Gualaceo & Cuenca

Our current location is in the Azuay province, along the Panamerican highway. Cuenca, where we are staying, is the capital of the province and the largest city. This province is also home to the country's largest hydroelectric plant, so they are definitely dealing with the effects of La Niña.  We began our day with a trip to the small town of Gualaceo, about an hour outside of Cuenca, to visit Ecuagenera, an orchid farm in the Andes mountains.  They specialize in the production and the conservation of orchid species and hybrids, and although my sister and I had visited an orchid farm in Thailand, years ago, this one had a far wider range of species.  Sadly, though they have many stunning orchids for sale, you cannot purchase any to take home with you because customs will not allow you to take them across the border.  You can purchase from them online and they can ship them to you, but you would pay a pretty penny to do so.

Because of their mountainous location and the cool weather, they grow everything in greenhouses.  On our drive down into this valley you could view several greenhouses, some of them seemingly clinging to the side of the hill.  Ecuador is home to about 5,000 species of orchids, and this farm produces about 1,500 species.

Onward we went to La Casa de la Makana for a weaving demonstration by the family of José Jiménez.  A "makana" is a shawl, and they are known in this area for ikat designs, woven in the traditional manner.  They use a variety of threads (cotton, wool, silk, and bamboo) and various dyes from natural sources (walnut, cochinilla {known as cochineal in English}, indigo, etc.).  The designs can take between 3 days and 6 months to create!  They still use the traditional back-strap loom and the woman who gave us the tour and demonstration actually had an engineering degree, but she loved her family's traditional weaving more so this is what she does now.  Their small showroom had a wide array of items (coats, scarves, purses, hats, gloves, belts) and some shawls made nearly 150 years ago by his great-grandmother.  Because of the level of difficulty to the pattern and the lack of demand for those types of pieces, they don't make those anymore.  As delightful as I found the patterns, I just wasn't confident I would wear any of the items, and didn't truly need any of them, so I refrained from making any purchases.

After the shopping we were back on the bus for a return to Cuenca for a tour of the city.  The name cuenca is Spanish for "basin made by a confluence of rivers", so this Cuenca (there's also one in Spain) has four rivers: the Tomebamba, Yanuncay, Tarqui, and Machangara.

Plaza de San Francisco

 

We visited many of the same locations last night, such as the flower market and the Plaza de San Francisco.  We were able to visit the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Cuenca, known simply as the New Cathedral.  It's the one with the beautiful blue domes and its design was inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.  The interior was lovely with a lot of local pink marble, although apparently the local pink marble isn't very high quality.  In addition, during the length of the building process (construction started in the 1880s and culminated in 1975), many changes were made to the blueprints and now the church is not quite structurally sound.  The church combines several architectural styles, including Gothic, Renaissance, and Romanesque.

We were soon given free time to explore a bit more on our own or to enjoy lunch somewhere.  I ended up in a small café in the charming courtyard of the Seminario San Luis for lunch with 6 of my other tour mates.

Our lunch view

The Arupo Tree and a woman in local costume

 

We soon headed back to our meeting point to head to Museo La Magia del Sombrero, the "Panama Hat Museum".  The origin of these hats and the process of making them was very intriguing, and at one time (before the Panama Canal was constructed) the production of Panama hats was 6% of Ecuadors GDP!  The museum is housed inside the Homero Ortega company "with the aim of making known the history of the Panama hat, a handmade product made in Ecuador."  The hats are made from a plant native to Ecuador, similar to a palm, with unique qualities that make it excellent for weaving hats.  Even today, the weaving of the hats is done manually.

So the question on many of your minds is likely, "Why is it called the 'Panama Hat' if its origins are in Ecuador"?  Well, their website does a good job of attempting to explain the misnomer, but the simplest answer is: The Panama Canal.  Basically, the construction of the Panama Canal caused a huge demand for the toquilla straw hat (it is very breathable and yet protects you from the sun), with the publicity of the canal the hat became international and people began to call it “Panama Hat”.  Another interesting fact is that the weaving of these toquilla straw hats was "declared 'Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity' by UNESCO in 2012" as it represents an important part of the culture and traditions of the country.  Their showroom had a wide array of styles available for purchase, ranging in price from $30-$2,000, depending on the quality of the hat (the thickness of straw used in its construction and the skill of the weaver).  

Back at the hotel we had free time for the remainder of the evening. At first my plan was to visit the Inca Museum, but it closed at 5pm and it was already after 4pm.  My next plan was to either catch a taxi back to the Old Town and climb the church tower (I'd run out of time at lunch) and wander around a bit more, or enjoy the hotel's swimming pool.  As I was sitting in my room, uploading photos while my phone charged, I noticed the rain clouds were looking more threatening.  Antonio had told us about the big futbol match tonight between Ecuador and Paraguay and that the hotel restaurant would have it on TV.  Since David had purchased a jersey earlier in the day, in anticipation of the game, I knew he and Alice would be there so I would at least have someone to sit with if I went down to watch.  They were indeed there, as were Antonio and Roque.  I sat with David and Alice and it was an enjoyable way to spend a few rainy hours.  The game, unfortunately, ended in a 0-0 tie, which was not good for Ecuador's standings in the World Cup Qualifier for South America (they were in 3rd at the start of the game).