Road Trip - Part Two

In case you forgot, after eating our fill of roasted piggie, we headed to:

Ingapirca


A wee bit of history to bore you with before my pictures. The original inhabitants of the area where the ruins stand were the Canari. They were defeated by the Incas, but they did not go down easily. After the Incas finally defeated them they did not eliminate them nor did they fully assimilate them. Instead the Incas and Canari lived in relative harmony, but with the Incas maintaining firm control and regarding themselves and vastly superior to the Canari. Kind of like how Yankee fans regard Mets fans. The Incas also selected wives from the Canari. I don't know if Yankee fans ever marry Mets fans, though.

The Incas were allowed to have multiple wives, but I forget just how many. The men, however, did not live with the women. I guess if you have a lot of wives this would be a wise arrangement.

Before viewing the ruins themselves we first spent some time in a museum which held artifacts found around the site and some bones as well. They made ceramic pottery and stone carvings and were also adept at fashioning implements out of copper. Without a great deal of commentary, because I don't have much information to impart, I will simply post the pictures.









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The last picture was of particular interest to Bar Man. It is a large jug that was used to ferment corn in order to produce their equivalent of beer. Hey, multiple wives, living with the guys and drinking beer. Sounds like a pretty good life. Now if they only had televised sports it would be darn near perfect.

The Incas worshiped the sun and the moon and the grounds of Ingapirca are laid out to represent them. That way no matter where you were in the compound, and even in the surrounding mountains, you could look down and take comfort from seeing the representations of your gods.

Just Use Your Imagination


Because this site was a ceremonial place, large feasts were held and so there were storage and cooking facilities to serve the huge crowds that would gather.

Storage Bins


All that are left are the bases, but these were more like silos and could hold quite a bit of food-stuffs and also rendered fat from animals. Although the Incas ate meat, the didn't consider freshly killed meat to be edible so they would cure it in salt. This also facilitated storing it for future use.

Although the Incas co-existed with the Canari, as I mentioned, the Incas considered themselves to be vastly superior. In fact just making direct eye-contact with an Inca was an offense punishable by death, usually by being decapitated.

The Chopping Block


When an Inca died his body would be displayed for a few days and the deceased relatives would gather and mourn. We saw the equivalent of a funeral parlor with a place for the body to be displayed, not too unlike our modern viewings or wakes.

Where The Body Was Displayed


The body was placed on the circular area of stones and the foundations behind it were the rooms where the mourners could stay.

I had mentioned how the Inca houses had doors that faced the east and a niche with a gold item to catch the sunlight and illuminate the house. You can see where this was necessary, because the houses had no windows.

A Typical House


Efrain And Me Taking A Break


You will remember that this was the second half of our tour so rests were welcome whenever we had a chance to take them.

These pictures don't really do justice to the ruins themselves, but they will give you some idea of what we saw.

You Really Need To Be Here






It really was impressive to see the quality of the stone work. After all of the hundreds of years so much of the structure is still intact and you can see how precisely the stonework all fits together.

And they had their equivalent to Mount Rushmore as well.

His Name Was Teddy


And Yes, We Were Here


The face had two primary functions. First, it warned any approaching enemies that they were about to encounter an enemy they may want to avoid. And it also served as a welcome to Incas returning or coming here for the first time.

And then it was time to return home after an fun and fact filled day. And thanks, again, Efrain for providing us with an informative and thourougly enjoyable tour. And thanks for being willing to take multiple pictures with multiple cameras all day long. If we are ever in Cuenca again we will be sure to look you up. And when you get back to Queens we will have to get together. Maybe for dim sum in Chinatown.

We are all heading home tomorrow morning so this will be my last post until after I return. I still have plenty of pictures to post so I will be doing a bit of catch up. I do want to say that our stay here in Cuenca was most enjoyable and it wouldn't surprise me at all if I come back again for a visit. If I do I will certainly stay at the the same hotel because the accommodations wre great and the people running the place were extremely friendly and helpful. In fact everyone we ran into in Cuenca was that way. People would even walk out of their way to show you where to go if you asked them for direction. The name of the hotel, in case you ever want to visit, is Casa Ordonez and if you check it out on Trip Advisor you will see almost nothing but good reviews by people who have stayed here.

And, of course, you will have to look up Efrain of Mio Tours for simply fantastic excursions with a great guy.

