Cuenca, Ecuador
I had no idea how far Cuenca is from Riobamba. I thought the bus ride would be four hours, we would arrive at 11 and crash after a very long day in our new hostel beds. However, the bus ride was not four hours or five or even six. At 2:30 in the morning, the bus finally parked at the Cuenca bus terminal. We had unknowingly experienced our first night bus. Still half asleep and with a very full bladder, Janis and I stumbled off the bus and towards a line of taxies. A taxi took us down the road to our hostel who luckily had a 24 hour check in policy.
The next morning I woke up early, pulled on some clothes and went to hunt down some fruit for breakfast. In just a few minutes of walking I found a lovely old woman selling all sorts of fruit, including a massive papaya calling my name. With a papaya, a lime and a $1 bag of the most vibrant strawberries I’ve ever seen, I headed back to the hostel's kitchen to enjoy my bounty.
After breakfast I headed out for a wander around the city of Cuenca. One of my favorite things about traveling is going on that first aimless walk around a new place. Totally unaware of what the city will look like, feel like, smell like. Almost instantly Cuenca felt good. I walked down streets lined with beautiful old colonial buildings and buzzing with people heading to work. I passed by many churches, quaint store fronts and the occasional tree lined square. Though my route through Cuenca was aimless, I did have a destination in mind: Mercado 10 De Agosto, a traditional food market I had read about. I walked right and then left down every street that caught my eye, walking around entire blocks before randomly picking a direction to continue on. Eventually and completely unintentionally I arrived at the market, a beautiful white, very rectangular colonial building with fruit and vegetable stands winning the entire first floor. The second floor is occupied by smoothie and lunch spots, and the basement is lined with butchers but I didn’t venture down there. I picked up a couple things for an avocado toast, for tomorrow's breakfast and then got back to my wondering.
By the end of my first day I was pretty in love with Cuenca. My dad told me about a buddy who thought of retiring here, apparently it’s quite a popular destination for American-retirees. I thought that quite random, but after arrived completely understood the draw. A city that is not only good looking but has an air of tranquility and calmness, despite its size. In the next couple days I would continue to fall for Cuenca as I discovered its food scene and a national park just 40 minutes away.
Back in Chimborazo's National Park, while waiting for the bus to take us back to Riobamba, the two other people also waiting for the bus had mentioned Cajas National Park. Apparently a must see just outside of Cuenca. Excited by their enthusiasm, I planned to visit the part during my second day in Cuenca. Turns out, most gringos visiting Cuenca head to this park for a day of hiking. So the next morning, I tied up my hiking boots, filled up my water bottle and headed to the bus terminal with a small group of hostel homies. We found the bus easily and after an hour on the bus, weaving through stunning scenery, we hopped off at the entrance to the park. Giddy with excitement by the landscape presenting in front of us, we made our way to the check in. One by one we signed into the parks log, listen to a brief explanation of the different routes by a very enthusiastic park ranger and then set off.
We chose the four hour hike, despite the forecast of rain. We walked and talked for a couple hours, often stopping to gasp at the mountains and lakes surrounding us. Then a little over half way through the light sprinkle that we all agreed contributed to the drama of the landscape, turned into a steady down pour. Soaked through my old school, second hand Patagonia rain coat (my best thrift find this summer) we made it back to the park entrance. With ten minutes to spare before the bus arrived, we made our way slowly to the bus stop to wait. The bus came, the bus didn’t have any space, and so the bus left. Apparently there would be another bus in 20 minutes, but 45 minutes went by and no bus. We were all completely soaked and gradually getting colder and colder. Even with my fingers jammed into my armpits, they remained icy. While I focused on warming my hands, someone in the group stuck out a thumb to a van speeding by. They slammed on the breaks maybe 20 feet down the road and we all ran to meet our potential ride. They were too seats short but desperate, we decided to squeeze. The van very kindly delivered us back to our hostel and a round of very hot showers concluded the day.
november 16th, 2018: And Just Like that, I turned 24
The next day, on November 16th I turned 24. I wanted nothing more than to spend my birthday working on this blog and eating. I woke up and spent a few hours at a gorgeous cafe, a place I spent most mornings in Cueca, with a courtyard so beautiful I dedicated an entire post to it here. Several hours of writing later, I left the cafe, turned left and walked down the street to find some lunch.
On my first day in Cuenca I had passed by a very cute plant based restaurant, Café Libre, and decided to save it for my birthday lunch. I walked through the doors and down a little corridor that ended in a courtyard filled with wooden tables. I sat down and chose my birthday lunch from a large chalkboard filled with delicious options: the buddha bowl. Though told by the kind waitress everything that was in it, I only understood a few of the ingredients. To my surprise I was given a little starter of bread paired with delectable roasted red peppers swimming in olive oil. So delicious.
Then out came a bowl made from a coconut shell, a very good start. It was filled with the most beautiful, colorful lunch I had seen in a long while: quinoa, corn, roasted carrot, sprouts, avocado, cauliflower, salad and peppers. Extremely satisfied and inspired by the food I had just eaten, I chatted with the owner and creator of this place. He told me that he worked as a chef in New York for some time and always found cooking with animal products to be unpleasant. So, he moved back to Cuenca and opened this place only a week before I ate there. Serendipity!
After lunch, I walked back to the hostel and to my surprise was presented with gifts by Janis, my travel partner of almost two weeks, and a new Austrian friend, Daniel. They even found wrapping paper and wrapped them up which I found very impressive. I had been saying to Janis for some time that I needed a pocket knife, mostly to open avocados on the road. I opened a little box and there was a bright orange pocket knife. The knife was accompanied by a vegan chocolate bar, sought out by the two guys earlier in the day. Two perfect gifts: thoughtful, useful and appreciated beyond words.
After I opened my presents, the three of us along with almost everyone else staying in the hostel headed to a look out point to watch the sunset. We watched the sun slip away, the city lights turn on and then took a cab to have some Indian food for dinner. My birthday concluded nicely on the hostel's patio where some hostel homies and I shared some bottles of Chilean wine and chocolates.
As we sipped wine and ate chocolate, this lovely group of hostel homies and I decided to head to Vilcabamba the next day. Two weeks earlier at the Secret Garden Cotopaxi hostel I had seen a brochure for a hostel in this tiny town that sounded ideal. For less that $10 a night the place included morning yoga and had a pool, but best of all was run by two German men named Peter and Deter. I figured it would be a relaxing and somewhat indulgent way to conclude my stay in Ecuador before crossing the border into Peru. Though, Cuenca would be hard to leave.