Off to Cuenca

Today we got up early. Our hotel manager was sitting in the breakfast room and grumbling about being tired. He was quite a peculiar guy. He wore short fluttering jogging pants, a Batman T-shirt, and Nikes every day. It's okay to dress like that, but it didn't match the stylishly furnished hotel at all. Really crazy. Daniela and I took our seats and we actually thought he would ask us what we wanted for breakfast. But no, Mr. Perfect served us two fried eggs with vegetables and sausages!!!! For breakfast!!!!! I thought I was going to puke... I looked at him and said that I would like scrambled eggs instead, I don't like fried eggs. He was annoyed about it, but I didn't care. To cut it short with breakfast, it was terrible and it stayed terrible.

We checked out relatively quickly afterwards and were already in a taxi to the bus station. Today we were taking the bus from Riobamba to Cuenca. The travel time was stated as 6 hours and 30 minutes. It doesn't bother me much, but Daniela always gets anxious. She has to pee so often and is afraid that there won't be a restroom. An employee of the bus agency assured her that there are frequent stops on this long journey so that people can use the restroom.

The bus rolled out on time at 9:30 a.m. I sat all the way in the back with my phone. This way, I could take photos throughout the entire trip. I actually wanted to watch a movie with Daniela in between, but I was so fascinated by the landscape and the locals that I preferred to look out the window.

You really have to see it for yourself how the truly old indigenous villagers work on their fields. An older woman and an older man harvested oats with their hands or two old women sat on the sidewalk and peeled corn cobs. Nowhere in these small villages could you see a machine in the fields. Unimaginable for us.

Then we drove through a region that is apparently well-known for its cheese. I asked Daniela if she had noticed that almost every hut had cows in the meadow. Well, it could have been the Lower Rhine, at least in terms of the typical black-and-white cows ;-) Here too, I found a situation incredible. A woman sat on a bucket and milked a cow in the pasture, almost like in HEIDI... grinning. Oh no, those were goats in Heidi :-()! Well, never mind. I found it really exciting anyway, what there was to see on the long bus journey.

At some point, we took a longer break. The bus drivers ordered some food for themselves and we could stretch our legs. That's when we first felt how warm it was outside - 27.4 degrees were displayed :-) and I was walking around with my wool hat on :-)! Three stray dogs had also laid down in the shade next to our bus. One was right under the bus and I was worried that the driver would run over it. But they actually run away as soon as the engine starts.

The bus arrived in Cuenca and we stopped at a red traffic light. There was a school next to us and the children came out. They were all wearing uniforms. I was told that it is mandatory to wear a uniform here aaaaaaaaaand school starts at 7:00 a.m. Well, dear Jenny, be glad you're not a teacher here.... grinning!

Finally, at around 3:30 p.m., we were at the bus terminal in Cuenca and a taxi was quickly found to take us to our hotel. What we saw on the short drive from the city was already beautiful and our hotel is just - WOW -! We even have a whirlpool in the bathroom :-)

Despite the beautiful hotel room, I wanted to go out and explore Cuenca and I can only say it again and again. Cuenca is my favorite city so far. The old houses with the small balconies and the cafes, which are so stylishly furnished. Oh, I'm really looking forward to the coming days here in Cuenca.

Tomorrow we're going on a bike tour to Ingapirca.

Warm regards from us.