A Belated Happy Fourth Of July From Cuenca

After over five years of the same old look I decided to change the appearance of this blog. This was partially due to my messing up the formatting of my old one. Let me know if you like this, I can always change it to something else, just not back to what it was.

Another Road Trip

We took another road trip with our now friend Efrain yesterday. This one was to visit a couple of Inca ruins. A most interesting and informative little trip. And it had the added benefit of providing us with a great cardiovascular workout. Well, everyone except the Mysterious Chinese Woman, whose little piston-like legs never seem to give in.

We Climbed To The Top


Okay, we didn't start at the bottom, I will grant you that. But we still had to do a fair amount of climbing to get from where we parked the car to the top.

And Here We Are, At The Top


Here Is Our Guide, Efrain


Efrain is very knowledgeable about Inca history and it was fun to listen to him explain stuff to us while we could actually see some of what he was talking about. When we got to the top of the mountain where the ruins were he explained how it commanded a sweeping view of the surrounding landscape so enemies could be seen from afar. Then he had us just listen and you could hear dogs barking and roosters crowing in the town way below. It brought home how the Incas could not only see, but also hear, if any enemies were trying to sneak up.

The Village Down Below


Efrain showed us the ruins of a typical Inca house and explained how all of the houses had doors that faced east so the morning sun would illuminate it.

Typical Inca House


The inside of the house had mumerous niches where various ornamental ceramics were displayed and the niche immediately facing the door would hold something made of gold. That way when the sun reflected off of it the whole house (it was a small house) would be illuminated.

They Have Found There Niche


I Found Mine As Well


This next picture give you a bit of an idea of the layout of the town or settlement, but of course it is just a small part of what the actual settlement must have looked like.

A View From Above


There was a much newer simple shelter put up on top to provide some protection from the rain. And believe me, it can be sunny one minute, raining the next, and bright sun again a few minutes later. Efrain said it was a tradition for those who climbed to the top to inscribe their names on one of the wooden beams. And who are we to break tradition.

Proof That We Were Here


And Proud Of It, Too


And just so you don't think this was just a walk in the park, here is the gentle part of the path we took.

No Walk In The Park


This was just the first, and the smaller, of the two ruins we were to visit. But on the way to the next we stopped at a little roadside place for some pigskin.

No Greater Love Than To Give Up One's Skin


That is Efrain in the background chatting up the proprietress. Efrain seems to know everyone.

They had a lot of interesting things to eat here, sausages, a stew, and who knows what else.

All Kinds Of Good Stuff


We got not only the pigskin but also some succulent pieces of pork, that puffy corn like pozale and a couple of potato dumplings. It was plenty for the three of us and Efrain treated.

Fresh Off The Pig


And then it was off to our next stop, the second largest ruins in South America, second only to Machu Picchu.

Ingapirca, Here We Come


But that visit will have to wait for my next post.

Bar Man Falls Off The Wagon

I Juat Couldn't Help Myself

A Road Trip

The other day we took a road trip courtesy of Efrain and his Mio Tours company, and a mighty fine trip it was. We started out by heading to Parque Nacional Cajas, a national park. On the way, though, we made a stop at the place where, in 1991, a crowd of over a million people gathered to hear a young woman of 16 who claimed she had been visited by God in a dream and given a message to give to the people. There is a long story here, of course, but our guide, who was in the Ecuadorean Special Forces at the time was among those assigned to protect this young lady. Our guide said that it was a cloudy day but as she began to speak the clouds parted and she was illuminated in sunlight. She then spoke in a variety of languages, including Chinese and German, languages that she didn't know. He said he is Catholic but not a big believer in miracles or anything, but there was no denying what he saw.

Her message was simply to drink of the water that flowed from a nearby spring and to bring water back to those who were sick and they would be cured if they believed. The other part of the message was that even if you have very little, share it with those who are in need. She also claimed to have received a secret message that could only be delivered to the Pope. She did travel to the Vatican and delivered the message which remains a secret to this day.

Here Is Where The Message Was Delivered


Of course I drank of the water but I haven't noticed any results. Probably because I don't believe. Millions of people still make a pilgrimage to this site every year and they have built a small and rustic chapel where they hold services every Sunday.

By A Nearby Stream


Of course the scenery along the way to the park was quite spectacular.

