Cuenca or bust!

Misadventures in Transport

When Stephen and I arrived in Alausi, we decided that we would make the four hour journey to Cuenca late on Thursday night versus waste half of Friday sitting on a bus. We only had one full day in Cuenca before we needed to fly back to join the rest of the group in Quito. Wednesday afternoon, we purchased our bus tickets from a tiny shop about halfway up the mountain between Alausi and the Pan-American highway.

We told the lady several times that we wanted to take the 9:30pm bus (en el noche) on Thursday and asked her to confirm where we would need to stand in order to catch the bus. She indicated that we needed to wait just outside the shop under the sign that said "parada." So we bought our tickets and continued to enjoy our time in Alausi.

On Thursday, we mentioned to a couple of people that we were taking the late bus to Cuenca that night. When we asked them where we needed to wait, "up there" seemed to be the only concrete answer we could get from anyone.

After a very long (but enjoyable) day, we packed up all of our gear and began the slow walk up the hill towards the bus stop. We passed by the cathedral to take a few photos of it lit up at night. It was beautiful.

Stephen and I arrive at the bus stop around 8:30 pm for our 9:30 pm departure. Several people told us that it would be better to be there very early in order to catch the bus. The last bus for the evening was scheduled for 12:30 am and we didn't want to chance missing our bus and then having to wait for that bus to come along. The temperature had dropped dramatically and I was wearing just about every piece of warm clothing I had in anticipation for a long, cold bus ride.

So we wait... and wait... and wait... AND WAIT.

Waiting at the infamous bus stop for a bus that would never come.

At 9:40 pm a man and his family who lived across the street ran out from their house to ask where we were trying go. "Cuenca," we tell them. The man proceeds to tell us that we were waiting for the bus at the wrong stop and needed to be literally at the top of the cliff waiting on the Pan-American highway for our bus.

Naturally, we freak out and I immediately explode into an expletive filled tirade as we grab all of our bags and try to figure out how we are going to get all the way up the hill in order to catch the bus. The man waves for us to follow him and he begins to lead us up a cow track at the back of his property that runs straight up the cliff side. If he didn't have his wife and two young children in tow, I would be afraid that he was going to rob us.

We were such a sight: I had my two backpacks, a purse, and my large iron cross in hand scrambling up the hill behind this little man in the pitch black dark. I couldn't see a damn thing and ended up busting ass trying to keep up with him. We had to hurry if we had any hopes of making our bus. Stephen was close behind, along with the wife and two small children bringing up the rear. By the time we reached the top of the hill, we were so out of breath and exhausted we could barely thank the family before taking our position by the side of the highway.

Fortunately, another young man was trying to catch a bus along the same route. He pretty much was the expert in flagging down buses, and I was glad that he was there with us. We all sat by the side of the road for an additional THREE HOURS trying to get a stupid bus to pull over. Everyone kept passing us by. Stephen thought that we should just go back into town and get a hotel room (the logical choice) but I literally didn't have the energy to go back down that cliff and figured as long as the little Ecuadorian man was waiting for his bus, we would wait for ours. CUENCA OR BUST, literally.

It was so, so cold. And I was so, so annoyed and frustrated with the Ecuadorian transportation system. Stephen did try calling hotels and unfortunately they were either all book solid for the night, or the concierge was MIA. If we didn't catch a bus, we were going to be sleeping in the bushes somewhere for all we knew. There weren't a lot of options.

Fortunately, a bus FINALLY pulled over and picked up the three amigos. As we are loading the bus, the driver tells us "there are no seats," but we didn't care. We just wanted to be off the side of the road and on our way. We had to cram into the aisle of the bus - among all of the baggage and the people for the four hour twisty journey to Cuenca. It felt like this:

Fortunately, a seat opened up after thirty minutes and I was soon off the floor. Stephen grabbed a seat about an hour later. We didn't roll into Cuenca until 4:30 am. It was quite a journey!

Sightseeing in Cuenca

With only three hours of sleep under our belt, we woke up and hit the streets of Cuenca. It wasn't the most beautiful of days weather wise, but Stephen and I managed to cram a lot of highlights into one day. In the end, I would have preferred more time in Cuenca with a chance to really explore some of the lesser known sights, but I have to give my traveling companion props for agreeing to see so many churches and museums on such little sleep. Here are some photos from charming Cuenca:

Cuenca's Cathedral - it was stunning inside and out. The stained glass mosaics were gorgeous and the blue tiled domed roof could be seen all over the city. Truly a masterpiece and one of my favorite churches in Ecuador.

Additional views of the cathedral.

L to R: Flower market, wine tasting, a stray pup that "owned" an entire street corner, the tiled street signs and colonial architecture that filled every street in Cuenca.

We took a long walk along the river that runs through town. The riverside houses the university and several museums.

This was a little museum along the river called "Centro Interamericano des Artes Populaires" that showcased artwork and musical instruments from around the country. It was located in a beautiful old house - definitely my favorite of the day.

More from the museum.

We had a really delicious lunch at a cafe called El Mais. 

We went to another large museum known for its archaeological finds as well as ethnographic collections devoted to the different peoples of Ecuador. Parts were very interesting, however, patience for museums run short on little sleep. 

One of the highlights was seeing an actual shrunken head. They don't really go into great detail on how this process was done, but it was kind of cool/creepy to see the head just the same.

With every corner you turn, another beautiful building awaits!

We bid beautiful Cuenca goodbye on Saturday morning, and arrived for our flight well in advance. As luck would have it, we were delayed OVER TWO HOURS trying to leave Cuenca due to another small earthquake in Quito. We had to board the plane, then de-board, then re-board before finally taking off. Stephen and I missed an Equator tour scheduled with the group and didn't arrive in Quito until much later in the afternoon. I ended up with a nasty cold from all of the excitement and took the rest of the day to recover.

At the end of the day, we made it to Alausi, Cuenca and back to Quito again after a whirlwind adventure. On Saturday night, we met up with the rest of the group from Atlanta over dinner at Mama Corinda's in the Mariscal.

Our active week through the Andes was about to begin... my next post will describe the AOC tour through Ecuador's Avenida de Volcanoes, Quilotoa Loop, and our stay in Banos. Thanks for reading once again!