Today we got an official tour of the City of Cuenca by our guide Diego. Diego was born and raised in the city and has very detailed and great knowledge of the city so it was perfect for him to be giving us the tour. Today was another beautiful day in terms of the weather, couldn’t have asked fir a better day for the city tour. We started our tour off at the lookout point where you can see the entire city in the valley, it was an insane view. Diego then explained to us the origins of the city and how this area used to be inhabited by the Canjaris people until the Incas came and slaughtered everyone. This area was very special to the Incans because the valley was shaped like a puma and the Incan people cherished the puma. The Incan were there until the Conquistadors came in and took over. Moving toward the 1900s there was a lot of French influence seen throughout the city, especially in architecture. Diego explained that the city is very religious, the majority of the people are roman Catholic and there are about 52 churches throughout the city. We had the luxury of seeing about 3 or 4 of them throughout the day (we saw soooo many churches on this trip, and relatively in my opinion the insides are all very similar). Overall the city is very clean and is home to about 11,000 US retirees, one of which we would meet with and talk to later about his life in Cuenca, Tait’s Friend Paul Amos. The city is very clean in terms of litter and whatnot but also in terms of being environmentally friendly. All newly built buildings must have a “green License” which states that the building is built with features that do not waste energy or water. For example, many of the buildings including our hotel had motion sensor lighting to save electricity. Cuenca also has very very clean water and is home to one of the first recycling centers in the country. They also have very minimal pollution levels; however the bus system is the most harmful system. To combat this the city is building a new electric train system that has been in construction for many years now. Cuenca is home to the only factory that creates wheels for cars in the country as well.
The city is very young and full of people walking around and being active. About 70% of the people that live in Cuenca are 17-50. In terms of food these people eat a lot of carbs, they do this because according to Diego “you breathe and lose weight” One of the most unique traditional foods available to this area is the Guinea Pig. Most of us were accustomed to this animal not because we eat them but because many people in the United States have them as pets. They were also the starts of the movie “G-Force”. The Guinea Pig is served at special occasions in the Cuenca culture ie weddings, graduation, communion, etc. Today we ate it just for the heck of it. Walking up to the restaurant that served them was very interesting, the Guinea Pigs were roasted whole on a metal rod and then taken off that rod and served to yo on a plate. I had expectations of it tasting like chicken, but the taste was far from chicken, it was very unique and hard to explain. Not too sure if I liked it or not, probably about a 50% chance that I would eat it again. I think what really got me was the super tough and chewy skin.
Anyway, from our Guinea Pig experience we made our way over to the Panama Hat factory. On the way we passed many residential houses and Diego explained to us that from the front a lot of the houses don’t look too big but they are deep, they also include three patios. This is a traditional concept in which one patio is designated for family living, another is designated for the kitchen garden, and the other is designated for food prep. We then made it to the Panama Hat factory and were greeted with a welcoming drink, it was a warm clearish drink that was served in a taller shot glass. The drink we found out to be an alcoholic drink called Zhumhir which is made from pure cane sugar. It was actually pretty good, not many people enjoyed it though. Anyway, we got a nice behind the scenes tour through the factory. Hat making began in 1835 and for the most part the same practices are still practices through the manufacturing process with some exceptions. However, the hats are hand woven and then molded using an iron steamer in a separate area of the factory (steamer is very efficient and uses collected rainwater to steam). Once the hats are done each is inspected one by one to make sure that it is quality enough to sell, the defects go out to the markets to be sold for cheap. Most of the hats made in the factory were pretty expensive and some can be thousands of dollars. Price of the hats is determined by the thickness of the threats used to make it, the finer the threads the more expensive they are, this is because the labor and work that goes into weaving those hats is a lot (super fine fibers take 3-6 months of labor to complete). The hats are made from palm tree fibers. Once we were done with the tour we walked around the shop and tried on some of the hats available for sale, some people ended up buying one, I was not one of those people because I have a mega head and none of the hats even fit me.
After the hat factory we made our way to the market which was a very interesting place. There were a bunch of kiosks set up where people sold anything and everything yo could possibly need. It was a great and cost-efficient way for people in the area to get the things that they need to live their life.
