It was an early start again, 6 o'clock in the morning, and we were on the street looking for a taxi to take us to the bus station. Choice was pretty limited at this time of the morning so we had to take a gamble on an unofficial one. We agreed the fare upfront and were taken on a route we didn't expect, and at high speed, but luckily it was just an over enthusiastic driver wanting to deliver us to the station as quickly as possible.

It was an 8 hour ride through the Andes to Cuenca, with some really nice views of the mountains on the way. On arrival in Cuenca, we were surprised to find a Tourist Information Centre, both in the bus station and open. We got ourselves a map and some good information on what to do really quickly.

Getting a taxi was chaos in comparison, there was no queue and taxis just stopped in random places and those standing closest simply jumped in. With a bit of running and jostling we finally got a taxi for the short ride to Hotel Milan.

We were given a really nice room on second floor, a window the length of room and balcony overlooking the San Francisco plaza and church. It had a big comfy bed and pillows, plasma tv with cable and a great shower with hot water. There was even really fast internet in the room and free drinking water.

Before trying to find somewhere to have dinner, we had a walk around the main plaza and flower market. It was a very busy little town especially just after 5pm. The traffic was chaotic, every street was backed up with cars at a standstill. The shops and cafes were also full of locals. We went in search of a Spanish Tapas restaurant that had good reviews. The wine was good but the food was mediocre. A Spaniard would never dream of putting Cheddar on a meat and cheese platter.