Cuenca and the Montecristi

We thought we'd left ridiculously early mornings behind us when we left The Beagle and her 'sunrise breakfasts' in the Galapagos. However, in order to capitalise on the cheapest flights we had to catch a very early one to Cuenca on Wednesday morning. Cuenca was originally in our itinerary and was then dropped due to time constraints and added once again when our plans for travelling to Peru changed from air to overland. Cuenca was one city that I had always been really keen to see and so I was really pleased that we were able to squeeze in a flying visit on our way south. After a 5am start with hot coffee and filled bagels to take away, provided by the Magic Bean hostel, we made our way to the airport and on to the 7am TAME flight to Ecuador's most beautiful city.

During our stay in Ecuador so far we have felt somewhat cheated that due to low cloud we had yet to see the high peaks and volcanoes that the highlands of the country are so famous for. Simon even managed to get very close to the top of one without ever actually seeing it in all its glory. We were thrilled then that an early morning flight above the clouds afforded us a spectacular view of the high Andes. We witnessed the top of Ecuador's highest peak, Volcan Chimborazo; the beautiful beast that is Volcan Cotopaxi; the jagged cresent peaks of El Altar and the clouds of steam and ash billowing from the crater of 'Little Hell' or Volcan Tungurahua which can be seen in the picture above. The view certainly made up for the somewhat bumpy ride and landing that often goes hand in hand with small commuter plane travel.

And so to Cuenca, the colonial jewel of the south. In 1999 Unesco declared the centre of Cuenca a World Heritage Site and it does not take long to work out why. Beautiful architecture lines the cobbled streets and domed churches nestle comfortably amongst the red tiled roofs of whitewashed buildings. Upon leaving the airport it was instantly obvious that this city is different from any other we've visited so far. It feels less frantic and is 'cleaner' somehow. The parks are beautifully maintained and there is a feeling of greater wealth amongst its population. Although a relatively popular tourist destination we saw very few gringos roaming the city's streets. Obviously equipped to deal with the busy tourist months though, the city owns one open top bus which it uses to take passengers on a tour of the city and up the hill to a viewing point. Although the tour was entirely in Spanish, we did hop on board and made the most of seeing as much of the city as we could in the short time that we had.

Tour over we went in search of Cuenca's most famous export...the Montecristi hat. Globally known as a Panama hat, this woven sombrero de paja toquilla (toquilla straw hat) actually originates in Ecuador. It's 'Panama' name dates back to the 1800s when Spanish entrepreneurs began exporting them to Europe via Panama and workers on the Panama canal used them as protection from the fierce sun. Cuenca is home to the 'Panama' hat museum, several large export companies and many independent, traditional hatters. Keen to sample the local trade we briefly visited the museum and then made our way to the Casa del Sombrero Alberto Pulla. Alberto Pulla is a Cuencan in his 80s who learnt the hat trade from his father from the age of 6. He both refurbishes old hats and finishes new ones and we were thrilled to find him in his workshop. He showed us the hats that he is refurbishing and then took us upstairs to his shop so that Simon could find the perfect Montecristi for himself. He is a delightful man who, although unable to speak, conveys his intentions and delight perfectly when he fits Simon with his handiwork. After demonstrating how to roll the panama up to fit into a pocket or in our case a small wooded box for travel, he signs and dates the box to Simon mi amigo. What a special souvenir!