Cuenca to Banos, Ecuador. 2nd May 2017

Tuesday 2^nd May 2017

Cuenca to Banos

Took minibus with Wilson still acting as guide.  A bone-jarring journey through the mountains, with lots of evidence of small land-slips, then one enormous one which took out the road and caused us to detour through some small villages before re-joining the Pan-American Highway. Raining in places but a lovely trip nonetheless with lots of small farms, terraced farming, very dark rich volcanic earth providing enormous fruit and vegetables.

Stopped off en-route in a town where we ate chicken and chips from a rotisserie – huge portion with additional rice and salsa salad for $5. 

After about 9 hours, arrived in the town of Banos, staying at the Monte Selva located at the base of a mountain and which had its own thermal spa.  We therefore immediately indulged in a thermal soak with a brief sauna and Turkish bath.  The swimming pool was too cool to brave.  Suitably refreshed, we went for a wander around town which seemed to be a back-packers and local holiday-maker resort.  Lots of hostels, tour sellers, kiosks selling tat – but generally clean and tidy.  There were also a multitude of hairdressers and barbers shops so I stopped off and had a trim.  Finally, I can see! $7 for a cut. Iain hid.

Back for rum and cokes near our rooms. The hotel kindly supplied an ice bucket.

Cuenca, Ecuador. 1st May 2017

Monday 1^st May 2017

Cuenca, Ecuador.

Collected by our guide, Wilson, for a city tour. Most shops closed due to bank holiday, but various festivals going on. Nice picture of the statue of a family helping children up the slippery pole. If they reached the top, they received the prizes on the top.  Also another lovely piece of artwork of a family on a cycle ride – near the broken bridge.  Visited the Panama hat factory where saw how the hats were made from the cutting of the reeds, through weaving, pressing and finishing.  Bought a hat which I’m sure I’ll be able to use in the heat of the UK summer! Walked through a lovely park where many of the locals were taking advantage of exercise routes and machines, to see the confluence of two of the four Cuenca rivers. Very pleasant.  Finished with a city tour of the cathedral and squares, admiring the mixture of French and Spanish style architecture.

Lunch at a small family-type restaurant where we had a $5.85 meal of pork in cornflour steamed in leaves, grilled trout with what appeared to be fried parsnips and salad and starfruit. Washed down with Chilean dry white wine.  Staggered back to our hotel via a kiosk where jointly purchased a bottle of rum and enormous coke bottle for $13. Rest of afternoon was spent on Ed and Jude’s balcony overlooking the river and watching the sunset, demolishing said bottle of rum.

Mancora to Huaquillas to Cuenca, Ecuador - 30th April 2017

Sunday 30^th April 2017

Mancora to Huaquillas to Cuenca, Ecuador

Lovely relaxing morning. After breakfast on terrace, went for a wander to nearby fisherman’s wharf to watch the catch coming in. Sunday, so a bit quieter than usual but the pelicans, cormorants and frigate birds were still on standby.  Also saw a very large turtle and a glimpse of a seal. Think they disappeared into deeper water away from the propellors. Very pleasant place to chill out, with lots of friendly locals. Picture of Roberto with local police motorcyclist and a fisherman.  Wandered back to hotel and showered/packed for midday departure.

Waited for public bus from Mancora to Huaquillas, but was over an hour late. Usual bureaucracy at a pre-border check where Iain had his suitcase checked (unlucky- only 3x bags from bus chosen). No other apparent checks and then drove for about an hour until reached the border. Tedious queue for exiting Peru stamp, then another queue for entry to Ecuador. Couple of queue jumpers got short shrift. 10 mins later we arrived at Huaquillas bus station then transferred to private minibus for further 4 hour bone-jarring trip to Cuenca. Most of the road was unmade, and some decidedly dodgy with small landslips. Slightly alleviated by a stop at petrol station where a pack of cold beers and crisps were bought to cover our lunch and dinner. Finally arrived at lovely Hotel Crespo around 11pm. Straight to bed. Sleep at 11.05pm….

Mancora. Chill out day. 29th April 2017

Saturday 29^th April 2017

Transfer to Mancora Marina Hotel which helpfully gave us an early check-in and breakfast. Huge amount of dragonflies around the hotel and frigate birds with a few vultures flying overhead.  Lovely long pool with a beachfront aspect.

