Loja

Just a few hours south of Cuenca is Loja.  I was going on information that this was a foodie town and figured that this may be my destination to celebrate the birth of Santa. While this may be true, I couldn't really find where the yummy spots are. The best I could find was a few places that served cecina, but it was a far cry from the tasty smoked pork dish that carries the same name in the Peruvian jungle. In Loja, it is a thin sheet of pork that is overcooked and served with an excessive amount of yucca and topped with sliced onions and carrots (the latter helped out on the dryness).

Here is the view from one of the miradors of the city...

Cows tethered in the middle of a municipal park? Of course, this is South America!

I thought I saw an image of Homer Simpson in this bark

flamingo, turkeys and ducks in the middle of the city park

Just outside of the city is a botanical garden that I passed through for an hour during a bike ride...

A solid 20km outside of Loja is an entrance into the Podocarpus Nacional Park.  This part wasn't too exciting- it was just an eight km climb along a mountain range that started to ascend into a cloud bank.  I wasn't too keen on continuing into the clouds for fear of an impending rainfall, so I just turned around and headed back towards Loja.

the view south from the highest point that I biked... not too bad weather-wise

the view ahead of me as I climbed- the clouds were blowing over the range and started to mist

tiny bugs...

chickens running through a field of purple plants

Otherwise, the city is just a city- good enough place if I had to live there, but nothing special for a tourist.  I quickly left for the town of Vilcabamba within a few days.

Cuenca and Parque Nacional Cajas

Moving southwards in Ecuador, I find myself in Cuenca... a city that was recently named as one of the best cities in the world to retire to. True that it is - the city is cheap, clean, safe, has all that one would need for daily living and pretty good food options by both Ecuadorian and foreign standards. The climate is even nice, though it is still high in the mountains and gets cold at night (sweater weather, but not gloves)


There is a big colonial influence in the architecture, almost reminding me of New Orleans' French Quarter in some ways- second story balconies that overlook the streets are all over the city.

Just about 30km outside of Cuenca is the Parque Nacional Cajas. I just did a simple three hour hike on the edge of the park (Where the Toreadora is on the map, we moved eastward)

alpacas

 Wandering around town, I noticed lotsa graffeti and other public art...

The most interesting thing in town for me was visiting the Prohibido Centro Culture- one artist with a dark vision of skulls, blood and losta heavy metal.