10/4: Bust & Boon in Gualeco & Chordeleg Near Cuenca, Ecuador

Before meeting Nadine and Oliver, our two new Luxembourg acquaintances from our marathon hike in El Cajas National Park the previous day, and visiting the nearby rural communities of Gualaceo and Chordeleg, Steven and I popped into the Iglesia Santo Alfonso since it had been closed the other two times we passed it. 

Across the street from the church was the attractive cultural center. 

Oliver hadn’t seen the church so we went back again for a few minutes before taking a taxi to the bus station for the short trip to the town of Gualaceo first.

We got to the station literally just as the bus was pulling out of his spot but he wouldn’t wait one minute for Nadine and Oliver to find the .10 each for the station departure fee. We were fortunate that we didn’t have to wait long before another bus to depart. We obviously hadn’t done our ‘homework’ as none of us realized that Gualaceo was a 90-minute ride away east through the mountains! We had wanted to stop in Gualaceo because it was known for its leather shops. Not seeing any leather shops, we stopped at the local market for a few minutes. There, we had our first samples of cuy or guinea pig. The meat was delicious and very moist, sort of like turkey, I thought. The market was known for the typical food found in Gualaceo.

I found the local women's dress fascinating to look at as always.

The town square was only partially visible because of construction.

It was strange seeing so many buildings in Gualaceo painted a rather vile shade of green in my opinion.

Even the church was green!

We wandered around the rather ugly town, looking in vain for leather shops we'd expected to see. We certainly saw a huge number of men’s leather shoe stores but no leather shops selling any small leather gift items, etc. We stopped in at the local information office but no one there was able to point us to any town sights or any place worth spending any money on. What a bust it was for us! 

So, we all hopped on what funnily enough was the same bus and the same driver for a trip to Chordeleg, a town known for its silver jewelry. We only hoped we’d have better luck and more fun there!

If you couldn’t find a silver item you liked in Chordeleg, there had to be something wrong as there were silver shops everywhere we looked. 

We were so relived we had come to Chordeleg as the town had a pretty church square.

Even the street lights looked like silver earrings!

There were just so many stores selling silver jewelry, especially filigree, it just boggled my mind. I was just overwhelmed with all the choices.

Nadine and I spent close to an hour in one shop while she looked for a gift for her mother and a ring for herself and I bought myself a second pair of earrings and a longer chain to go with a pendant I had also purchased in Otavalo. I have to give the men a lot of credit as they were remarkably patient while Nadine and I selected items and the salesclerk polished Nadine’s gifts. Plus, it had started raining to add to their discomfort while they waited outside the shop.

Oliver always seemed to have a bottomless stomach so he and Nadine found a place to have lunch. Steven and I bought some rolls and wandered through town some more instead.

It was a two-hour bus ride back to Cuenca through the mountains. The drive was picturesque but Steven and I had had enough of buses by then that day especially since we were also facing a longish ride the next morning to our next destination.

Once we got back to Cuenca and said our goodbyes to Nadine and Oliver, we looked for a place to eat dinner. We found the selection of restaurants in the downtown area to be pretty poor considering Cuenca was the country’s third largest city. Since we’re in no way ‘foodies,’ our standards or expectations are pretty low when it comes to finding a place to eat. We ended up at one that had no one else inside – one thing we normally try and avoid at all costs – but we were tired and hungry. Steven was happy with his hamburger and I was delighted with my chicken salad sandwich.

Steven and I said later we couldn’t believe we’d spent all day doing what felt like nothing! Neither of us could remember having a day like that on one of our trips before. Looking on the bright side, at least we saw some interesting scenery on our bus rides, spent some more enjoyable time with Nadine and Oliver and I bought earrings I love! So, all was not lost.

Although the central square and a few buildings surrounding it were pleasant, neither Steven or I were at all smitten with Cuenca. I had difficulty understanding why it’s considered to be a place to stop for tourists apart from its easy access to the breathtakingly beautiful El Cajas National Park. The sidewalks were in atrocious shape, the architecture generally unattractive except as listed above and graffiti sadly defaced so many buildings – it couldn’t be considered ‘street art’ as it didn’t have that beauty or sophistication so was just tagging.

Next post: Coastal city of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Posted on October 28^th, 2017 from Cusco, Peru.