Charmed by Cuenca

So I have not really had good wifi connection so I have some catching up to do!

Last Day in Quito
    I spent the day exploring New Town in the rain with a girl from Canada who was one of my roommates. What is so cool about backpacking is that you meet so many people and everyone has great stories of what they've done. She studied in Korea and she has spent years living in Asia and has been all over and it made me really want to start plan a backpacking trip to Asia!
     She is all about eating the fruit in all of the countries so she helped me pick out the best passion fruit and we both bought taxo to try. Fresh made juices of all types of fruit are very popular in very Ecuador and I have been drinking a different kind of fruit juice everyday. So far my favorite is jugo de tomato de arbol which is only found in Ecuador!
     After getting back to our hostel tired and wet, I went and hungout in the living room which was full of people trying to get wifi connection since it was pouring outside. There, I was talking to my friends from Germany and Holland and then we were talking with everyone in the room about things we have noticed and places we were going in Ecuador. I learned that the foam spraying tradition of spraying anyone and everyone  is actually in preparation for carnival (and apparently in Cuenca people will throw buckets of water at you from everywhere- including balconies and cars).
      At dinner I sat with my girl-friends from Germany, Holland, Canada, and Australia and we sat and shared funny stories and it was such a fun night. What I love about staying in hostels with shared areas is that it is so easy to meet people and everyone is really friendly because everyone wants to meet eachother. After dinner I left for the bus station on a great note to take the overnight bus to Cuenca.

Cuenca
    I arrived in Cuenca at about 655am and then I got to my hostel and I met a guy from Germany whose name was Wolfgang who was pretty funny. He made a couple recommendations and then he was checking out and I went off to explore Cuenca. I visited most of the recommended museums in Cuenca and Cuenca is definitely my favorite place I've visited so far. Cuenca is extremely charming. I don't think the pictures I took come even close to giving it justice.

main square in Cuenca

inside the new church

flower market 

Flower Market

       I've read that 95% of Ecuador's population is Catholic and it definitely very prominent while traveling there. Also yesterday I tried grilled banana for the first time and it was delicious! It's my new favorite snack.

This morning I went on a guided hike in Cajas National Park which is part of the Andes. It was very beautiful and I saw my first llamas! My tour guide was very smart and it was interesting getting some more insight on Ecuadorian culture because he spoke fluent English. I saw my first llamas!!

Beer factory during the 1 year prohibition in Ecuador

     After the park I went and hung out with a couple who is close family friends with a girl from my sorority, Hannah, from Connecticut who had retired in Cuenca. Another couple from Texas came over we had so much fun. We had a delicious dinner, great conversation, and a good time!