Today Susan and I went to Azogues, a town about twenty miles from Cuenca, and one that we have been wanting to visit. When we arrived there, we saw a tourist information office, so we went in and found them very helpful. There was a young woman who told us about enough things to do to keep us going for several days, but then recommended that we ride the bus up to the St. Francis Cathedral, as all the other sights she recommended were downhill from there. We liked that idea.
She also gave us a map with various attractions on it, most of which we did not see. I also took the opportunity to ask her what the population of Azogues is, and she estimated 30-35,000, which seems reasonable after our tour there today.
The first place we stopped was at a park that is dedicated to the Cañari creation myth. The Cañari were the inhabitants of this area for a thousand years or more before they were conquered by the Incas, which were then conquered by the Spaniards. Most of the people here are descendants of the Cañari, and are proud of that. Their creation myth appears to be related to the Quetzacoatl [sp? Without the Internet, I can’t even check] myth of Central America, as the two following pictures show.
After the park, we hopped on a different bus [#2, instead of #6], and made a complete loop on that bus route. There are a lot of the indigenous people here, as noted by how they dress. Here is a family of them in the park, with some of their children playing outside of the picture.
Then when we reached the end of the route, we had to change buses. We started talking with our bus driver before the next bus left, and he told us about a scenic attraction less than five minutes walk up the road. We decided that we weren’t in any hurry, so we walked up to check it out. We were told that there was a place where we could see the little stream flowing out of the mountainside, but we did not find that. However, the trail alongside the stream was beautiful and peaceful.It was not pristine, however. Here is a picture of a corn patch growing on the hillside above the trail. The steps are not there for decoration. It was steeper than it looks in this picture.
And here is the stream itself, with a little footbridge to make crossing it easier. It was sturdier than it looks.
Here is something strange. This tree had fallen across the stream, and I could see on the right side the roots and dirt where they were torn up as it toppled, but there were also a dozen or more branches growing out of the trunk that had obviously sprouted after it fell, and were now 10-15 feet high.
Back almost to the bus stop, I looked inside this house. It is beautiful construction, but still unfinished. It has a few windows installed in the front, but no doors, and no windows on the sides. Inside, it is rough concrete. I was able to see that it is designed with three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms upstairs, with a kitchen and a very large living room downstairs.
I took this last picture as we headed back down the mountain. The crops in the foreground are corn and a variety of other things that I could not identify at a distance. It is a beautiful area, and we are very glad that we made the effort to visit Azogues.
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