One of the many reasons we are writing a blog is to document the details of our travels. I know too well from experience that I quickly forget the many nuances of cities, people and transportation. I have fallen behind on the detailing of our encounters and now I have to rely on my photos and memory, hoping to capture all that occurred. I guess it will take a bit longer as I'll have Michael cross-check my details. The lesson we are learning is that we need to slow down. Several days 'off the grid' and without internet takes its toll in keeping in communication even though the experiences are intriguing and fulfilling. Okay, so that's my disclaimer....on to Cuenca, Ecuador.
We arrived in Cuenca via an 8 hour bus ride from Baños. There was no direct bus, so a switch was required in a town called Riobamba. I had read up on the buses and thought we were prepared for this travel day. First, our lovely host at our B&B arranged a driver. This was the man who drove us to the top of the hill so we could view the volcano. 6:30 a.m. is an early pickup in Baños and many drivers just won't commit to rides that early. I confirmed with him several times during our drive the day before. Needless to say, he didn't show up. Our host called another driver and eventually, he showed up. We got to the station about when the bus was scheduled to leave. There was no bus. Surrounding locals had assured me that we hadn't missed it. Then one lady told us to cross the street and that the bus would be there. Now I read one other person's blog from two years ago and this very same thing happened. It isn't even at the bus station, but on another corner. So why this isn't advertised or told to travelers prior is unknown to me....clearly it has gone on for years. We jogged through the bus parking lot and crossed the street. One woman chased down Michael to let him know that he dropped his neck pillow, and I thought that was rather kind. We found a large green bus. We told the man near the bus, "Riobamba." He tells us to wait there. Eventually, I walked to the front of the bus and saw the big "19" written on the front. This is the bus number on our tickets. The person on the bus started yelling, "Riobamba, Riobamba!" I said we are going to Riobamba and he opens up the bottom hatch for us to store our backpacks. If I hadn't looked at the number, I don't think they would have put us on the bus. It was a very strange start.
About 90 minutes later, we got to Riobamba, or should I say we stopped on the side of a main road. The man on the bus yelled, "Cuenca, Cuenca, Cuenca!" and encouraged those moving on to get off the bus. We literally got off the bus, got our luggage out and hopped on the bus behind the one we got off. The whole exchange took about 3 minutes. We were now off to Cuenca...no break. The next six hours was filled with 'milk run' stops, picking up and dropping off people. We watched as locals jumped on the bus and tried to sell us chips, newspapers, water, candy and coconut milk. They would ride with us for a bit and then jump off.
Unlike our lengthy bus ride in Panama, we were not given the opportunity to get off, use a bathroom, or get a snack. We were not well prepared. There was a bathroom on this bus, but it wasn't pretty (according to Liam, and you can imagine what he'd have to say about it).
We arrived in Cuenca, disheveled and hungry. We had rented an apartment for five nights and our 'landlady' said she would pick us up. We waited an hour before the mother of the landlady arrived. We tried to be kind regarding her tardiness, but it was a long day. She said there was a lot of traffic in Cuenca due to construction of an overhead rail system that would help alleviate the diesel fumes from all of the traffic.
After a short car tour of Cuenca, we were finally at our apartment. All we wanted to do was unpack and take a hot shower, except there was no hot water. We contacted our landlady and she apologized again and said they'd take care of it in the morning.
Our apartment
The propane tank was changed and that did the trick for the hot water. With everyone clean, we headed out to the main square. Our apartment was in a great location in town. Everything was walking distance. We had contacted the Canadian couple with their daughter from BSI who happened to be in Cuenca today. They agreed to meet us on a double decker bus tour of the city.
Main square in Cuenca where our tour started
Cuenca has a quaint city-center. There are over 330,000 people within the city limits. Cuenca is a UNESCO world heritage site for its many historical buildings. It is filled with churches and they say you can go to a different church every week for a year.
Yet another lovely church
The view from the top of a hill in south Cuenca
Part of the tour stopped on a hill where there was another church and market. It was a cloudy day, but the view was still great. We could see the entire city.
Typical street in Cuenca
Lovely building
We parted with our new friends after lunch at a small pizza place. The owner was from Italy and had married an Ecuadorian woman. He sold pizza by the slice.
Our other few days in Cuenca found us exploring the museums and parks. There were some ruins behind an art museum and a lovely garden and some animals as well. We spent some time wandering around there.
Garden with ruins behind a museum
Liam popping up in front of my garden/ruins picture
We found a large park where everyone seemed to be spending the day since it was a lovely weekend. The kids got to play on some park equipment for a bit. There weren't many restaurants open for dinner on Sunday. We spent some time looking around for a restaurand, and as usual, waited too long. We did this several times in Cuenca. Everyone got cranky and annoyed, but we usually found a great meal.
I enjoyed Cuenca and the cool weather. I loved the quaintness of the city center. It seemed to have the perfect blend of local heritage and moderness. We liked walking to everything, but being on the outskirts of town so we didn't always hear the traffic. Cuenca allowed us to spend more time getting caught up on some work as well.
The airport was barely ten minutes away, which was another bonus for our early flight out to Quito. Next stop.....Peru!
Ecuador Likes/Dislikes:
Michael liked Cuenca. He thought the city had a lot to offer and the proximity to the airport with cheap flights to Quito was a bonus. He disliked the buses and the people trying to sell things on them.
Maeve and Liam liked the Black Sheep Inn. They loved the animals, the food and the hikes. They disliked the bigger cities and the smell of diesel fumes.
I loved the food and attention of the BSI. The kids loved running around outside playng with the animals and I could get some work done and not worry too much about the kids. I'm agreeing with the children that the city noises and fumes can be a bit much.
