Ecuador, Day 5
This was our last morning at Quizas Hoy, we woke up early to pack. We took some group photos with Al, Rocio, Ivan, and Augustine. We were very thankful for our time at the camp. Senor Vera arrived around 9am in a small, but clean, pick-up truck. We loaded up our stuff and headed on our way to Cuenca. Senor Vera understood no English so communication was difficult. However, he knew the way and would stop frequently to allow us to take pictures. We had to first cross over the mountains, we would then stop at Ingapirca to see some ancient Incan ruins, then on to Cuenca and lastly to catch a late flight into Quito.
As we ascended the mountain (roughly 14,000 feet at the peak) in the small truck we encountered very, very dense fog. So thick that we slowed to a crawl on the tight hairpin turns, at one point I even had to lean out of the truck to try and guide Senor Vera. As we went along we encountered more of the indigenous people that lived on the mountain. Both the men and women were considerably shorter than normal. And the women wore brightly colored traditional dresses. Most would not allow us to take pictures but we snapped a few along the way. My favorite pic was of this young girl sitting on the side of the road. We also came upon a Christian school, the girls ran away from our camera but the boys were curious and stuck around.
After several hours we arrived at Ingapirca, the place was beautiful (Pics 1, 2, 3, 4). We toured the ruins, ate some lunch, and bought a few souvenirs. Time was short so we jumped back in the truck and made our way to Cuenca, roughly 2 more hours away. Cuenca was a wonderful small town with small, one-way, brick streets and tons of churches (Pics 1, 2, 3, 4). We could only stay a few hours and then Senor Vera dropped us off at the airport for our flight to Quito.
The short 45 minute flight from Cuenca to Quito was bumpy as we flew over the mountains. Quito’s elevation is roughly 9,300 feet but we felt no ill effects from it. On the flight we met a very interesting businessman from India. He lived in New York but had business interests all over the world, including Ecuador. Surprisingly he offered, actually insisted, that he give us a ride to our hotel in the car he had waiting for him. I was initially concerned about loading our whole family into a stranger’s car late at night in a foreign country. However, after a short prayer I was at peace with the decision. The Lord was looking out for us because the businessman indeed proved to be trustworthy, full of tips for seeing the city, and dropped us off at the hotel safe and sound.
Given the sparse accommodations we had the first four nights in Ecuador any sort of hotel would have been wonderful. However, our hotel exceeded our expectations even though it was simply a Holiday Inn Express. It was in the heart of the city, near the nightlife, it was newly constructed, seven stories high and simply beautiful, tons of marble and woodwork. Our rooms were on the top floor with a perfect view of the city and old town Quito. But thing we were most thankful for was the shower, it had a huge shower head that rained down from above the center of the shower. None of us had a hot bath since we arrived in Ecuador so it was truly a blessing. Prior to crashes for the night, we made arrangements with the hotel to have a driver take us to the street markets of Otavalo in the morning. Thankful to have made it this far we fell asleep right away.
