Arrival inCuenca, at 2500m altitude was quite nice. We got up fairly early at the hostel, after about 4 hours of sleep. We walked around a little and headed to the little villages of Gualaceo and Chordeleg. They are about an hour bus ride away from the city and located in the mountains. The guide book mentioned some artisan and jewelry markets on Sundays, but we got there and there were none. We just walked around, bought some postcards, sat in a small café with a lovely owner and wrote postcards and read our books. It was a nice sunny day and we really enjoyed the time spent there, where we were the only tourists. When we got back, we met our couchsurfing friend Andres and chatted at his house while drinking mate. Cosima and I were starting to catch a cold, and so we went to bed afterwards. The next day we slept in, and met Andres after he was done work to go out for Ecuadorian food. It was really good! We also walked around the old city at night and looked for a scarf for Cosima. Their food is not too fried, which is nice. The main dishes we tried was “mote pillo”, which is scrambled egg and corn, “habas con queso”, big beans with cheese, “choclo con queso” corn on the cob with cheese. Also we tried that night “tamales”, which is corn and can come with chicken, pork, or cheese. The corn is blended together and wrapped in a leaf and boiled. They also have “humitas” that are corn and cheese with butter and sometimes anis, wrapped in a corn leaf. Humitas are very nice with coffee actually! It is so nice to try new and different food! I think Cosima and I preferred the “habas con queso” and the “humitas”.
However, the exciting event of the day was the purchase we made: GALAPAGOS!!!!!!!!!!! And so from the 21rst to the 28th of October we will be discovering the above and under water diversities and beauties of the islands! We are really excited!
La chola 