Up early for a long drive (c400km) to Cuenca, via Ingapirca, the best of the few Inca remains left in Ecuador. This was a remarkable site, as the restoration process has been limited to cleaning the stones, but without any other reconstruction. So what is left has a feeling of authenticity about it which was really impressive, more so in some respects than the buildings in Machu Picchu, where we were told that about 60% of what you can see now has been restored and is not original. The cleaning of the stones on the main temple is so impressive that, from a distance, they look new and only close up is it possible to see that is not the case. The weather was also memorable as we arrived with very black clouds above and expecting a downpour at any moment. But in fact the sky cleared quickly and we did the tour in bright and hot sunshine, even at the end when the rain came down quite heavily. A day when William’s recommendation for any day in Ecuador (be prepared for 4 seasons in 1 day), certainly came true.
We arrived at our hotel (an impressive colonial mansion with a beautiful garden inhabited by humming birds) around 5.00. After dinner we found on TV the second half of “Master & Commander” which we had also caught in Spanish at La Cienega and whetted our appetites for our now impending visit to the Galapagos.
The next day we set off on foot with William for a tour of the old city of Cuenca. It has many impressive colonial buildings and we were also taken round a couple of local markets, giving us an opportunity to see daily life for the inhabitants. The cathedral was particularly impressive, not only for the statue of Pope JP 2, who made the first Papal visit in many years to South America, but also for the relative lack of opulence in the interior decoration. A lot of marble, some local and some imported from Italy, but only a small amount of gold leaf, and all used around the altar. A welcome contrast to the Jesuits’ church in Quito.
We came across a young local wearing an England football shirt. R was fascinated by this and why an Ecuadorian would choose to wear the shirt of the England national team (even an English club team would make more sense). When he said to William that he would love to ask why, William insisted that they went back down the street to ask. They duly did so and when R asked the young man why he was wearing the shirt, he was so surprised to be asked that all he could say (in Spanish) was “because I like it”! So aesthetics obviously play some part in football fans’ loyalties. R told him that his support would be rewarded by an England win in South Africa next year. NB Ecuador did not qualify so he was presumably looking for a team to support!
Over lunch, we managed to find a bank prepared to cash a travellers’ cheque, something strangely rare in Ecuador, even when the TC offered is American Express and in the local currency, ie the Dollar. Then off for the customary trip to the factory where they produce Panama hats, which are native to Ecuador. The name derives from the fact that they were first exported in large quantities for workers building the Panama canal. R managed to find one, thankfully at a more modest price than the $1,000 item that William showed us and then proceeded to drop on the floor. R was also plagued by clumsiness, dropping a belt on the floor which promptly fell apart and then knocked a hat stand onto the floor while inspecting the hat on which it stood.
We opted for dinner in the hotel and before that a cocktail in the bar. There were no other guests in the bar and the barman was keen to have some company so we had a good chat (en Espanol) both before and after dinner, when he offer us a free liqueur when we went to say goodbye. A really nice man who insisted on referring to R as “Doctor”, once he had discovered R’s profession and who also was kind enough to speak slowly and clearly enough that we were able to understand just about everything he said.
November 29th – Guayaquil
Off early for the final stage of our driving around mainland Ecuador, for the 200km from the Andes to the coast. Although it did not take that long (we arrived around 3.00pm) we were able to see the huge contrast in geography and climate between the mountains and the tropical coast. We stopped en route in the Cajas national park for a hike up to a lagoon in beautiful surroundings which were very reminiscent of Scotland, take away the odd llama, particularly so given the mist and cloud that was hugging the sides of the mountain and the boggy path which we had to walk. William, who had never been to Europe, found this concept rather difficult to comprehend, but was kind enough to laugh at R’s extension of his bad joke repertoire to the Spanish language: “What do you say to a llama, when you meet it – como se llama!” (PS He told us on our return to Quito that he had told it to some of his friends and they also thought it funny – but surely this ought to be one of the oldest jokes in any Andean country?)
Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city – bigger than Quito – and was hot and sticky. We ventured out and looked at the impressively refurbished waterfront and also looked for a copy of “El Comercio”, in whose Saturday travel supplement we were expecting to appear today. Finding anywhere selling newpapers proved to be a much more difficult exercise than we expected and took nearly half an hour of increasingly frustrated wandering and questioning, but finally we found a street vendor who was able to produce a copy from near the bottom of a pile. When we went back to the hotel, we of course found another paper stall just across the street! But we found the article and were able to see the picture of us and William sitting in the hotel lounge and to read some comments from and about R in much more fluent Spanish than he could have managed himself. Our 15 minutes of Warholian fame in Ecuador history!
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