From the market we continued to walk through the city and took in the sights and what it had to offer. For a late lunch we ended up stopping at a pizza place. I had pizza in the Galapagos one of the days and it was not very good at all, however this pizza was actually really good I was very surprised, however it may have been due to the number of foreigners in the city and the diversification of food options available to people of the city. Our last part of the day was spent at one of the Incan ruins Pumapungo Archaeological Park, we were supposed to go to the museum next door however it was closed for some reason. The ruins were very interesting and the area surrounding was a very tranquil nice garden area.
Cuenca was everything that I was expecting based on people’s explanations of the city and more. Coming into the trip I knew many people that were born and raised in Cuenca as well and all they did was talk very highly of the city and I can see why!
The city is very young and full of people walking around and being active. About 70% of the people that live in Cuenca are 17-50. In terms of food these people eat a lot of carbs, they do this because according to Diego “you breathe and lose weight” One of the most unique traditional foods available to this area is the Guinea Pig. Most of us were accustomed to this animal not because we eat them but because many people in the United States have them as pets. They were also the starts of the movie “G-Force”. The Guinea Pig is served at special occasions in the Cuenca culture ie weddings, graduation, communion, etc. Today we ate it just for the heck of it. Walking up to the restaurant that served them was very interesting, the Guinea Pigs were roasted whole on a metal rod and then taken off that rod and served to yo on a plate. I had expectations of it tasting like chicken, but the taste was far from chicken, it was very unique and hard to explain. Not too sure if I liked it or not, probably about a 50% chance that I would eat it again. I think what really got me was the super tough and chewy skin.
Anyway, from our Guinea Pig experience we made our way over to the Panama Hat factory. On the way we passed many residential houses and Diego explained to us that from the front a lot of the houses don’t look too big but they are deep, they also include three patios. This is a traditional concept in which one patio is designated for family living, another is designated for the kitchen garden, and the other is designated for food prep. We then made it to the Panama Hat factory and were greeted with a welcoming drink, it was a warm clearish drink that was served in a taller shot glass. The drink we found out to be an alcoholic drink called Zhumhir which is made from pure cane sugar. It was actually pretty good, not many people enjoyed it though. Anyway, we got a nice behind the scenes tour through the factory. Hat making began in 1835 and for the most part the same practices are still practices through the manufacturing process with some exceptions. However, the hats are hand woven and then molded using an iron steamer in a separate area of the factory (steamer is very efficient and uses collected rainwater to steam). Once the hats are done each is inspected one by one to make sure that it is quality enough to sell, the defects go out to the markets to be sold for cheap. Most of the hats made in the factory were pretty expensive and some can be thousands of dollars. Price of the hats is determined by the thickness of the threats used to make it, the finer the threads the more expensive they are, this is because the labor and work that goes into weaving those hats is a lot (super fine fibers take 3-6 months of labor to complete). The hats are made from palm tree fibers. Once we were done with the tour we walked around the shop and tried on some of the hats available for sale, some people ended up buying one, I was not one of those people because I have a mega head and none of the hats even fit me.
After the hat factory we made our way to the market which was a very interesting place. There were a bunch of kiosks set up where people sold anything and everything yo could possibly need. It was a great and cost-efficient way for people in the area to get the things that they need to live their life.
From the market we continued to walk through the city and took in the sights and what it had to offer. For a late lunch we ended up stopping at a pizza place. I had pizza in the Galapagos one of the days and it was not very good at all, however this pizza was actually really good I was very surprised, however it may have been due to the number of foreigners in the city and the diversification of food options available to people of the city. Our last part of the day was spent at one of the Incan ruins Pumapungo Archaeological Park, we were supposed to go to the museum next door however it was closed for some reason. The ruins were very interesting and the area surrounding was a very tranquil nice garden area.
Cuenca was everything that I was expecting based on people’s explanations of the city and more. Coming into the trip I knew many people that were born and raised in Cuenca as well and all they did was talk very highly of the city and I can see why!