Gualaceo

As in every town, a lovely central square.

As we were walking around we noticed quite a few schoolchildren on the street. It was around 11AM so we weren't sure why they weren't in school, unless there is a very early morning session which ends at 11.

In any case, different schools have different uniforms and I was struck by these. The red sweaters were just so bold, specially grouped together, and I love the modesty of the below-the-knee skirt lengths coupled with the white tights and sensible shoes. I do have a soft spot for school uniforms--I remember ironing my pleated skirt every midday, when we would go home for lunch. (Those pleats would wrinkle and I was a very neat child!)

Here are the boys in their sharp navy blue uniforms, racing around, being boys.

We passed the market, which mostly houses a food court with lots of different options. Unfortunately, it was too early and we weren't ready for lunch. This pig head skin was quite stunning--I've seen pig heads for sale but never just the skin peeled away from the skull--a crunchy pig mask. I also noticed they had a grilled tripe stand, which wasn't open yet. On the walk back we saw a lady fanning the charcoal, getting ready for business. I am intrigued--what would the texture of grilled tripe be like, hmmm...maybe next time.

We were told we could walk up on a side street toward a lookout point, so we headed that way and passed a couple of interesting buildings. Gualaceo has a long tradition of artesanal production--here are the headquarters of the Carpenters' Guild, which was next to the Cobblers' Guild and across the street from the Centro Formacion Artisanal Particular--an arts and crafts college.

Their motto is "Formamos artesanos exitosos" ("We create successful artisans"). Gualaceo clearly takes design seriously. Just look at the graphics on the facade of the Carpenters' Guild building--beautiful!

We eventually reached the lookout point, where we found an expansive view of the town below and a small celadon green church with a nice cupola. This is one of the couple of angels flanking the church door.

On our way back to the center we went down some broad steps decorated with these intricately inlaid tiles.

And here is an exterior stucco wall decorated with stencils or stamps of frolicking characters. The building was vacant but might have housed a night club at some point. The effect was very cheerful and retro chic.

We then took the bus to San Juan, thinking we'd have lunch there but no luck so we ended up back in Gualaceo for lunch and had a really tasty seafood meal at Cocina Costena--a restaurant with outdoor seating at the corner from the bus station. We then took a taxi to Uchucay for our little hike and then back to Gualaceo for the ride back to Cuenca.

And thus ends the tale of our day trip to Gualaceo.

Hiking in Uchucay

We went to the tourist information office in Gualaceo to ask for suggestions. He recommended we take a taxi to Uchucay, a dairy and trout farming community about a half hour away, which is in the process of establishing itself as a hiking, horseback riding, and trout fishing destination. He called ahead to alert the senior guide that we were coming. We first hailed a regular yellow taxi but the driver told us he couldn't drive there as the road was basically a dirt road and that we needed to take a truck taxi. There are many lined up along the plaza so we went to the one at the front of the line and asked for a ride to and from, thinking he could come back in a couple of hours. The driver explained that he would wait for us instead and we realized why as were traveling there. It was a very bumpy, bone-shaking ride indeed, all the way there!

We agreed to a rate of $15 with the taxi driver, for the round trip and waiting time. Once we arrived we had expected to find some sort of center or tourist office but rather the town was a main dirt road with a few houses on either side (the entire population is 7 or 8 families) and truly verdant countryside. We eventually found ourselves a young guide with the help of one of the only two inhabitants that appeared to be there at that time of the day. It's possible they were all at work out in the fields above, where we couldn't see them.

The guide proudly mentioned he had been trained as a guide and was just the sweetest young man. Apparently the community had joined together to create a hiking path to the top of the nearby mountain. Because we only had an hour or so for the hike he first took us on a lateral hike across the fields of tall grass, where we could eventually join the official path, which had been cleared, and in the steepest parts had wide steps carved out of the dirt.

It had rained rather heavily just a couple of hours previously so the climb was muddy and fairly slippery. Let's just say it was a very physical hike--I'm still not quite sure whether my friend enjoyed it as much as I did!

We went as far as the yellow dot on this picture. At this point the final ascent is fairly vertical and we decided we would leave that part for another day, when we had more time--we had told the taxi driver we would meet him back in a hour and it had already been well over a half hour.

