Cuenca, Ecuador

After finishing classes in Quito, we headed on our first overnight bus to Cuenca, Ecuador. It is located in the Andes but further south of Quito and has become a hot bed for anglo retirees. It is a super beautiful city, much quainter than Quito with lots of charm and 4 rivers running right through the city. We were lucky enough to be hosted by friends of friends (now our friends as well) who are living there for 3 months!!

One of Cuenca's 4 rivers...plus dedicated bike lanes!

Some highlights from Cuenca:

Wandering around the rivers and walking through the historic district. Also, the museums are mostly all free and very interesting. Museo Pumpapungo has a large exhibit about the different indigenous groups and a backyard that is not only Inca ruins, but is also a beautiful garden, and bird park. The modern art museum has some very nice courtyards. And,  Remigio Crespo Toral is another museum that was his house which is gorgeous and lavishly decorated. We ended up in Toral to escape the downpour one day and very much enjoyed this museum as well!

Incan Ruins at Museo Pumpapungo

Tin ceiling and chandelier in the Remigio Crespo Toral Museum

A day trip to Cajas, a national park ~2hrs from Cuenca, here we went on a 4 hour hike passing through multiple lakes and mountains! We were lucky to not catch any rain as the park is very wet and it is peak wet season.

Laguna Pataquinoas at Parque Nacional Cajas

Lakes after lake while traversing the Cajas

A tree trunk trying to hide as a rope

A day trip to Ingapirca, ruins of the Incas and Cañaris who at first fought but then eventually made a pact together. Interestingly, you can tell the difference between the Incas and Cañaris and the temple that remains is an Incan temple to the sun but built on top of the Cañaris sacred spot where they worshiped the moon.

Incan Temple in the center of Ingapirca

The circular pits in the foreground were used for storing dried grains and other things

And, finally, we were able to catch the festival for Cuenca's founding in 1557 on April 12th. All day long there were parades, live symphony music in the main square, fireworks at night and apparently more parades and music at night which we didn't catch (we were watching Indiana Jones: The Temple of Doom).

Parading for Cuenca's birthday, 461 years young

Mid-day concert from Cuenca's Philharmonic Orchestra

Overall, a really wonderful week in Cuenca!