Cuenca
Ecuador
It didn’t take us long to see why Cuenca is a UNESCO-listed city. The sea of beige and brown buildings had an old world charm that was strongly reminiscent of several European towns we travelled through many years ago. The crumbling facades had been left to their own devices and exuded a natural beauty that I could have admired for hours. It was clearly a working city, not done up for tourists - the complete opposite of Baños. There were only a handful of hostels, no tour agencies, a distinct lack of souvenir stores and an absence of taxi drivers calling out to us, hoping for our service. We had met several expats during our time in Ecuador that lived in Cuenca, and I was immediately jealous of the gorgeous place they were privileged to call home.
For the first time on our trip, we were granted clear blue skies for our hiking expedition in the Cajas National Park. The clouds did gradually appear across the day, but it was the best weather we had experienced on a non-travel day in over 2 months. On average, Cajas sits around 4,000 m, so even with the sun beating down on us it still wasn't warm. The glacial winds didn't help, with the gusts blowing strongly from the east.
Cajas was like nothing we had trekked through so far. Rocky mountains extended for an eternity, all covered in tufts of pale grass that shimmered in the sunlight. Small lakes sat in the valleys, with a bubbling creek running between them. Craggy peaks towered overhead, luring us to climb them. Each view was uniform green-brown in colour, detracting slightly from the beauty that could only be appreciated in real life. The landscape was reminiscent of Scotland, and it was probably just as cold.
There were a variety of numbered hiking routes on offer that crossed through the park. We decided to join routes 1 and 2 together, although we did each leg in the reverse. Route 1 was family friendly, running up and down easy hills and circumnavigating lakes, with viewpoints around every corner. It was a route to get a feel for the place. Gazing around the park it appeared as though there wasn't a single tree around, yet we briefly entered a forested area with twisting, spooky-looking short trees that blocked much of the daylight. For the most part, route 1 wasn't wet, muddy or overgrown, there were plenty of trail markers, and it was easy to find the way.
Route 2 was nothing like that. From the moment we left route 1 we tromped straight up a vertical incline, our hands pulling us up the rocky escarpment. In the high altitude, we were frequently out of breath. The wind continually attempted to throw us off the mountain, further slowing our ascent. There was no time to glance around at the scenery. We were extremely glad to be completing this route backwards, as we didn’t think we could have survived the descent on this side of the peak. An eternity later we summitted Cerro San Luis, at almost 4,300 m. On offer was a 360-degree view of the lakes, grassland and rolling hills below that was attractive in an ugly, monotonous sort of way. I think we were glad just to have reached this point without plummeting to our deaths.
Hiking down the other side was slightly less precipitous, with less upper body work required. However, the surface was covered with broken, loose shale that shifted every time we set a foot down. At the bottom, we discovered that the trail wasn't well marked, and we ended up off course for some time. Route 2 took much longer than anticipated.
Originally, we had also planned to trek either route 3 or 4 today. Despite there being plenty of daylight left, we decided to skip it as we had no idea what time the last bus would leave. Instead, we walked up the quiet highway to the Tres Cruces lookout. It was not as impressive as I was hoping, with the main road sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the view. From there we waited on the highway for the next bus to Cuenca and made the 1-hour journey back to the city.
A day without hiking, cycling or travelling was unusual for me and I felt a little lost, but there was plenty to explore in Cuenca. I started with a run along the river, where I only passed the occasional other runner/cyclist/dog walker. The further I ventured, the prettier the path became, until I was surrounded by tall eucalyptus trees. The only downside was having a noisy, traffic-filled road beside me.
The Museum of Modern Art was set in a charming old building, filled with peaceful garden courtyards. Unfortunately, most of the space was closed off as they prepared for their next exhibition. I perused the limited artworks on display for 5 minutes before leaving.
Overlooking the city is Mirador de Turi, several kilometres from the historic centre and up many, many flights of stairs. In my opinion, the view wasn't worth it (even if I did get a workout in). An auditorium and several restaurants filled the foreground of my photos, and the rest of the city was far off in the distance. Slightly lower down I was able to find a better angle of Cuenca, but it wasn't the most picturesque landscape going around.
Exploring the city centre meant passing by multiple churches, plazas and photogenic buildings, however the constant stream of traffic and the narrowness of the streets meant that obtaining a decent angle was all but impossible. The architecture was stunning, made even more beautiful when the sun occasionally appeared from behind the clouds to highlight its features. I climbed up the steps of the New Cathedral, which, after 140 years of construction, was yet to be finished. Again the views weren't ideal, with limited visibility between the church towers.
The rest of the day was spent on a vegan culinary journey of Cuenca. Cookies, lasagne, apple pie, cheese, Indian curry, popcorn - basically a truckload of non-Ecuadorian food. (I also walked an eternity to find vegan empanadas, only to find the place didn't exist.) I liked to think that I earned everything I consumed, with dozens of kilometres of running, walking and climbing under my belt, but really it was just a fun-filled day of over-consumption.
