Cuenca

After splitting ways in Manta I (Mark) made my way to Cuenca in the south via Guayaquil. The latter is a modern city that is surging forward. Many people visit as a stop off to the Galapogas Islands and it is worth a day to go down to the city centre (people were very friendly – I got a lot of 'hello' from people who genuinely just wanted to say hi).

Cuenca is a short trip from Guayaquil through some nice hill country. It was fairly rugged and foggy, reminded me of photos I had seen of Scotland. Apparently there are a few hiking trails in them thar hills.

The view from my hotel rooftop.

Cuenca is a great little city built on an old Inca site. It sits in a valley with the old town separated from the modern city centre by a river. I discovered some nice restaurants and bars, an ugly museum, a nice aviary and a merry Belgian selling waffles.

The central square features a lot of wonderful colonial architecture.

The cathedral borders the central plaza. It is very nice but impossible to photograph from a good angle.

Short video of Cuenca and the aviary.

It was almost a year ago that I was in Cuenca and I still have fond memories of it. I could easily have stayed longer. The weather was beautiful the whole time I was there and I really enjoyed just walking around the city. A nice place to rest before exploring the region.

The rest of my trip was spent making my way to Santiago, via stop offs in Máncora and Lima to break the trip up. The goal by that point was to make it home without having anything stolen (we had been very lucky to date) and I must admit it felt like a minor victory to arrive in Santiago with all my possessions – although the adrenaline was already pumping through my veins after my alarm didn't work, necessitating an emergency dash to the airport!

 

Posted with the cops hot on our trail.