My arrival to Ecuador was inglorious.  An overnight bus after a transfer in Piura, a smallish city and my last stopover in Peru, saw us to the border shortly after midnight.  It was one of those clear evenings, with crisp air in this highlands crossing point between two insignificant towns and as I walked over the bridge separating the two nations, I couldn’t help but smile.  There was also a pretty cool moth the size of my palm, however picture taking at borders is frowned upon and I’ll have to consign it to mere memory.

 

This happy situation was abruptly remedied a few hours later.  Around four AM, after a few fitful hours of sleep on my pair of seats on the bus, I was awake.  Nauseous, sweating.  I recognized it.  A trip to the bathroom in the back came up empty; door locked.  Taking initiative, I seized the little plastic baggies near the front and hurled.  It worked, got whatever was in my system out.  Not a worry since then.  Travel is not always glamorous, sadly.

 

Loja, my first stop.  A small city with a charming old colonial center that exists largely off the beaten path.  There is little to see or do save relax and eat well…I did just this, downing a humita, a tamale, and an empanada in short order.  There was an odd little Disney-esque castle presiding over the northern entrance to town, but past that it was a quick stopover before moving on to Cuenca.

 

Cuenca is a charming city founding by the Spanish on a city built by the Incas who had seized the original site from a local indigenous group in the course of empire building.  To this end, Catholic churches litter the compact grid of the city center, an area that would seem to fit in just as well in most parts of Southern Europe as it does here.  The central square is in particular charming, and indeed simply to walk around is enjoyable.

 

A highlight is the free (yes, free!) museum run by the central bank, offering some ethnic group dioramas of the rich tapestry of Ecuador.  The highlight, undoubtedly, are the reclusive jungle-dwelling Shuari people, whose display area is graced with a handful of shrunken heads, a local custom apparently.  Behind are the ruins of Pumapungo, the third largest city of the Incan empire.  There is also a delight aviary with displays of different colorful birds.

Today’s excursion was to Ingapirca, another old Incan ruin built on the bones of an even older people.  Never doubt the Incans were relentless expansionists.  It is in the midst of rolling green hills split into colorful squares of agriculture, a seemingly endless expanse of the rural idyll.  The ruins themselves are somewhat reduced from the pilfering of stones over time; nevertheless it was very cool to see some examples of Incan masonry up close and personal…amazing precision.  Next stop: Banos.