Wednesday 20th November 2013
Back to the city!
We arrived in Cuenca one hour from sunset. Hostal Villa del Rosario had a courtyard with a garden in the middle and the rooms all around the edges, which reminded my of my grandparents house in India. As we were waiting for the owner to bring us the key to our room, I saw a bright green hummingbird hovering next to the flowers. Before I could get my camera out, it was gone. I had seen the same hummingbird in Baños at the entrance of our hostel, but again not been able to snap it. There was a giant model of the very same green hummingbird at Museo Inti-nan, and now I understood why. That green hummingbird must be the most beautiful bird I have ever seen. I wanted to steal a picture off the internet to put on the blog to show people what it looked like, but none of them do it justice so I am just glad to have seen it with my own eyes.
We stayed in Cuenca for only two nights, which was enough to explore the city on foot. It was much nicer than Quito. There was traffic but it was less imposing, and the lower altitude meant it was much more breathable. Along the Rio Tomebamba (more of a stream compared to the Thames) there was a leafy path, away from the traffic which was a nice route across the city. After a couple of relaxing days and nights we were ready to move on and embark on our epic bus journey to Lima. We chose to take the inland border crossing which we had read to be much more peaceful than the coastal one. From here our plan was to take 3 buses over 2 days to get to Lima (we would be skipping northern Peru due to the timing of the Inca Trail).
- Cuenca – Loja (Ecuador) 2pm (4.5 hrs)
- Loja – Piura (Peru) 10.30pm (8.5 hrs)
- Piura – Lima 3pm (16 hrs)
Ramblers Rumblings 