Cuenca
Day 8 consisted of a city tour of Cuenca, which Diego explained is Ecuador's wealthiest city, and home to a large number of American retirees, as well as the country's best lawyers, doctors, and architects. Although Cuenca is located in the Andes, it has few Quechuan residents. This is because the conquistadors came to Cuenca right after the Incas conquered the local Cañari people, killing all the men; the conquistadors found a city of only women and children. Today, Cuenca is home to a mestizo population (descendants of Cañaris and Spaniards).
We began the tour on a hillside above town, where we were able to see nearly the entire city. Here, Diego explained Cuenca's environmental consciousness: most buildings have motion sensors, the government encourages bike-travel, an electric tram system is under construction to replace the city's diesel bus fleet, and more. From our lookout, we could also see the consistent French architectural style throughout the city. We took small detour to stop in an incredible artisan ceramic shop before descending back into the city to visit the Panama Hat factory.
We began the tour on a hillside above town, where we were able to see nearly the entire city. Here, Diego explained Cuenca's environmental consciousness: most buildings have motion sensors, the government encourages bike-travel, an electric tram system is under construction to replace the city's diesel bus fleet, and more. From our lookout, we could also see the consistent French architectural style throughout the city. We took small detour to stop in an incredible artisan ceramic shop before descending back into the city to visit the Panama Hat factory.
We had a little bit of time before we were scheduled to arrive at the hat factory, so we stopped to try cui (guinea pig), a local delicacy, on the way. I was excited to try it, but didn't care for it; it had a lamb-like richness that I wasn't a huge fan of, in addition to the startling presentation. Diego told us that cui is usually eaten only at special occasions, like birthdays and weddings; typically, each person gets one whole guinea pig. Supposedly, many Andean families have a cui-room in their house, where they raise and keep them until they're eaten. |
Our shared plate of cui.
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A factory employee demonstrating how to weave the hat fibers (with commentary from Diego, our guide).
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When we got to the Panama Hat factory, we were greeted with a welcoming cocktail- a different variety of horchata, this time with cinnamon and sugarcane alcohol. We were walked through the entire hat-making process, which could sometimes take months, depending on the quality of the hat (the nicer hats were made of finer straw). Although the hats used to be quite popular (Teddy Roosevelt liked his so much that he bought them for every laborer working on the Panama Canal, hence the name), they have fallen somewhat out of fashion; this is becoming a problem for many young Ecuadorians living in the Andes. Because of the high elevation and proximity to the equator, they receive a lot of solar radiation, and are beginning to suffer from higher rates of skin cancer. |
As we continued through the factory, we saw more of the hat-making process (and photos of celebrities like Brian Cranston, Ben Affleck, and Johnny Depp with their Panama Hats) before visiting the showroom, where we tried on all sorts of hats and tried guessing their price based on fiber-size. The factory-owner was helping people choose hats, and happily took their picture before and after putting them on. |
Testing out the hat that Haley would eventually end up buying.
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A surrendered bearded guan at Pumapungo.
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After leaving the hat factory, we went shopping at an alpaca-wool store, visited a large market, and saw a large cathedral and seminary. We stopped for lunch at a pizzeria before continuing to Pumapungo, a small Incan ruin; here, we were introduced to some of the Inca's most important symbols: condors for the sky, pumas for the land, and snakes for the underground. Pumapungo is also home to a small menagerie of surrendered birds and llamas, which we spent a short time watching before heading back to our hotel. Once we were back at the hotel, we were able to meet Peter Amos (Tait's friend), who moved to Cuenca in 2015. He shared his perspective of the city as an American, and we had the opportunity to ask lots of questions about the realities of leaving the US to live in Ecuador. |
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Cuenca. I usually feel uncomfortable in cities; I found myself feeling very comfortable nearly everywhere. It was very easy to see why so many expats choose to move there, and getting the chance to talk to Peter about it took my observations of the city one step further. Who knows, maybe in 40 years I'll be back- for good.
Day 9 (1/9/18)
Diego's wife Juana joined our group on Day 9; we began the day by taking the Pan-American Highway towards Ingapirca, the largest Inca ruins in Ecuador. On the way, we drove past countless acres of dairy, potato, and quinoa farms; we also drove past countless crumbling houses. Diego explained that after the country's financial crisis in the late 90s, many citizens left to find work in the US and Spain, and sent back money to their families in the Andes to build nicer houses and buy cows (which were more profitable than quinoa and potatoes). However, there were unforeseen geologic hazards in the region (coupled with inexperienced builders); after a few years, many of the houses became uninhabitable. Seeing the damaged homes was an eerie reminder of the 2017 Geology Club trip to Utah, where we witnessed the same geologic hazards destroying real estate in the US. The importance of hiring a geotechnical engineer (or at least looking at a geologic hazard map) before purchasing property was definitely reinforced by this portion of the trip.
Ingapirca was certainly an interesting place to visit. We walked around for a couple hours, learning about the different buildings which once stood there as well as the cultures of both the Cañari and Inca people. In addition to the temple built by the Incas, the site is also home to a Cañari royal grave, which the Incas honored by incorporating it into their symmetrical design. Before leaving, we stopped for lunch in the nearby town, and had some more horchata.
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Ingapirca (Inca Wall).
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The Inca Trail.
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On our way to Hacienda Abraspungo in Guano, we passed more fancy (but deteriorating) houses, saw an indigenous family walking the original Inca trail to the coast, and stopped at Ecuador's oldest church (which was founded in 1534). Day 9 was heavy on driving, but not so much learning; so, we ended the day with two presentations when we got to the hotel. Afterwards, we had short reflection session on the trip subjects we covered and what could be done differently next time. |
Day 10 (1/10/18)
Day 10 began early; this was the day of our (short) high-altitude hike of Chimborazo, Ecuador's highest mountain. Chimborazo is more than just a mountain- it's a nature reserve dedicated to the goal of bringing back Ecuador's vicuña population; vicuñas are one of two wild Andean relatives of alpacas and llamas, and are known for their extremely fine wool (which is why they nearly went extinct). Fortunately, the vicuña program was successful, and there are now hundreds of vicuñas in the reserve surrounding Chimborazo. We had the opportunity to get a good look at them on our drive to the base of the mountain.
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Some (of the many) vicuñas we saw on our drive to the base of Chimborazo.
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We stopped to watch these vicuñas on our way up the mountain.
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Although our hike only involved a vertical ascent of 200m, it took us nearly an hour to reach our stopping point- 5000m (16,404 ft.). The lack of oxygen, combined with the bitter cold air, made each step a struggle. Along the way, we saw two friendly vicuñas (which gave us an excuse to take a break) searching for vegetation among the rocks and snow, as well as a small chihuahua which somehow raced ahead of us to our destination. Despite all our hard work getting to the second base station, it only took us about 10 minutes to descend back to our starting point. It wasn't a super long hike (distance-wise)- but it was certainly difficult, and something we can all be proud of. Some members of the group even decided they wanted to come back to go all the way to the top; I however, was scared off by all the tombstones we passed of climbers who died trying to do just that. |
By the time we were getting close to Quilotoa, our next stop, it was getting late; we decided to postpone it until Day 11. That decision gave us time to enjoy La Hosteria La Quintana Colorada, which surprised us all with its small zipline and collection of livestock. We ended the day with a discussion/lecture on energy, since we decided that was a subject that had been neglected thus far on the trip. Afterwards, we ate a nice dinner in the hotel's main building, and headed off to bed to rest up for our hikes the next day.
Please click the albums below to view all of my Cuenca, Ingapirca, and Chimborazo pictures in full resolution on Flickr.