The Start Of My Ten Day Trip - Cuenca

Sitting Above Cuenca

A while ago, Maisa had said to me that her family were going off for another trip somewhere, but it wasn't going to be a weekend expedition this time - it was going to be a 10 day ride across Ecuador and into Peru. They asked if I wanted to go and before she had finished explaining the plan I had already agreed to it. In over a year and a half of being on this continent, I have only seen the delights of Ecuador so naturally I was excited to head somewhere new. All I would need to do is take 5 days off work (which was suprisingly easy), to pack the one bag that I own (slightly more challenging), and get ready for some travelling action.

Coming along for the ride, was myself, Maisa and her three sisters, her mum and dad, my friend Henry (who is dating one of Maisa's sisters), and Maisa's aunt and uncle. We would be travelling across two cars, which was nice because as big as their car is - squeezing 10 people into one vehicle was always going to get crowded!!! It was going to take us a few days to drive down to Peru but that was no bad thing as we would be stopping at some pretty cool places on the way.

We first set off to the large city of Cuenca, located in the South of the country. Its quite a long drive (around 9 hours) so along the way we stopped off at a number of places for food or to see some sights. One of the places we parked up at was Alausi, a small, old town made famous for its trains. If you want to ride a train in Ecuador it will undoubtedly go through Alausi. It is also the last stop before the decent down the famous Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose) Pass - where the train is designed to snake back and forth down a mountain side. It is meant to be breathtaking and scary to the point of heartstopping all at the same time. I haven't yet done this ride, but definately have it on one of my things to do before I leave this country.

We also stopped at another small town close to Cuenca, called Azogues. It has a very impressive church structure know as the Iglesia de la Virgen de las Nubes (Church of the Virgin of the Clouds) that was carved, way up high into the side of a hill. It was dark by the time we reached this spot but the views of all the twinkling lights given off by the town below still made the experience special. The church was also deserted which allowed us plenty of exploring time, with myself and Henry clambering up some precarious ladder to the top of one of the spires. The ladder was hanging to the side of this church by one loose bolt pretty much and its only that Henry and myself are complete ignorant morons which gave us the ability to attempt this ridiculous and dangerous expedition.

The ride from Quito to Cuenca is pretty spectacular. It runs down the Andes mountain range so most of the time you are cruising up at high altitude. At one point we criss-crossed around some of the mountains and below was a deep valley filled with clouds that made you think you were in some heavenly place. We did have some drama along the way when halfway to Cuenca, two of Maisa's sisters realised they had forgotten their cedulars - which is basically what South American's can use instead of a passport when they are travelling around their continent. Just like a passport for myself and Henry, it would be impossible for either of them to have entered Peru without these documents - a country we were to reach in a couple of days. It meant that Marcelo (Maisa's dad) had to make some arrangements for both the cedulars to be flown from Quito to Cuenca, where he would pick them up the following day.

After a long ride, we finally reached Cuenca. Its a really nice city, made famous for all its historical buildings. Churches and monuments fill the city center and small rivers line the many parks around the town. I had been here some time ago but was glad to get another look around. The only issue I have with Cuenca is that it is cold most of the time - but then coming from London, maybe I am making more of a deal about that than it really is.

One the one day that we spent in Cuenca, we wondered around the historic sites and took the steep ride up one of the nearby hills for spectacular views over the the city and surrounding area. We also had some traditional food from this part of the country, which is Mote (a type of maiz) that is cooked in a number of different spices and herbs and one of them with eggs thrown in too. Pretty tasty!!!

Eventually we got back in our vehicles and continued on our way. The next stop was to Machala, a small town deep in the south of Ecuador and only about an hour away from the frontera (border) between Ecuador and Peru.........................