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Cuenca, tucked in this high Andean valley, is Ecuador's third largest city with a population of about 300 000..
The San Francisco market seen from my room in the Milan Hotel. The Inca Tomebamba ruins in the city gave that name to the river that flows through Cuenca whose old colonial churches date from the 16th century. It was a pleasant base from which to visit nearby Andean villages.
I think that the church on the left below is the old Cathedral taken from Sucre street but I'm not sure. The blue one on the right is the church of the small village of Baños 5 kms from Cuenca which has sulphurous hot springs just like the city of Baños 200 kms to the north.
Gualaceo in a valley about 30 kms west of Cuenca and Chordeleg 5 kms further up on the hillside are typical small Andean villages.
Gualaceo's colonial church on Plaza 10 de Agosto. I have a problem with the South American custom of naming places and streets for the dates of historical events that nobody can identify (even the locals sometimes).
Chordeleg's smaller church is more recent than Gualaceo's.
Chordeleg has two markets, one on the plaza before the church that sells jewellery and handicrafts to visiting tourists and this one which is a normal food market for local people.
Another 200 km south on the Pan American Highway brings us to the pleasant university town Loja where almost a quarter of the population are students attending one of the two universities, the law school or the music conservatory.
Calle 10 de Agosto is the Main Street in the center. I met some Peruvian students who invited me to a dance at the University that ended in a local bar quite late at night.
In Loja I decided to descend from the Andean plateau to Zamora at the edge of the lowlands east of Loja not far from the stretch of the border with Peru that is still undefined since Peru's invasion of Ecuadorian Amazonia in 1941.
It took more than two hours to travel only 60 kms along an interesting unpaved mountain road that climbs up from Loja at 2100 meters to more than 2500 meters and then drops down to 950 meters. The views were really worth the trip.
The 1150 meter drop in altitude made all the difference in the world and Zamora was hot and humid compared to Loja's pleasant climate. It is no wonder they use open sided busses around Zamora! I had a stroll around town and went back to Loja the same day.
My next stop after Loja was Vilcabamba which is known as the Valley of Longevity where most of the local people are said to live to more than a century. I don't know if that is true but I remember it as a fun place.
I had fun with this baby monkey at the Hostal Madre Tierra but I had a lot more fun guzzling beer in my favourite watering place right on the town plaza.
Late that afternoon, after much singing, much boozing of caña con coke and much discussion, we had almost, but not quite, touched the essence of existence. It didn't really matter; none of us were feeling any pain!
The chap picking his nose, Ivan Cordoba had just been married to the lovely girl next to me. Waving enthusiastically is his brother Pepe who was such a great singer that he must be famous by now. Sitting down with a hat on is Gavin Moore, an secretive fellow living alone a few kms up in the hills who comes to town on his donkey once in a while. The girl sitting down is Penlope Philips, a lawyer from L.A. I forget her boyfriend's name but he was OK. What a ball we had!
Although hung over, we could not miss the annual "Fiesta de los Ancianos" on the next day. Everyone in town was having a good time!
I think that having a good time must be the secret of longevity. The people around here seem to know it.
Three Ancianos enjoying themselves with due decorum.
All good thing must come to an end for new adventures to happen so I left for Peru.
Macara was the last town in Ecuador. Blanche Maccanti and Roland Bellier from Marseilles, who I had met in Vilcabamba, travelled with me for a few days until we went different ways after Chiclayo in Peru.