Spectacular Scenery






We had to check in before entering the park. Recent changes in the government here have resulted in a lot of changes in Ecuador. Income taxes were introduced for the first time and a lot of work is being done to upgrade the roads, achools, and the infrastructure in general. I already mentioned how a University education is free to all who qualify. Plus, the new Vice-President is handicapped so a lot is being done for the handicapped and to make things accessible to them. Also, women's rights are being promoted much more than before. Needless to say these changes aren't popular with everyone and there has already been one attempted assassination.

Okay, so that all had to do with the fact that up until recently this wasn't really a National Park, but now it is and you have to check in and pay a small fee. In my case, because I am over sixty-five (I know, it is hard to believe) was fifty cents.

Us At The Lake By The Check-In


And then we drove on to the highest point in the park where you could get to by car.

Almost Top Of The World, Ma


That Was Just A Sign, Here We Are


I had to admire this fellow, he bicycled all the way up here from Cuenca.

What A Man


After taking in the sights we headed to a little restaurant where we had a delicious lunch of fried trout.

The Restaurant


After The Meal


I was going to take a picture of the trout before we ate them, they looked fantastic, but we were so hungry we dug right in. It wasn't until afterwards that I thought about taking the picture.

The trout were as fresh as could be, just caught earlier in the day, and simply prepared by frying in a pan. Just like you would do if you caught them yourself. There are a lot of trout streams here and people come up and pay big money to stay overnight and do some trout fishing.

From here we drove to the other side of Cuenca where there is a little town and a place where they still make the traditional fabrics.

Doing It The Old Fashioned Way




And, yes, even these people now have to pay taxes. There is no escape.

This was also a museum and we were given an explanation of the whole weaving process, from the spinning of the yarn to the coloring of the fabric. All natural dyes are used, made from flowers and even insects. In fact one insect produces an orange color when mixed with lime juice and then this color turns purple if you add baking soda.

The Mixing Pots


An Old Loom


Stuff On The Wall


And, of course, the Mysterious Chinese Woman couldn't pass up a bargain.

Modeling Her New Shawl


I would tell you what she paid for it, but the I am afraid this place would be inundated by bargain hunters. Suffice it to say that it was much, much less than you would pay in the United States for one that was made by machine.

Our next stop was at a town famous for its silver jewelry. People come from all over South America to shop here. We didn't linger long because nobody, including the Mysterious Ones, was that interested in spending time in jewelry stores. We did take a stroll around the little park here and I got a nice picture of the local church.

The Church On The Square


And then it was off to the Panama hat factory, the first factory in Ecuador. Again, this place is a bit of a museum. The hats aren't made in the factory any more, they are now made in homes. Ecuadorean men earn about $265 a month and the women supplement the families income by making the hats.

When we got there several of the women were cooking up something because they were going to have a big party for the workers the next day.

Preparing For A Feast


And they were obviously going to be roasting a few pigs as well.

Umm, Succulent Looking


And, in keeping with the generous nature of the Ecuadoreans, we were invited to attend the day long party. But, to be honest, I think it was because the head woman was a bit sweet on Efrain.

We were shown around and Efrain explained the process of making the Panama hats as well as the evolution of their design, from something fairly rudimentary to the fine looking hats you now see.

Efrain Demonstrating A Hat Press


Hand Stitching The Hatbands


This factory also has the distinction of having produced the largest Panama hat in the world.

It Is In The Guinness Book Of World Records


And then we were off to the last stop of our tour, an overlook of the town of Cuenca. Of course on the last leg, because I was singing, or attempting to sing, Pink Shoe Laces, a 1959 hit, Efrain, in self defense, put on a CD of hits of that era. Everything was going fine, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Dean Martin, until Honey I Miss You by Bobby Goldsboro came on and the Mysterious Ones started weeping.

But they were cheered up by the time we got to our overlook of the town.

Another Spectacular View


And then it was back to our hotel. We had a great time and were treated to a special fruit and oatmeal drink that was unique to just one town and some sugarcane juice at another stop along the way. As I mentioned before, tomorrow we are going with Efrain again to visit some ruins.

And, yes, I did buy a Panama hat and I won't keep you waiting any longer so see how positively natty I look in it.

Eat Your Hearts Out


I bought one for Jim, my brother-in-law, as well so now we will be just like twins. Kind of like that guy and Michael Jordan in those commercials for Hanes Tee Shirts.

And now we are off on another day's adventures which, I think, include a large shopping mall and another ride on a local bus. There is a couple staying here who moved to Ecuador from Dallas, Texas and they live in a small town about four hours away by van. They came here just for shopping at this mall. I am so excited.