Cuenca

From Banos I took a nearly 9 hour coach ride to Cuenca, which was horrendous on a hangover, anyway Cuenca is Ecuador’s third largest town and actually turned out to be worth the visit! I’d say it was a much friendlier and prettier city than Quito, and of course smaller and less touristy. I was there for just 1 night as a stop over before crossing the Ecuador/ Peru border. 

In the morning I took a stroll around the main town, tried out the local bakery, visited the main square, the church and the food market. There is lots of museums you can also visit including the famous Panama hat museum.

As I’d been sat on a coach for 9 hours I decided I needed some exercise! So a group of us decided we would pay a visit to the Cajas National Park. We took a 45 minute bus ride there from the centre of Cuenca, little did I know the National Park was for experienced hikers (which obviously I am not!) 

Cajas is 3,850 meters above sea level so you could definitely feel a change in the altitude and I felt myself getting out of breath a lot quicker even just walking without incline. In appearance it kinda felt very similar to places in England such as the Lake District but on a much larger scale. Some people camp overnight and hike for days around the National Park. Thankfully for me we needed to catch a nightbus to Peru so the hike was kept short (ish). We took a picnic with us and walked around for about 3/4 hours before getting the bus back to town. When you enter the park you need to register so they are aware you’re there (and can come and find you if you get lost! Slightly reassuring!) A lady I’d spoken to in a cafe earlier in the day had told me not to bother visiting but I’m glad I ignored her advice because it was beautiful. Some of the group had professional cameras on them so majority of the photos below are taken on there and not on my iPhone.