Gunna and Ed visited the Loki Hostel which a friend of Gunna’s (David) owned. Average age 20 until the lads walked in!  Apparently the place to go – large swimming pool, constant entertainment/sports, low priced beer and food.

Iain and I flopped around the pool and beach area all day.  Good to do nothing at all. Think we needed to relax and chill. I had a massage in room – S70 for hour.  Very very good – fell asleep 3x!

Risked Happy Hour – started 5pm till 8pm. Mojitos a bit weak, Gin very odd, so ended up with sharing dry white wine.  Lovely meal of steak in peppers and onions and rice.   Iain had grilled grouper followed by a pancake. Ate out on the terrace, but somewhat plagued by lots of beetles aiming for the lights.  Nice crunchy sound as the waitress walked back and forth!  Lovely breeze from the ocean.  

Trujillo chill out. Night bus to Mancora - 28th April 2017

Friday 28^th April 2017

Trujillo/Mancora

Day relaxing at the hotel. Dodgy tummy still so didn’t want to venture far. Caught up on chores – all the laundry, postcards, transferring photos to Ed and Jude, facebook and finances.  Needed a day out not doing anything much.  Nothing to eat and only water to drink.

Took the evening Olltura bus to Mancora. Departed 8pm and didn’t arrive until about 7am. Very comfortable bus with nearly horizontal reclining seats, however I couldn’t get to sleep. Delayed for hour due to a punctured tyre.

Trujillo, Huanchaco. Chan Chan Citadel - 27th April 2017

Thursday 27^th April 2017

Collected by our guide Yvette for a half day tour around colonial Trujillo which was built between four Chimú archaeological sites.

Visited the main square ‘Plaza de Armas’ and various Spanish colonial houses (one of which is now a bank) with paintings within their courtyards, hand carved furniture and ornate grill work.  On to ‘Chan Chan’ the pre-Columbian adobe citadel of the Chimu culture, which was enormous. It was surrounded by huge smooth flat walls with only one entrance and loooong pathways.  The site just got better the more we walked, with original carvings in the adobe still visible. The site was used for collecting taxes, offerings and ceremonies. Onto the pre-Inca temple of ‘Huaca El Dragon’/rainbow temple which was a lot smaller and was used as a storage area for food as well as a first floor ceremonial square.  Again some superb carvings remained and it was clear to see the various diagrams of fish, condor, puma etc.

Dropped off for lunch at lovely restaurant, El Sombrero, included in package. Pisco Sours on arrival, raw fish Ceviche for Iain, I had an avocado salad, then Sea Bass for Iain and a sea bass soup for me. Stomach feeling a bit dodgy for me, so tiny portions with Iain hoovering up anything remaining. Ice cream to finish.  All overlooking the seafront from a 1^st floor vantage point, cooled by the sea breeze.  Very nice.

Had a wander up "El Muelle", or the pier, a landmark of Huanchaco. This steel pier was constructed in 1891, it is 108 meters long and full of families playing with crabbing lines. Bit like home! 

The fishermen use their "Caballitos de totora", reedboats shown in ceramics that date from 500BC. They don’t seem at all practical and use what appears to be a plank as an oar. The boats become waterlogged so are used for a couple of hours, then lined up on the beach to dry out – 25kg dry, over 50kg wet, so you need to be ‘a man’ to carry it to and from the beach. Rite of passage methinks.

Lima/ Trujillo/ Huanchaco - 26th April 2017

Wednesday 26^th April 2017

Lima/ Trujillo/ Huanchaco.

Departed from bus station on a Cruz del Sur bus to Trujillo.  Took over 9 hours but included lunch on board (chicken and rice, potato/salad, pud and sweet with soft drink).  Very good facilities including personal entertainment – caught up on 3x different films and loads of solitaire. Large comfortable seats that reclined to reasonable angle.  Very dodgy road in places and view mainly of sand dunes and desert area.

Transfer to Huanchaco which was only about 15 minutes down the road to the

Caballito de Totora Hotel.  Had a pisco sour in their bar, very carefully made by the manager, who seemed to do everything – reception, waiting, bar etc. Nice guy and service was excellent – recommended.

Went for a walk along the beach front until we were whistled by Terry and Diane who had found a nice little salsa bar on the first floor overlooking the sea.  Joined them for a meal of seafood and lots of cold beers. Watched the sunset.