Our first stop after Guayaquil (we just went to the bus depot and hopped the first bus) was Cuenca, the thrid largest city in Ecuador and home of 2 universities. The trip was in the evening and with rain and fog there was not too much to see. That was unfortunate as the trip is obviously wonderful climbing from sea level to 2500 metres (and I think that at least one pass had to be 4000 metres). We seemed to be climbing on a 2 lane highway for about 2 hours. It was a good thing the visibility was bad as the driver did not hesitate to pass slower traffic over the solid lines.
Cuenca rivals Quito for the most beautiful city in Ecuador and is a UNESCO site as is Quito. We stayed downtown in the colonial city. We toured the old and new cathedrals. One was built in the 1550´s while the other, a truly spectacular structure, was built over many years starting in the 1800s. Being Valentines Day (or the run up to it) the flower market was very busy and heart shaped balloons were everywhere. We managed to find some nice galleries/museos, as well as one archeological site and walked a lot. It was a lot of fun, but we must head South and this was a chance to visit Saraguro on our way to Peru.
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