Parque Nacional de Cajas

Trip Start Sep 13, 2004
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Trip End May 06, 2005


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Friday, September 24, 2004

The bus driver earned his money before he set off, dragging huge sacks of potatoes onto the bus before we set off from Cuenca to Cajas. After all that work he neatened himself up a bit and put his toothbrush and toothpaste back in the first aid box. It wasn't apparent whether or not it contained anything else, but in the event of an accident it's unlikely a bandaid would be very effective anyway.

The bus wound its way up through Cuenca's very pleasant 'burbs and then onto steeply twisting roads, with frequent belches of black smoke, to Laguna Toreadora in the PN de Cajas. On the way we passed lots of houses built on a step bank down to the river, so that at the front they had one or two stories but at the back three or four, or else were supposted on long concrete stilts. In the gardens lots of brightly coloured skirts were hung out to dry, and by the roadside there were occasional whole pigs being roasted. At least you could be sure what meat you were getting.

Laguna Toreadora is at 3,850m, a mere hillock for me now of course. I got rough directions and a map from a guide and managed to get lost, but not disastrously so as on this short walk it was possible to see the road, or at least retain an awareness of its location, at all times. I was incredibly lucky with the weather with only a few clouds until the mist came rolling in at about 4 as forecast. The Park is littered with lakes and gently gurgling streams, framed by the peaks all around, all very pretty. And all the more satisfying for having done it on my own.

On the way back the bus picked up people transporting large sacks of potatoes to Cuenca.
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