Saraguro y Cuenca

About a week and a half ago, we went to a city in the south of Ecuador called Cuenca for an ACLAS sponsored trip. We flew to Cuenca on Friday morning and from there went to a town called Saraguro. Saraguro is a town with an indigenous population, what interestingly enough, I had just read about in my Andean Anthropology class. On our first afternoon in Saraguro, we went on a Chiva ride to see the population of Gera (another indigenous population). A chiva is kind of like an open bus. There are bench seats and no walls so that you can see everything as you go on your ride, and you can also ride on top. The ride through Gera was beautiful. Lots of mountains and scenery. At one point we drove a school and all the kids ran after us, and followed us all the way to the end of the road we were on, which was a good distance from where they started. Once they had caught up to us though and we were stopped they were very shy. We were told that the indigenous children tend to be very shy of gringos and cameras. They were very cute kids. We went to see a little museum that was near where we stopped as well as the Gera church. At the museum, another girl in my group named Kailey, and I made friends with a few of the little girls that had followed us. Although they don't want to have their pictures taken, they are very curious about digital cameras and were enthralled with looking at the pictures that Kailey and I had taken. After this we went to the home of our guide where we drank a traditional beverage that I have no idea how to spell the name of. It is fermented cactus juice made from the plant Penko Mexico, and we learned how to toast by saying "ishkandi ishkandi".
On our second day in Saraguro we made the climb to see "Banos de los Incas" which are the Incan baths. The climb was hard and muddy, and the added altitude caused a challenge but the view from the top was incredible. At the top, we were also able to take part in traditional healing/cleansing ritual, which was very interesting. After the ritual, we walked over to see the actual baths, which consist of waterfalls and pools, and then we made our way back down the trail. At the bottom of the trail we went to a house where there is a family who hand weaves purses, blankets, hats, etc. And after spending some time there, we went to another community where we had a traditional lunch including trigo, mote, and cuy (wheat, corn, and guinea pig). After lunch we made the 3.5 hour bus ride back to Cuenca where we would stay for the rest of the weekend.
We got to Cuenca when it was already dark and went out for dinner and ice cream. That weekend was a holiday in Cuenca so there were lots of street performers out and about and we got to watch a really cool performance by a few guys that spun fire, juggled fired, juggled other things, and were really fun to watch. We even took a pitcture with them because they were so cool.
On Sunday we went to El Cajas Parque Nacional, which is famous for the hundreds of lagoons that can be found there. We went an about a three hour hike there, which was beautiful, and then went back to Cuenca for a city tour. Cuenca, like Quito, is an international heritage site, and has beautiful historic buildings, especially in the Historical District. Once again, we had the evening free and I went out with my friends. First we got colada morada and guaguas de pan, which are the traditional drink and food for Dia de Difuntos, which is like Dia de los Muertos. Colada Morada is delicious. One of my new favorite drinks, but it is really only made at the time of year, so I am not likely to get to have it again. We made it in my house also, and it was very good. It has about a dozen different kinds of fruit in it and spices, and can be had hot or cold, although I prefer hot. On Sunday night it rained so there weren't performers out in the streets again, which was disappointing. We did make a friend named Rueben though. He was a street vendor by the ice cream place we went to, and he made my friend Stacey and I presents.
On Monday, our last day, we headed out to Canar, which is home to Incan ruins. On our way there, we stopped in Biblian where there is a cathedral in a mountain and we went to see that. The ruins in Canar were beautiful, and amazing to see. In the afternoon, back in Cuenca, we went to a Panama hat factory, where we tried on many many hats, and learned a little about the hat making process. From there, we went to the airport, and said good-bye to Cuenca.
Cuenca was a beautiful city, and I liked it more than I like Quito. If I were to live in Ecuador one day, it might be in Cuenca.