Cuenca and hiking at 13671 feet part 1

We had time off the week before Carnival and I headed to Cuenca. It is in the Southern Andes about 50 minutes by airplane. It is full of 16th and 17th century architecture and red tiled roofs.

It is also known for the rivers that run through it.

let's pretend my finger isn't in this picture

I stayed in a lovely hotel in the old city center called Hotel Los Balcones. It was quaint with a clean room, good services and a nice daily breakfast on the terrace.

The food in Cuenca was really good. A Pedir de boca was a nice restaurant with asian inspired dishes. I had my first really spicy meal since I moved to Ecuador. I had a noodle dish it was pretty tasty. Next time I'd get rice noodles though.

spicy noodles

Sofy GLocal was a lovely restaurant inside the inner courtyard of an old building. The walls had art by local artists and lots of plants. The food was really good. I went back twice.

smoked trout, capers, and cream cheese open faced sandwhich

olive and anchovy tapenade on toast served on a hot stone

seabass encocado

By far my favorite meal was at El Mercado. It was a really upscale dining experience at really good prices.

grilled octopus

slow cooked pork shoulder on cauliflower puree

Los Tiestos was a family style restaurant that had dishes served in clay dishes (cazuelas). Dinner started with about 10 different tapenades and bread. It was a really lovely dinner.

I arrived on Sunday and after a short nap and lunch I went on a bus tour of the city. For only $8 it was a nice way to learn about the city and see how the city was laid out. According to the tour there are enough churches to go to a different one every Sunday in a year.

It was really warm and the sun was strong.

The next day I took a tour to Gualaceo and the jewelry town of Chordeleg. It was a small tour (just 3 of us). We stopped first at a Guitar makers shop outside of San Bartolome above the Valle de Santa Barbara. His guitars were beautiful. I wish I played.

He showed us how they make the inlay.

This cuatro is made out of an armadillo. Supposedly they find dead animals to make the instruments.

Then on to Chordeleg where at one time artisans made jewelry out of silver and gold mined in Ecuador. It is not just a plaza filled with jewelry stores. I enjoyed the window shopping and the church in the town square.