Today we decide we will take the Hop On Hop Off bus tour of the city. We ask at our hotel if it is good. The young guy at the desk says yes, yes, and we have tickets here at the hotel. There is an Ecuadorian man from Quayaquil and his mother staying in the room next to Stu and I. They are interested in the tour as well. Our hotel guy explains in English and then Spanish, although the Ecuadorian man has decent English and participates in the questions along with us. We know that there are 59 steps or stairs up to our floor and this man’s elderly Mom does it at least a couple of times a day. Makes us, at least me feel a bit wimpy 🙂
We make it to the first bus stop with a couple of minutes to spare. The Ecuadorian fellow and his Mom join us on the upper deck not long after. A bit of a hike from the hotel for this little lady!!
The views from the upper deck of the bus are bit different from street level. Such interesting buildings here.
This is a view of the Incan ruins called Pumapungo. There is a museum there that is free. We spent some time there after we did the whole bus circuit.
We are enjoying our ride around the city. Getting much farther away than our little feet can carry us. We make about a 30 minute stop on top of a hill with another church. We can see this church from the city. It has some fabulous views of the entire city that our guide tells us is called the “Red City” due to the red tile roofs and the red brick construction of many of the new buildings.
The bottom photo above has the “New Cathedral” in the center with all of it’s beautiful domes. I zoomed in on it here.
Coming back into the city we have some more interesting vantage points.
As we arrive back in the center of town we there id s protest going on. We ask our guide and he tells us that is to do with climate change and that it the first of it’s kind in Cuenca. We discover that is “Friday for Future” a climate change movement that is spreading all over the world by young people. In the photos below you will see the Friday for Future protest that meets one of the political rally’s that are taking place everywhere in Ecuador this month. Then we have Greg requesting a pamphlet from one of the political ralliers. He really wants to make an informed decision. 😉
We feel we need to have a bit of a walk after riding for most of the morning. We do a bit of shopping and people watching.
We see this handsome guy at the police department. Very popular with the kids.
While on our Hop On Hop Off bus a young Ecuadorian boy. Looks at us and says “Hello” with a big grin. I guess we look like good people to practice English on. He then says in English “my name is Alexander” too cool. Alexander is one of our favourite names!! We speak a bit with him and regret not having my Geocache stuff with me so that I can give him a Canadian key chain. Too bad. After the bus tour he, his Mom and Grandmother cross the street as he is waving and saying “Good bye”. Cute kid!
Later as we were walking on another street, a bus drives by and a teenage boy about 13 yells out the window “Thank You”. We yell back “You’re Welcome”. Pretty funny.
We find a Colombian restaurant for dinner. They serve a dish called arepas which Leslie, Stu and I order. Greg orders something different (which I forget the name). All great meals with great service. Every time we have a meal there is a condiment of the house it seems. This time the young man delivers the little bowl with the warning “be careful with this”! Greg confirms that this is very very hoooootttttt!
The first photo is my arepa of pulled beef with vegetables and cheese. The next is the sign that says “Please ring the bell if you liked your food and the service”. As Leslie does, we all ring the bell.
The end of another great day!!