Cuenca Hotel

... was half full - thats where it dawned on us that there was no light in the area (apart from the street of our hotel, phew!). So we ate in the candle lit restaurant, which was quite nice but very quiet and sadly the DJ that was meant to come on could not so it was another early night for us!<br><br>Cuenca's main square, Parque Abdon Calderon (not Plaza del Armas, wow!) has 2 cathedrals, a new and old. The new one being immense, with a huge ...

... dog away! We said sorry but no, and unfortunately had to continue slightly off the path as not to follow the dog that was still hanging around. We ended up finding the trail again after cautiously skirting two paddocks belonging to local farmers. They were actually women in the fields working, in their colourful skirts, long white socks, blouses and ponchos with the "Panama&#8221; hats, which are not from Panama at all, but Cuenca in Ecuador. The men wear long trousers but also the ...

... to push its way through. This blockage allowed the sun to shine brightly on this village. Just off to the side of this village was a small hill that rose above the village, and on this hill was a simple cemetery which had the most wonderful 360 degree views imaginable. I yearned for the bus to stop so I could just take a simple photograph.<br><br>Onward we went and the views kept me spellbound for almost four hours before we finally arrived in Cuenca.<br><br>The bus ...

... and get back onto the boat and I couldn't blame her, I was struggling a little myself, we didn&#8217;t have wetsuits on so didn&#8217;t float as well as we might, it was quite cold and we couldn&#8217;t see much. About halfway through the sea calmed and it was possible view down. Visibility wasn&#8217;t bad, I could see down about 10 metres. There were some nice brightly coloured fish close to the rocks but not many. I was beginning to feel like ...

8/18/09 or 18/08/09 as they do here!<br><br><br> Oh Dear! Where does the time go?<br><br>I think I left you prior to a trip to Cuenca.<br><br>We grabbed a taxi to Loja and a bus trip to Cuenca. Fairly uneventful as Bruce had a bum knee. The churches are magnificent. There is a wonderful local market where the indigenous people sell their wares. I bought a few alpaca blankets (super warm, by the way!)&#8230;We cruised some of the town, noticing old bridges ending ...

We went in search of breakfast at 10.15am, unaware that they stop serving breakfast at 9.30am. After some pleading and a bit of a telling-off by the mother however, they made an exception. Bread, jam coffee, juice. After this we went off to explore the town.<br><br>Cuenca is quite possibly the most aesthetically-delightful city I've ever had the pleasure to visit. Nearly every minute is a lovely sight prompting you to reach for your camera. Walking north/south, streets ...

... wheezing since Iquitos. Maybe they recognized the difference between the sound of asthma and the sound of swine flu. Either that or they were too kind hearted to send us away. Either way, we'll take it!<br><br> Our first stop was the very scenic and friendly town of Loja. Here we rested our weary bones for a few days, got reacclimatized to the altitude, and explored the town and local parks. We heard our first antpitta and spent ages trying to call it out ...

... it. Post lunch I exercised w*tching *forementioned ment*lists pl*ying *ll m*nner of be*ch *ctivities, wrecked I retired to the h*mmock to w*tch the sunset. Th*t night we h*d * ste*k bbq on the be*ch, pure lush. While the bbq w*s being prep*red "the others" *rrived in the form of 2 other tour groups, which me*nt I got kicked out of my room *nd h*d to sleep in the one rem*ining h*mmock. If you c*n im*gine sleeping in *n oversized h*mmock with * m ...