Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
We got up around 7:00 which gave us plenty of time to get ready and have breakfast before our tour guide picked us up at 9:00. Pablo from Lobby Travel (same company as yesterday with Maria) was right on time.
However, we picked up very quickly that this was not going to be an English-speaking tour. Basic questions about the scenery, towns, etc., were not understood. Luckily, the beautiful, mountainous terrain and landscapes made up for Pablo's lack of English. Our sore point was that we paid extra for an English-speaking guide.
Leaving Cuenca, we followed the Pan American Highway past Azorgues. We blew right through, but on a hilltop, high above the city, was a huge statue of the Blessed Virgin. Also from the road, we saw an impressive, white, twin-spired church that dominated the city's center.
We drove another 30 minutes through beautiful, mountainous countryside, that mirrored the landscape throughout our trip. Our comment to each other was that we could probably never tire of this scenery.
Though we had similar observations when driving through the countryside around Quito, here we saw that almost all farms had at least two cows.
We wondered how the steep hillsides seemed to be mowed. What was actually happening was that the tethered cows would graze the length of their tether and were gradually being moved up the hillside. With a 12-month growing season, they would never run out of grass.
Without changing subjects too much, we have mentioned before that agriculture was a big part of the Ecuadorian economy. Most of this would have been larger mechanized farming, as well as fruits raised in the coastal and Amazonia regions. Here in the sierra, it seemed like most of the farming was on much smaller plots. Plowing was done with a single-furrow plow pulled by the two cows the family owned. Planting and harvesting was also done by hand. We literally saw dozens (mostly women) of hunched-over people carrying large bundles of the harvest on their backs. Usually the bundles where as large as the person carrying them.
We arrived at Biblian where above, overlooking the town, is one of the most impressive churches we have ever seen. It is literally built into the solid rock mountainside.
You can see it from miles away.
We probably spent nearly an hour admiring and exploring the interior and exterior of the church. We definitely got a workout climbing and descending all the steps!
In the town of Biblian, we drove by two restaurants roasting whole pigs on a spit. Worth noting, three hours later, there was only one!
Our next and last stop before Ingapirca was El Tambo. Pablo parked near an old passenger rail car and a tourist information office. He told us we could take 10 to 15 minutes to walk around and take pictures??? We asked him to ask the information office if they had any info in English -- they did not. So, we asked Pablo what was significant about El Tambo and he explained that a train used to run from here to some other town. We did not take a picture of the rail car, only asked that we move on to Ingapirca!
Moving ahead a couple of chapters, we learned from our Ingapirca guide that El Tambo was a major layover for Inca travelers between Ingapirca and Cuenca. It was part of the Inca Trail and Pablo told us it was an abandoned rail line!
Arriving at Ingapirca, Pablo bought our entry tickets. We had a short wait for our tour with Angel. He spoke perfect English, partly due to working several years in the US, including a stint in Baltimore. We were joined by four other Americans who hailed from North Carolina.
The escavated ruins of Ingapirca probably cover about 10 acres, though Inca artifacts have been found more than 600 yards out.
The Inca conquered the Canaris, and the escavated area shows the building styles of both. There are dozens of original foundations of buildings, but the Inca Sun Temple, at the highest point of the site, is clearly the most commanding.
It is obvious that the Canaris built with stone, mostly river rock. The Incas were master stone builders, using volcanic rocks brought from hundreds of miles away. The precision of the cutting of these square and rectangular stones was such that they sit atop each other with no use of mortar. Now 600 years later, it looks as if the Temple was built in the 21st century.
Following the excellent hour tour with Angel, he showed us a map that would take us outside the escavated area. The walk lasted about 30 minutes and took us past natural formations in the mountainside; an Inca face and sun that held important religious significance.
Back in the parking lot, Pablo was waiting for us. He took us to a small local restaurant for a fixed-price lunch. Brennan and Grandma had roasted chicken, mixed vegetables and rice and Grandpa chose beef, with the same sides, just different sauces.
After lunch, we deadheaded back to Hotel Forum. We really did love this hotel and its staff (on Trip Advisor we would give it a 5).
Back in Cuenca, Black Friday Week was in full swing. The sidewalks were the most crowded we had seen and the stores and shops had balloon bunches around the entrances. Some went so far as to have hawkers out front who were dressed as clowns.
Back at the hotel, knowing this would be our last day in Cuenca, we spent about an hour getting organized for flying home. It was too nice outside to waste more than an hour in the room.
We had made up our minds that our last supper was going to be pizza. We found two options that were highly rated in Lonely Planet. Asking the front desk clerk at the Forum if they were good, her reply, "yes, but Papa Johns is my favorite"!
Our walk around the old town area would be to scope out the two pizza places and take in the atmosphere of Black Friday Week shoppers at the same time. One of the two options was more formal with linen table cloths and only a few diners. The second, Fabiano's, was more relaxed and lots of customers.
We got an extra large meat lovers pizza, a couple bottles of beer and a bottle of Coca Cola for $22. The pizza was really good, plus, we loved the atmosphere. We had two leftover pieces which ended up as Brennan's second breakfast at the airport the next day.
After dinner we headed back to the central plaza near the Cathedral. At the same ice cream shop as last night, Brennan had his first ever tiramisu ice cream cone. He loved it and was generous in sharing with G&G.
It is hard to end another great day any better than by sharing an ice cream cone while walking through one of the prettiest South American plazas imaginable.
2025-02-14