Ecuador Travel Log
Friday, Nov. 11
Arriving in Guayaquil late at night and planning to take the earliest passenger van in the morning, I decided to stay at the airport. I started talking to a 76-year-old Canadian-American man named Fred. He was waiting to rent a car and offered me a lift to Cuenca. I should have stayed with my original plan, as I think he was probably hoping that his Karma would bring him back as a Formula 1 driver. I don't usually backseat drive, but at one point I told him that he was doing 110, where the speed limit was 80 km. By the time we drove through Cajas National Park on the way to Cuenca, he was sticking to the speed limit. It was scary enough anyway, what with the continuous mountain curves, although some of the scenery was exceptionally beautiful.
Once we had arrived at a hostel in Cuenca, Fred told me that he had spent his childhood in Germany. I asked him if he had experienced the propaganda of the Hitler Youth. He had not, since he was only 10 when the war ended, but started talking about how 'all this' had been so exaggerated at the expense of the German people. As he continued, I realized that I was living my first experience with a Holocaust Denier (ie.- How could I possibly know that it had happened since I wasn't there?). I started to feel angry enough to leave the room, and later, just thinking about it made me feel a bit nauseous. Thankfully, Fred has moved on.
I'm now glad to be in Cuenca, especially after 9 full hours of sleep. At a centrally-located hostel with kitchen access, I found a single room for $8. I am sharing a bath, but with only one other person. The owner is a vivacious, friendly, middle-aged woman. On her brother's farm, in the tropical valley of Yunguilla, is a house with small apts. that rent for $150/month. It is about an hour drive South of Cuenca, but as it has been raining lately, she has promised to drive me out there one sunny day. I'm walking distance to the two-floor, central municipal market, where the locals buy produce, meat and just about anything else, as well as $1.50 meal specials called 'el menu'. In a nearby restaurant, this includes soup, rice, beans, fried platano, a small piece of fried meat, juice-flavoured water and tip, all for under $2.