It was a long, tiring journey crossing the Huaqillas border into Ecuador - with 3 bus changes before we arrived in Cuenca. The drive up the mountains was scenic, but also very scary as the driver seems to favour the accelerator round the bends - fortunately I was too engrossed in my book to have noticed, but the rest had commented about the white knuckle ride, being tossed into each others' laps as the bus rounded each corner.

The historical center of Cuenca is pretty, but it was also a ghost town over the weekend with all the shops closed. We happened to arrive on a Saturday evening, and leaving early on a Monday morning. Still, we enjoyed the stroll around the city. Kristina had made a fleeting weekend visit from Guayaquil (where she is based for the next 3 months on a voluntary teaching assignment) to meet up with us here - it was good to see her again.