Getting to Know Cuenca a Little Better

Coming back to Cuenca from the Galapagos felt like coming home in many ways.  We were so happy to get back to our little apartment and the bed that we had become accustomed to and to walk the familiar streets and shop in our local stores.

San Blas Park near our apartment

 But first, our tale of “the return”. From Baltra Island in the Galapagos we flew to Guayaquil and negotiated our return trip from the airport to Cuenca by private van.  At first, the van service told us that we would have to wait a couple of hours for the next van, but very quickly, enough drop in customers arrived that they willingly organized an extra van—so we were off.

And were we ever ! Little did we suspect that this trip would be even more harrowing than the one we described in a previous blog entry.  It was a nightmare of the first order.   We left Guayaquil in bright sun, anticipating a three and a half hour trip.  As soon as we hit the mountains fog and rain descended upon us and we ran into a massive highway repair project.  Our three-hour trip grew to more than six and a half, often through mud always amidst gasoline tankers, concrete block loaded trucks, buses, private cars—all trying to pass one another in fog as thick as pea soup, in the dark riding through steeply cliffed areas.  We couldn’t understand much of our driver’s Spanish, but when he said “No veo”  (I can’t see) as he raced along at terrifying speed anxious to pass anything in front of us, we thought this would be how our lives would end.  As you can see, they didn’t, but that will probably be our last van ride in Ecuador.  The buses are also crazy, but feel a bit safer.

Breakfast at Restaurant Don Colon's (in Panama hat) with our friend Karen

Back in Cuenca, we have tried to visit some of its museums and other attractions. Earlier we had reported on a visit to one of the city’s markets, but Karen, an American friend whom we met, turned us onto a much better one close to our apartment.  Bigger and cleaner, the 9th of October Market is both entertaining and practical.  We purchased two week’s worth of vegetables and fruit for less than $15.  For lunch we went upstairs and picked our favorite hog, laid out on a tile slab (one of about eight available) and the nice lady beside it, cut some chunks of meat and a bit of skin (cracklin’ in the U.S.) from it, loaded a plate with potato cakes laced with cheese and threw on a bit of “ensalada”—onions, peppers and herbs soaked in vinegar.  With a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, we feasted.  Erin calls this kind of eating “street meat” and she won’t touch it, but we’re brave.  It was “muy rico, muy saboroso” and we didn’t get sick !

Roast pork at the market--one of the culinary delight of Cuenca

A young Cuencana at the 9th October Market

We also visited two wonderful museums. The first, Remigio Crespo, is named in honor of the man who donated his early 20^th century ninety room mansion which now houses the museum.  It provides a history of life and culture in Cuenca in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. We were the only visitors at the time, and the guard was very helpful and informative, taking time to tell us about the museum, the house, and the family. 

Early 20th century portrait of a "Cholo Cuencan" in the Remigio Crespo Museum

 The second museum, Pumapungo, houses an art gallery, archives, and cultural anthropological exhibits. We toured only the latter, spending a couple of hours walking through exhibits covering the diverse groups of people making up the Ecuadorean nation:  coastal, Andean and Amazonian.

At the Pumapungo Museum. Mannequin is wearing an ikat shawl

 It piqued our interest in seeing more of the country than we have yet explored. The most popular section features a “shrunken head” exhibit about the people of the Amazon region.  You’ll be happy to know we learned only bad guys had their heads shrunk.

Outside are some Incan ruins, an aviary and some beautiful gardens, which we will explore later.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visits to both museums and were very grateful to the town of Cuenca for providing such treasures for us to share.

Cunari/Inkan ruins on Pumaponga Museum grounds.