Cuenca: Day 2

We started today with breakfast at the hotel, after which we joined our tour guide and headed out toward the “Turi Viewpoint” where we were able to look out over Cuenca. On the trip there we learned about the Ecuadorian economic crisis that led to the dollarization of the country’s currency, which was previously the sucre. We took the Pan-American Highway through the city of San Francisco and learned about the San Francisco church and the Virgen de la Nube. We were also able to see examples of “immigrant architecture;” homes that were built by Ecuadoreans who had emigrated to Spain, for example, and later returned with savings from their work abroad. They modeled their houses after their favorite kind of architecture found wherever they had spent time outside of Ecuador. 

We visited the “Biblian” church, which we learned took over a generation to build. The church also has a crypt beneath it; those who are buried beneath the church are said to be able to pass quickly to heaven. We drove for a while after that into the Andes and visited the Cañari market where we were able to see various grains, foods, and local clothing for sale. We were able to try some local Ecuadorian bananas as well. The vendors at the market had traveled to be there, and had been working there since one o’clock in the morning. 

We also drove a little further to the “Ingapirca Archaeological Complex” and were able to learn about the ruins, rituals, and history of the area. The site was a mix of both Cañari and Incan architecture, with the Inca’s arriving much later than the first documented signs of the Cañari people (several hundred years before the birth of Christ). We also learned that the Cañari were buried in the fetal position, as they saw death as a means of returning to Pacha Mama. We had lunch at a nearby restaurant then drove back to Cuenca where we departed from our tour guide and walked around the city for a bit and stopped at an artisan marketplace. We then had dinner at the hotel and went to bed for an early departure in the morning.