Over the last few days I've been to Cuenca, surrounding towns, and tomorrow back to Cuenca. In comparison to untamed Tena, Cuenca is the Paris of Ecuador. I went to Madrid, Spain last year and Cuenca is nearly just as beautiful and sophisticated. It's also nearly as expensive. There are cafes, restaurants, museums, and boutiques on every corner. There are men in Bespoke and women in Prada and children in Ralph Lauren. It is a city I was very happy to visit and also very happy to leave. I guess deep in my soul I'll always be a country girl.
Lately I haven't had the time to get to the internet cafe because I've been with different friends the whole time. It has shown me once again that a friend can be anyone you let be one. It can be a stranger who carries your heavy suitcase up two flights of stairs for you, another lost traveler you share a tourist map with, a smiling face you share a table with at a crowded restaurant because there are no other seats, a friend of a friend you exchange email addresses with and vow to keep in touch, or dear friends that literally run to hug you like you are family. The latter is who I'm staying with now in the small town of Gaulaceo.
If Cuenca is the Paris of Ecuador, Gualaceo is the Buffalo, NY. It's freezing cold, rainy, people aren't that nice, and there's absolutely no reason a tourist would ever want to come here except to visit someone he knows. That said, I'm having a wonderful time here with my friends and have met many more friends through them. I also got to eat at a yummy restaurant that the lunch comes with a tasty hot soup, the main course, and fresh squeezed juice for just $1. 65. Today we toured a little pueblo nearby named Chordeleg. It was maybe 4 streets big but every store was a jewelry store. And what jewelry it had! I've never seen such gold, silver, and precious stones all on one block! It was gorgeous handmade things, but the prices reflected the work that had been put into it--very expensive stuff. These people may live a whole hour from Cuenca, but they are still basically Cuecaneses, as one young lady told me as she was washing her new SUV.
Tomorrow we are going back to Cuenca to tour some big fancy mall. Tuesday we are getting ready to travel to the coast and I may get a $2 haircut here in town. Wednesday we have rented a van and are traveling with 15 other friends to Guayaquil. There we will hook up with more friends, some new and some I have known for several years now. I'm truly blessed with friends, friends everywhere.
I hope to blog more entries when I arrive in Guayaquil, but if not, it's because I'm with...friends.
Lately I haven't had the time to get to the internet cafe because I've been with different friends the whole time. It has shown me once again that a friend can be anyone you let be one. It can be a stranger who carries your heavy suitcase up two flights of stairs for you, another lost traveler you share a tourist map with, a smiling face you share a table with at a crowded restaurant because there are no other seats, a friend of a friend you exchange email addresses with and vow to keep in touch, or dear friends that literally run to hug you like you are family. The latter is who I'm staying with now in the small town of Gaulaceo.
If Cuenca is the Paris of Ecuador, Gualaceo is the Buffalo, NY. It's freezing cold, rainy, people aren't that nice, and there's absolutely no reason a tourist would ever want to come here except to visit someone he knows. That said, I'm having a wonderful time here with my friends and have met many more friends through them. I also got to eat at a yummy restaurant that the lunch comes with a tasty hot soup, the main course, and fresh squeezed juice for just $1. 65. Today we toured a little pueblo nearby named Chordeleg. It was maybe 4 streets big but every store was a jewelry store. And what jewelry it had! I've never seen such gold, silver, and precious stones all on one block! It was gorgeous handmade things, but the prices reflected the work that had been put into it--very expensive stuff. These people may live a whole hour from Cuenca, but they are still basically Cuecaneses, as one young lady told me as she was washing her new SUV.
Tomorrow we are going back to Cuenca to tour some big fancy mall. Tuesday we are getting ready to travel to the coast and I may get a $2 haircut here in town. Wednesday we have rented a van and are traveling with 15 other friends to Guayaquil. There we will hook up with more friends, some new and some I have known for several years now. I'm truly blessed with friends, friends everywhere.
I hope to blog more entries when I arrive in Guayaquil, but if not, it's because I'm with...friends.
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