I simply do not have the words to describe the Andes. The first time I saw them in Chile in 1997 I was in awe and now both of are.
Today we drove 90 miles north of the city of Cuenca to an Inca site called Ingapirca way up in the Andes. The weather was wonderful and the trip up was OK. We were again travelling on government road which meant they were not in good shape at all. The cliffs are made out of fine sandy soil which slops down onto the road often, in fact we were stopped by a small slide for a a short time. Describing the roads could be a story in themselves but I will not bore you with that.
To compare the Andes to the Rockies would be like comparing apples to oranges they are not the same. The Rockies are a baby compared to these. We were at about 12,500 feet once we got to Ingapirca and the mtns. still towered above us. I case what is so different is that the people are farming almost to the peaks as you will see in some of the pictures, the mountains are so green.
As we were getting closer to Ingapirca the indigenous peoples wear their regular clothing which are the beautiful coloured skirts and shawls. We have very few pictures of them are they do not like to have their pictures taken as they are afraid the camera will take their spirit away. We did not take pictures unless we asked and they always said no. I happened to get a few which I didn't realize but they were in some scenic pictures I took. The women would cover their faces when they saw a bus coming.
Ingapirca was very interesting and to think that some of it is original construction. Once we made it to the sun temple you could see that the stones were built without mortar and I don't think a knife could have fit between the stones. In a field just below the site we watched the men plowing their fields with oxen, the slope was probably about 75 degrees. There were lots of stories Pablo told us about the area which were fascinating. I hope I remember most of them once we get home.
We had lunch at a lovely restaurant close to the site along a road that the bus hardly fit on which a few switch backs and deep pot hots in the gravel road. They had the most beautiful flowers.
Our driver, taking a short cut back to the highway, drove on a one lane gravel road that we would not consider taking our motorhome on. I must admit the views from the bus we awesome. I did take pictures but from a moving bus they don't turn out to good.
I must admit that Ecuador is a beautiful place. Nothing like home but really most spectacular.
Today we drove 90 miles north of the city of Cuenca to an Inca site called Ingapirca way up in the Andes. The weather was wonderful and the trip up was OK. We were again travelling on government road which meant they were not in good shape at all. The cliffs are made out of fine sandy soil which slops down onto the road often, in fact we were stopped by a small slide for a a short time. Describing the roads could be a story in themselves but I will not bore you with that.
To compare the Andes to the Rockies would be like comparing apples to oranges they are not the same. The Rockies are a baby compared to these. We were at about 12,500 feet once we got to Ingapirca and the mtns. still towered above us. I case what is so different is that the people are farming almost to the peaks as you will see in some of the pictures, the mountains are so green.
As we were getting closer to Ingapirca the indigenous peoples wear their regular clothing which are the beautiful coloured skirts and shawls. We have very few pictures of them are they do not like to have their pictures taken as they are afraid the camera will take their spirit away. We did not take pictures unless we asked and they always said no. I happened to get a few which I didn't realize but they were in some scenic pictures I took. The women would cover their faces when they saw a bus coming.
Ingapirca was very interesting and to think that some of it is original construction. Once we made it to the sun temple you could see that the stones were built without mortar and I don't think a knife could have fit between the stones. In a field just below the site we watched the men plowing their fields with oxen, the slope was probably about 75 degrees. There were lots of stories Pablo told us about the area which were fascinating. I hope I remember most of them once we get home.
We had lunch at a lovely restaurant close to the site along a road that the bus hardly fit on which a few switch backs and deep pot hots in the gravel road. They had the most beautiful flowers.
Our driver, taking a short cut back to the highway, drove on a one lane gravel road that we would not consider taking our motorhome on. I must admit the views from the bus we awesome. I did take pictures but from a moving bus they don't turn out to good.
I must admit that Ecuador is a beautiful place. Nothing like home but really most spectacular.
Once back in Cuenca we had a few hours free time before dinner. Although dinner was very good we were all getting a little upset when we had not finished dinner until about 9:30. Most of us had not slept well the night before because of noisy young men below our windows so all we wanted to do was go back to the hotel and go to bed. We did get back to the hotel by 10;00.
Tomorrow is a free day so there will not likely be a blog.
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