Inca Trail Training

With more than enough time spent in the lowlands (a little too similar to Venezuela for our liking) it was time to give our lungs a workout and head for the hills. Cuenca this time, a beautiful colonial city set in the mountains of the south at about 3,500m. Cuenca is one of the most popular tourist cities in Ecuador complete with all the tasty gringo treats you need, not always a bad thing!



Following our 6th package of jettosoned junk sent back to the UK we decided it was probably time to start buying some souvineers. So overlooking the main Cuenca speciality of Panama hats (you only get the Superfino in Montecristi) we trawled the local markets for cute local gifts not guineapigs this time. Though still no flowers for Kaz yet...



Our other aim was to start some training for Peru with a bit more high-altitude hiking. Parque National Cajas at about 4,000m is a drifting haze of lakes, high moorlands and gnarled forests with a pretty well developed trail system through it (if you ignore the Alpaca tracks!). After about 4 hours of heart-pounding, "I'm breathing but nothing's happening" hiking we decided that maybe we better keep up the training. Worth it though for the fine views and to see Kaz perform feats of boulder lifting strength.

After the last blogs rant this will be more a photo blog, to prove we've not been spending all our time in a phone booth!

Next stop Peru, by way of Loja; home of the bad chicken, crazy cow (Vaca Loca) and sloping hotel floors. We stumbled across a celebration as part of the Vigin de Cisne parade. This consisted mainly of home made fireworks lit by small children, a big tower with US$500 of fireworks wired to it and Vacas Locas, a guy under a cow model covered in fireworks who runs around the crowd showering everyone with sparks, bangers and scorching as many eyebrows as he can. A local guy told us that there's often injuries so we stayed well clear!

Love Kaz and Stu

Meal of the week: Top quality Italian feast, US$21.

Ride of the week: Back of a pickup, down through the mountains to Cuenca from Cajas.