Cuenca with Dave

By 8.10 we were on the bus to Cuenca. The scenery on the way was as spectacular as ever and we arrived between 12 and 12.30.

We walked from the bus station to Bauhouse Hostel (sic), passing some streetsellers with baskets of guinea pigs on the way.

Dave had a snooze once we'd got there but I went out to the launderette to get some washing done... as soon as I arrived at the main square I noticed that a parade was going on with soldiers in ceremonial white and either black or navy blue uniforms. They were raising and occasionally twirling batons and some trumpeters played at one point. Drums were beating as well. I was really pleasantly surprised because as far as I was aware there was no festival or special occasion today.

After taking some photos of the parade I went on to the launderette and got most of my clothes done. Once they were in the dryer I went back to the hostel for 40 minutes and then returned with Dave. I picked up my clothes and then we went to the same small traditional Panama (Montecristi) hat workshop where I bought Dad's hat for Christmas. Dave will be 30 in July and I wanted to get him a hat as an early birthday present from me, because we won't be in the same place on his actual birthday. Unfortunately, when we arrived we found that it was all locked and shuttered up! I'd thought it was open until 6pm on Saturdays. Instead, we went to a different place nearby and Dave tried a few on before settling on one.

After I'd paid for it the guy put it in a cloth bag shaped like a hat.

On the way back to the hostel to dump our stuff, I suddenly remembered about food for our long bus journey to Banos tomorrow and the fact that we would have to leave too early to get our free breakfast from the hostel, so we went on a quick bakery hunt. The ones I found didn't have what I was looking for but then we passed by a streetseller at the side of the pavement - mostly they sell fruit and vegetables, with the occasional basket of chickens or guinea pigs, but this one had a big basket filled with plastic bags of buns. There weren't any sweet ones so I bought a bag of about ten with cheese in the middle instead.

After dumping our stuff we headed out again. Dave brought his DSLR with him and between us we got a few photos of different parts of the historic centre.

Then we had some dinner - I had a lovely dish of white fish chunks in white sauce and vegetables, with rice as a side, and Dave had 'churrasco', a large thin steak with two fried eggs, rice, avocado, chips and salad. Lovely. Then another few photos, now it was after dark, and back to the hostel to pack for tomorrow.