Cuenca, Ecuador, South America

I took my time getting out of the hostel today, and checked out at 11:30am. I got a taxi to the bus station and found a van that goes to Cuenca in just three hours, instead of the normal bus that takes six hours. It was $12 instead of $8 for the bus, but that was well worth it to me. The van was nice, and I got to sit in the front with the A/C blasting in my face the whole time, so that was nice. It was a really quiet ride though. There were only five of us going, and no one talked to each other the whole time. It seemed a bit strange, but didn’t bother me. I just put my headphones on and listened to some tunes while enjoying the amazing scenery.

I started out in Guayaquil at sea level and ended up in Cuenca at 2,560m (8,400ft). I could feel the elevation change just sitting in the van. My ears popped about six times, and my water bottle kept getting bigger and bigger. At one point we drove straight through the clouds and ended up near the top of a mountain above the clouds. The scenery was absolutely stunning, but unfortunately I couldn’t get a good picture from the van. The driver was obviously in a hurry and was still driving over 60mph through the clouds when you couldn’t see more than about 15ft in front of us. I guess he knew the road well enough, but it wasn’t the most calming ride I’ve ever taken.

We drove through a park near Cuenca called Parque Nacional Cajas, and it reminded me a lot of the highlands in Scotland. The shape of the hills and mountains and the vegetation were all very similar. It was really beautiful. I might spend a day getting a tour of the park one day to get out of the city. We’ll see how I feel and how the weather is.

I got a taxi to my hostel, La Querencia, and it is really nice. It’s a guesthouse run by a little old couple who don’t speak any english at all. They showed me to my room, and I dropped my bags and headed straight out. My place is just six blocks from the historic old town center, and it’s a nice walk down there. This town feels completely safe, which is really nice. I’m never sure what to expect when coming into a new city, but this one feels good. It has a nice colonial feel to it, and it’s really pretty. I checked out the small park in the center and the beautiful basilica, but it was already closed. Unfortunately I got into town a little too late to check out most of the sites in town, but I have the next couple of days to do that.

I got dinner in town, picked up an ice cream on my way back to the hostel, and now I’m just chilling at the hostel. It was pretty warm when I arrived here during the day but it is really chilly here at night. It’s quite a nice change from Guayaquil where it was warm all the time. Definitely no need for A/C here. It should be good sleeping conditions here tonight.