Cuenca - back to city life (Ecuador)

Next, we took the night bus from Mancora to the Peru/Ecuador border. Everyone was woken up and had to collect the stamps in their passports. After entering, we continued on to Cuenca.

Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador and is located in the Andes at an altitude of about 2500m. Surrounded by tall, green peaks, there was a beautiful mountain panorama everywhere.

Upon arrival, we noticed that Cuenca was a very atypical South American city. There were no corrugated iron huts, but instead red brick houses and countless churches. The streets were very clean and lined with many nice cafes and restaurants. Everything felt very European to us, and we could even find proper bakeries with delicious bread.

After over five months in South and Central America, we really enjoyed the European influence of the city. It felt like a proper city trip. The old town center was centrally located with a huge cathedral at its heart. In addition to the numerous cafes, there were many markets and shops to stroll through. The Pumapungo Museum was also very interesting, where we could admire Ecuadorian culture and even real shrunken heads.

In addition to city life, we also had the opportunity to enjoy the nature of the Andes with a day trip to Cajas National Park. The park, located at an average elevation of 4000m, offers a beautiful high mountain landscape.

After a few days in the city, we were ready to continue traveling. We took the bus to the coast, which first took us up to over 4000m and then crossed the entire Andes on narrow roads.