more than normal. Tommy went to work but that left Jennifer and I to figure out where to get off. Naturally we missed our stop and had to get off at the next one and take another bus back. IT was just getting to dusk at this point so I was happy to get back to ...

... several times. It does have its charms: well-preserved colonial architecture, housing modern stores and restaurants, cobble stone streets, and friendly residents. A tranquil river splits the older city (colonial era) from the newer city (modern commerce era). I particularly enjoyed walking along the path beside the river, a bit removed from the noisy traffic not far away. There are several nicely maintained plazas, and of course tons of churches ...

... to the locals, clothing and shoes mostly, there was a lady cutting up pineapply and serving it up on a paddle pop stick. It was just 25c and was the sweetest juciest pineapple. yummy! Museo De Las Culturas Aborigenes ($2) had a selection of artifacts from different years and regions, but they gave you a booklet in english so that you could find out more about the artifacts, regions and time periods. The Banco Central Museo Pumapungo ($3 ...

... then passing under the Puente Roto (a broken brick bridge that only reached above one side of the river bank), until we reached some Inca Ruins. The ruins themselves were not particularly interesting, but the walk was interesting simply because there was always something at which to look. Nothing much happened at Cuenca for Carnaval. We had arrived on the Friday morning, and dressed up in 'fancy' dress for a night ...