EC Amazon & Galapagos Day 13
EC Amazon & Galapagos
Day 13-3 - Monday, December 15, 2008 - Visit Andean Villages (San Joaquin, Gualaceo, & Chordeleg)
We had lots of time this morning so our alarm did not go off until 7:15. We had breakfast with Al & Winnie. I had the best scrambled eggs with cheese I have ever tasted. Gennie had hot chocolate and our waiter Marco said it was made with genuine Ecuadorian chocolate, vanilla, and a touch of cinnamon! Yummy!
I checked the weather and it was cool, 58º and the humidity was 87%. The skies were partly sunny – a great day to explore Cuenca.
The first task of the day was to take the dirty clothes to a local laundry. The cost was 45 cents a pound – the best price for clean clothes in all of our travels!
Our first discovery of the day was to visit the Homero Ortega and Sons Panama Hat Factory. We began our tour in the “Magic of the Straw Hat” Museum.
The owners of the company were busy grading the hats brought in from the weavers in local villages. He showed us how to tell a good hat that is uniformly and tightly woven from a bad hat that is poorly woven and is automatically rejected.
Antonio gave us a brief description of the Ecuadorian hats that were made famous because the workers building the Panama Canal all wore these hats. All of these hats are made here in Ecuador and especially here in Cuenca.
We watched a beautiful woman doing a demonstration of the weaving. Her hands flew quickly through the paja tocquilla, a special straw used to weave the hats.
From there we went to the production area where the hats were bleached and then dried in the sun for a uniform white color and then shaped with a stream press.
Our next stop was the finishing shop where the women sewed in the bands and the Ortega labels. No discovery would be complete without a shopping opportunity.
We went into the showroom and saw hats priced from $25 to $620! Several people in our group bought very elegant hats. We did take a guys and gals photo to show the many varieties of hats made here in Cuenca.
We met at the bus at 11:00 and Edwin took us to the center of the city. Back at the main plaza we learned more about the city and visited the new Cathedral. Antonio explained about the differences in the architecture.
The church was begun in the early 17th Century and is now being restored. Technically it is not finished as another story is to be added to each of the spires.
We continued on to the Plaza of the Flowers in front of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception. We entered the sanctuary and were amazed at the bright colors which are original to the construction.
Antonio took us to the Central Market and treated us all to a hot chocolate. The custom is to put a small piece of country cheese in the hot liquid until it softens and then eat the cheese with a piece of bread. It was really quite good but Gennie, the chocolate purist, would rather have hers plain!
We continued our walk through the city seeing stores busy on this Monday morning. As we walked along the River Walk we met students who were coming home from school.
We had an opportunity to talk with several young girls who had their social studies “city planning map project” with them.
Miraculously, Edwin was waiting for us with the bus at 1:00. We drove to an overlook high above the city and continued on the old Pan American Highway for about an hour to the town of Gualaceo.
We had our lunch at the beautiful Hostería Huertos Uzhupud. We had an excellent meal but did not finish until about 3:00. We all promised each other we would never eat again!
Our next discovery was a visit to the Ecuagenera Orchid farm. Our guide Hugo told us of the difficult process of growing orchids. We learned this company has about 4,000 species of orchids and over 7,000 species of other plants in their greenhouses. We walked from greenhouse to greenhouse admiring the gorgeous orchids.
We left the Orchid Farm at 5:45 and continued on to our last stop of the day. We visited a very primitive home where Jose showed us the production of the woolen and silk "macanas," the Ikat dyed shawls we have seen for sale everywhere.
As we drove along the highway on our way back to Cuenca, Antonio spotted a small family owned puntas, sugar cane alcohol distillery.
Several of us tried the drink; it was 70% alcohol or 140 proof. That made the drive home go very quickly!
Antonio told us our final activity of the day would be dinner but everyone had had enough to eat and no one wanted a full meal. Many went to our designated restaurant to have a coffee or light bite to eat.
Gennie and I decided to walk back to our hotel as it was already 7:15 and we certainly were not hungry. We showered and then sorted photos and wrote the journal.
Gennie had to do some work for two new classes so we were happy to get back to the hotel. We packed for our flight back to Quito tomorrow and listed to the Christmas music in the lobby of our hotel.
Accommodations: Carvallo Cuenca Hotel - - - Meal: B, L, D
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Comments
Post a Comment!Be ready for cold weather if you're on your way home! It was -8º last night in C.S. and -19º in Denver!
Making Panama Hats - Cuenca, Ecuador (1:11)
Weaver at Homero Ortega - Panama Hat
Cuenca Market
Cuenca Market
Orchid at Ecuagenera
Macanas with Jose and Antonio
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