Our visit in Cuenca took us away from outdoor adventuring and more towards the historical side of things. Cuenca is the most modern of the colonial cities we have visited, and has a population of approximately 700,000. The city center is a UNESCO world heritage site and we decided to focus the majority of our time downtown to explore all of its character. With several churches, museums, and open markets we had plenty to do and see. The churches are open to ...

We arrived in Cuenca today, back up into altitude (2530m), and Frank's retirement location. We traveled by bus from Banos - approximately 320km - which took 7 1/2 hrs through the Andes. The scenery that I saw was beautiful - however my friend gravol didn't let me see everything.