Cuenca

the greenery tells us we're in Ecuador

We not only left behind Punta Sal this morning, we also left behind us the Pacific Ocean, the desert, and Peru.  A couple of hours after we left the sandy terrain we hit the lush green vegetation that reminds you that you are close to the Amazon Rainforest.

Shortly after that we crossed the border into Ecuador.  And what a nice border crossing.  The buildings were new and modern, we were able to wait inside, but in fact hardly had to wait at all.  The whole process was professional, efficient and fast.  Which can't be said for some of the others that we've done in South America.



landslide





The rest of the drive to Cuenca was fairly uneventful, so many games of rummy were played in the almost ten hours we were on the road.  We did however see evidence of the many landslides that hit Ecuador and Colombia.

Cuenca

We got there a bit after 5pm so had time for a quick look around before we went out to a place called Eucalyptus for dinner.  Happily it was ladies night so there was a free drink for us girls.  The food was good too.

Cuenca is a great city.  It is the second biggest in Ecuador, but the centre is quite compact and easy to walk around. The buildings are not as grand as in some cities, but the architecture is interesting and varied. It looks attractive and it feels safe.



Panama hat factory



In the morning, we got into taxis to the Homero Ortega museum, which is in fact the panama hat factory,  you may think that the panama hat comes from Panama, but it doesn't, it comes from Cuenca, Ecuador. This style of hat already was being made from the cactus leaf and worn here, when they spotted that the men building the Panama were an ideal market for their hats.  This sales strategy was so successful that the hats became synonymous with Panama and the name stuck.  It certainly made the hats famous, but Ecuador and particularly Cuenca would rather people recognised where they really come from.

The fun (if slightly mean) thing about the taxi ride was that the drivers were expecting a decent fare from us gringos, but in fact when we arrive at the museum, someone from the factory actually comes out and pays the fare for us, so they get a disappointing basic fee instead.



Panama hat factory



The factory was interesting and they showed us the process of making the hats.  Local women start it off at home and weave the basic product, dropping great bundles of them off at a time.  At the factory they tighten the weaving and finish the edges, before bleaching the hats and sometimes dying them.  They shape them individually and then iron them, still using an old fashioned iron with hot coals inside it.





Panama hat factory



The standard of the hats, and therefore the price, is determined by the quality of the weave.  The cheaper hats use a wider weave, only splitting the leaf a few times.  The most expensive split each leaf six times to produce a much finer weave and a softer finish to the fabric.

As well as the traditional white Panama hat, they also make a range of other colours and styles, and have branched out into handbags and other items, and even have started making clothes.

At the end of the tour we hit the shop and tried on the hats.  I really liked one that was a big heavy, cream coloured 1920's cloche style hat, but clearly that was impractical, so I bought my other favourite, which is a brown very wide rimmed sunhat.  This is both practical - sensible colour and will be great in the heat of Colombia - but also impractical as it is not easy to pack in a rucksack!  At present it's fine as it lives in its box on the truck when not in use, but once we are travelling alone I may have to send it back to the UK.



spitroast pig



For lunch, we set off for the market, where they have a range of cooked foods available but the main draw is the Ecuadorian speciality of spitroast pig.  There were five or six of them on different stands, and you could go and get a little taste of each before deciding which to have.  They all tasted good, so we picked the one with the best crackling.  A good value and tasty lunch.



Later in the day we headed off to visit a museum, but via a particularly good ice cream shop, Tutto Freddo. The ice cream was good, though still not as good as in Freddos in BsAs.  Sitting in the park to eat it, we bumped into another person from our group and she decided to join us going to the museum.

The museum we picked had information about the various Ecuadorian tribes and people, including their costumes and customs.  The most interesting of course was the Shuru tribe who were head shrinkers. They believed that if they cut off and carried the heads of their important enemies, that persons knowledge and power would transfer to them.  Head shrinking was also important in some spiritual ceremonies.  There were a number of shrunken heads on display and it is fascinating how well preserved they are. They really are perfect mini heads.  These days, the tribe is no longer allowed to practise human headshrinking and uses sloths for its ceremonies instead.


On the way back from the museum we decided to pop into a bar and take advantage of its 2 for 1 offer.  After having our two drinks each and trying to work out who all the pictures on the walls were of, we set off again.  However we were quickly diverted by finding a microbrewery.  It seemed important to try the local beer, so in we went.  Once in there we found that they made beer cocktails so we tried those.  Nic had a dark beer with whisky, baileys and coffee liqueur in it, I had a large blonde beer with vodka, gin and grenadine, and our friend had a large blonde beer with a tequila shot sunk into it.  We enjoyed these, but of course still don't really know what the local beer tastes like!

We had made it a little further on, when we came across a hookah bar. None of us had ever tried this, so we decided to go in.  We ordered a chocolate and mint pipe to share and a beer each.  By this point our friend was happy to say the least, and she entered into a spirited discussion with the guy in the bar, including trying to buy his jacket.  By this point we had noticed that the other customers had gone and they had put down the shutters.  This was slightly worrying, so Nic and I made sure it was clear that we were still fully in charge of our faculties, but in fact it was fine.
We eventually persuaded our friend she didn't want the jacket and left, and decided that it was best we got done food and do for ease and speed we went back to the place we had been before.  On the way there, and then back to the hotel, we discovered that the people of Cuenca are a friendly and tolerant bunch of people, as they nearly all responded with an amused greeting to our friend calling Hola to every person we passed!

We deposited our friend safely in her room, and left her to await her hangover.