Ecuador
Welcome to my essay and photo collection from my trip to Ecuador. I traveled to Ecuador in the summer of 1995, after my freshman year in college. Of all the places I've been, I'd have to say that Ecuador is the most beautiful. In one tiny country they have a tropical beach, an enormous mountain range, and rainforest areas. I had a difficult time choosing which photos best represented my experience there because Ecuador has so much variety. I ended up including far more photos than I intended, but I think they are all worth viewing. Some ended up scanned much larger than I expected, but I think it allows you to see the spectacular landscape in more detail. Please enjoy my photos and memories from my time in Ecuador and go see it yourself one day.
Cuenca
On my trip to Ecuador, I lived for 4 weeks with a family in Cuenca. Cuenca is in the Andes Mountains in the southern part of Ecuador. The city of Cuenca is a very diverse one. It contains a colonial city built on top of Inca and earlier ruins but also has many modern buildings and institutions. Evidence for the long and interesting past of the city can be found throughout the city.
One example of culture building upon culture is found in this photo. Pictured are the remains of a Spanish mill (notice the arch, a feature of Spanish architecture), an Inca building (seen in the wall with slightly trapezoidal notches, a feature of Inca architecture), and a Cunari wall at the top center portion of the picture.
Another example is in this photo which shows a modern bank built on top of terraces from the Inca city. The bank also houses a museum and an archaeological excavation of the land beneath it.
Like most other towns in Ecuador, Cuenca has several outdoor market places like the one shown in this photo. Cuenca is especially known for its flower market. Due to a weak economy and rampant inflation, goods in Ecuador are generally very cheap by American standards. During my stay there I spent less than $250 (but my housing and most meals were provided). For example, a beautiful bouquet of flowers we bought cost less than $5 and a meal could easily be found for around $2-$3.
Another feature of Cuenca are its rivers. There are three main rivers that flow through the city. Though my house had a washing machine, many other families could not afford one or hired maids to help with the laundry. The maids would wash the laundry by hand and leave it to dry on the river banks.
Inga Pirca
I was fortunate enough to get to visit Inga Pirca a couple of times during my stay in Ecuador. Inga Pirca was an important Inca city on the Incan highway. Before that it was an important site for an earlier culture. Excavations have taken place there and reconstructions of some of the walls have been done. On the site there are a series of buildings and rooms and a large oval building called the "castle".
During my first visit to Inga Pirca the locals were celebrating the festival of Inti Raymi, what I understood to be a celebration of the sun god. This offered a terrific opportunity to observe local traditions and daily costumes as can be seen on the two people on horses in this photo.
The town of Inga Pirca was surrounded by breathtaking views. For example, take a look at the view behind the castle and an interesting rock formation called La Cara del Inca or "the face of the Inca".
Culibries
This is a little visited archaeological site about 10km away from Inga Pirca. Our class was fortunate enough to get to visit with a local archaeologist. Our trip involved a tour of the site, then a hike on the Inca Road from Culibries to Inga Pirca. The adventure began on the van ride up the mountain when we got a flat tire. The stop was wonderful, though because of the breathtaking view (literally breathtaking because of the high altitude).
The site includes a town, a lake, and a kind of workshop area where stones were being cut for future construction when the Spanish invaded. Apparently the Spanish never found the site because they did not raid the cut stones for their own use.
While we were touring the site, some poachers came to take trout from the lake. It was a beautiful sight with their use of brightly colored fishing nets.
The site was a resting point along the Inca Road. These resting points were set up about every 10km, according to our guide. They featured a large building, which is today called "the hotel", and a series of small barrick-like rooms.
Vilcabamba
One of our weekend trips was a journey to the town of Vilcabamba, in southern Ecuador. The mountains in this area were less rugged than in Cuenca or at either of the Inca sites described above. This town has an incredible climate and is known as the town of the "viejos" or the old people. According to local legend, the people here live to be 120 years old or so. As a result, the town also has a number of American hippies living there hoping for eternal youth and a reputation as the drug capital of Ecuador. Despite the rumors of old people and Americans, I saw little evidence of either. What I did see was a wonderful tiny town. While there some of us took a horseback ride into the mountains. Along the way we passed this adorable country church. We also took time out from the ride to visit a waterfall.
Those are all of the photos I have scanned at this point. When I get the opportunity, I plan to add a section about our trip to the rainforest and to the beach. Thank you for your interest!.