mandag den 16. november 2015

Cuenca: 30th of October - 3rd of October

The 2nd and 3rd of October were national holidays in Ecuador and therefore I did not have to work.

Of course, I took advantage of the longer weekend and traveled to Cuenca which is a full nights bus journey away!
We left Friday night and arrived in Cuenca Saturday morning. To find out that our hostel had not recieved our booking, even though we had recieved a confirmation. After one hour of arguing we finally got a temporary room for tree hours, so we could sleep, whereafter we finally got our room - they had a booking for a 4-person room, but did not know who was supposed to get the room, because there was no name on the booking.
Since we went to Cuenca during the festives of Cuenca, we was lucky to get the room! Because all hostels were already sold out.

After sleeping and changing our room, we went out to have a look at the city and the festives. We visited a temporary market, where they sold all kinds of different crafts, and when it started raining, we headed to a cafe for refugee.

Den 2. og 3. oktober var der helligdage i Ecuador, og jeg udnyttede det selvfølgelig til at tage til Cuenca, der ligger en hel nats bustur væk.
Vi tog afsted fredag aften og ankom lørdag morgen, hvor vi fandt ud af, at vores hostel ikke havde vores booking og ikke havde et værelse til os. Men efter en times argumentation lykkedes det os at overbevise dem om, at den navnløse booking i deres system måtte være vores, og vi fik et midlertidigt værelse og 3 timer efter, efter vi havde fået en lur, skulle vi skifte værelse.
Og det var heldigt at vi fik dem overbevist, fordi vi besøgte Cuenca under alle de festligheder der var, som følge af Cuencas uafhængighedsdag og alle hostels var derfor allerede bookede.
Efter vi havde fået lidt søvn tog vi ud for at se på byen og festlighederne. Vi besøgte et midlertidigt marked, og derefter søgte vi ly på en café, da det begyndte at regne.

Fiestas de Cuenca
In the evening we walked around the city, taking in the night view of all the churches. We also stumbled upon quite a few places with music scenes - as I mentioned before, we arrived during the festives of Cuenca.

Om aftenen gik vi rundt i byen, så alle kirkerne med lys på og besøgte et par udendørs midlertidige koncertsteder.

Church
Kirke

Another church
Endnu en kirke
We also saw a few people running around dressed in costumes, since it was the night of Halloween. But we did not see that many people here, because Halloween is not that big yet. Instead, they celebrate Día de los Difuntos / Day of the Deceased on the 2nd of November.
The traditions for this day is going to the grave of your loved ones and sharing a meal with them. For Día de los Difuntios people also eat Guaguas de Pan and drink Colada Morada, that is only consumed in the month before the day. Guaguas de Pan are sweet breads, often shaped like a baby, and sometimes filled with jam, Colada Morada is a thick drink made with oats and a lot of different fruits (some which I did not know before coming to Ecuador) and with different spices.
My favorite way of eating this is by dipping pieces of Guagas de Pan in Colada Morada. Delicious!

Vi så et par enkelte i halloweenkostumer, men ikke mange! Dette skyldes at halloween ikke er så udbredt i Ecuador. I stedet fejrer de Día de los Difuntos, de dødes dag den 2. november. På denne dag besøger man gravsteder og deler et måltid mad med dem man har kært.
På denne dag spiser man også Guagas de Pan og drikker Colada Morada, der kun bliver spist i måneden op til de dødes dag.
Guagas de Pan er sødt brød, der ofte er formet som babyer, og nogle gange fyldt med syltetøj.
Colada Morada er derimod en tyk, kornfyldt drik lavet af forskellige frugter og tilføjet forskellige krydderier.
Min favoritmetode at spise dette på, er ved at dyppe stykker af Guagas de Pan i Colada Morada - lækkert!

An alter made for Día de la 

Sunday we had many plans of where we wanted to go, which was destroyed by the fact that it was a Sunday.
So we managed to go to a Montecristi hat factory (A Montecristi hat is what is usually known as a Panama hat, as they were shipped through the Panama Canal - but they originate from Ecuador.) The hat factory turned out to be more of a shop than a museum, and of course, I bought a real Montecristi hat. But not in Super Fine quality, because they are really expensive! If they are of this quality you can roll the hat together and put it through a wedding ring without damaging it and the hat can hold water!
Afterwards we went to a painting market (which was there because of the festives) and then we spent two hours walking around the city, looking for lunch, since everything was closed. When we finally found a place to have lunch and had finished eating, everything had closed down, and we just went to a church, and in the evening we went to a viewpoint over the city.

Søndag havde vi en hel masse planer, der dog blev ødelagt, fordi alting var lukket eller lukkede meget tidligt.
Det lykkedes os dog at besøge et Montecristihat museum - der dog mere var en butik end et museum (montecristihatte er normalt kendt under navnet panamahatte, fordi de blev eksporteret gennem Panamakanalen, men de stammer fra Ecuador). Og selvfølgelig skulle jeg have mig en montecristihat.
Dog købte jeg ikke en af dem i super god kvalitet, da de er ekstremt dyre. Selvom de kan foldes, så de kan gå igennem end vielsesring uden at tage skader og de er vandtætte!
Efterfølgende besøgte vi et marked, hvor der blev solgt malerier og brugte derfra omkring 2 timer på at gå rundt i Cuenca og lede efter et sted at spise frokost. Fordi alt var lukket!
Derudover nåede vi at besøge en kirke og om aftenen tog vi til et sted, hvor man kunne kigge ud over Cuenca.
Night view of Cuenca
Udsigten over Cuenca om natten

Monday we went to Cajas, a national park near Cuenca, where we hiked around a lake. It was very beautiful and my favorite part of the trip to Cuenca. I love nature and have grown fond of hiking since I arrived in Ecuador. It makes you appreciate the views so much more. Because you earned them!

Monday night we also celebrated the birthday of one of our friends, before heading home in the bus Monday night, so we could spend Tuesday sleeping.

Mandag tog vi til Cajas, der er en nationalpark i nærheden af Cuenca. Her vandrede vi rundt om en sø og vandreturen var min favoritdel af turen til Cuenca. Der var rigtig flot, jeg elsker natur og jeg er blevet rigtig glad for at vandre, efter jeg ankom til Ecuador. Det får dig også til at sætte meget mere pris på udsigten, fordi du har fortjent den.

Mandag aften fejrede vi en af de andre volontørers fødselsdag, hvorefter vi tog natbussen hjem, så vi kunne bruge tirsdag til at slappe af.

Cajas - And my new hat!
Cajas - og min nye hat!

The lake we hiked around
Den sø vi vandrede rundt om

Me, Rebecca, Brónagh and Stefanie
Mig, Rebecca, Brónagh og Stefanie

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

Cajas

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