The descent went far, far quicker than the ascent and the guide told us we had done the climb fairly quickly. No wonder we had been breathing heavily at times--I was blaming it on the altitude! The picture above shows the point at which we turned back. You can barely see it because the path narrows and it gets very dark but this is the beginning of the very steep and shadowy final ascent. It was already past 5PM so we deemed it wise to call it a day. The hike, to the point where we stopped, took around an hour and 10 minutes. I don't recommend it for everyone but for those who enjoy a good climb (and no facilities, Uchucay is not quite tourist-ready) I'd say it's worth spending a couple of hours there. Apparently there is also trout fishing and horseback riding so I daresay you could make a day of it if these are activities that also interest you.

The taxi dropped us off at the bus terminal and we took the bus back to Cuenca. It had been a good day. I'll post some pictures of Gualaceo tomorrow as the final chapter of this day trip and I'll make a restaurant recommendation for your visit there!

Country Friends

I am happy that I have found a friend who's game to accompany me on my bus excursions. Today we took the bus from Terminal Terrestre (the main bus station) to Gualaceo (a little less than an hour traveling time, 60 cents fare). I will post Gualaceo pictures later on but right now I'm in love with the farm animals we saw once we took another bus, from Gualaceo to San Juan parish about 25 minutes away (35 cents fare).

It's a tiny town with little to see so we started walking away from the main square, along a dirt path lined with small houses and grazing pastures on both sides. And we saw the usual assortment of farm animals except these were the Ecuadorian variety, which made them novel, interesting, and worthy of being photographed! I was somewhat chagrined when my friend noticed a few people watching with amusement as I took pictures of their turkey. Oh well, my pleasures are simple.

We saw sleepy-eyed sheep.



And different kinds of turkeys.

And this shy pig with heart-shaped ears, who did not want his picture taken and would have run away, except he was tied up.

And my favorite, this bad boy, jauntily chewing on a blade of grass.

Then we went back to Gualaceo and this time took a taxi to Uchucay, a tiny hamlet of only 7 or 8 families. I'll post about that later.

The #8 Bus

I've always enjoyed traveling by bus and train. You're suspended in time with little control or demands placed upon you and your brain can go into a kind of stillness that is very receptive to the present and immediate. Just taking in the views that scroll by the window is enough to keep me absorbed for the length of the trip. I've figured that the reason I don't like traveling by plane is that the views outside the windows are for the most part lacking in narrative.

In any case, we chose to take the #8 bus at random, not knowing what to expect. Visitors to Cuenca have found that just taking a bus, any bus, will provide a nice little travel interlude of about an hour each way, for the modest cost of 25 cents. So my plan is to take every single of the 29 bus routes currently operating, from beginning to end. The #8 bus goes from Los Trigales to San Joaquin and back. First we rode to Los Trigales but the window was so dirty that all I could see were the broad outlines of the view--my eyes were hurting trying to focus! I got lucky on the way back and I was able to take some shots.

Pretty much any bus route will take you out to the countryside. This one took us to an area of small plots of farmland, with rows of produce creating neatly laid out patterns.

We saw cows grazing.

And farmers farming.

And these whimsically drawn birds advertising fertilizer.

And this Andean McMansion...wait, back up...what was that? In the middle of all these modest homes and small plots there is this structure, the likes of which I last saw in Las Vegas? We figured this is quite likely an example of the commonplace phenomenon of locals migrating abroad to work very, very hard and save so they can return and build their dream home. This person had big dreams.

On the Street

I remembered to take my camera today on my way to lunch. Here are a few images that caught my eye. The one above is of road repair workers on their lunch break. There's been quite a bit of work done on the streets recently and I've noticed that the guys (no female construction workers ever) take a proper break. First they unpack the lunches they've brought from home. Then once they've finished eating, they either play cards (the two groups on the right and left of the picture), have amiable chats with lots of smiling and laughing (guys in the middle) or take a nap (on the far left).

I know the work is physically very hard as they do not use power tools, not even to break stones! And yet, it looks to me like there's a certain kind of everyday pride and civility in making a living. I have the impression, and I may be wrong, that people here tend to work to live, they do not live to work, as sometimes seems the case in the US. This is a topic which interests me tremendously.

Here is another example of the absolutely wacky mannequins one sees posing in front of stores. Where on earth do they find them?

And here are a couple of chicas taking a stroll through the park. The one on the left is actually a transvestite. I was curious about the reaction of passerby so I followed them for a bit. Once they passed them, people would glance back at them and a few men, including a policeman, appeared very amused and sort of snickered once they had walked by. However, it was more of a curious and/or amused reaction, not an aggressive one. No one stared or said anything to them--they waited until they had walked by to react. It's definitely not a common sight and I was a bit surprised but heartened that they were not harassed.