Gualaceo, Chordeleg and Sigsig

This trip was recommended in my lonely planet so I decided to check out these three small towns. I got a bus to Gualaceo, which wasn't too impressive of a town it was pretty big, but that was the only bus I got all day, I hitchhiked everywhere else! Chordeleg, is famous for its silver and the many many silver shops in town. I wanted a nice ring so I bought one for 20 bucks! I also bought Cristina a little butterfly bracelet. The man who gave me a ride from Chordeleg to Sigsig was super nice and interested in learning some English as he was going to live in America soon. I had my notebook with all my Spanish-English phrases I had written over the course of my trip, so we studied a little bit during the 25 km drive and we got to Sigsig we went to a photocopy place and he took photo copies of my book! Sigsig is known for making some of the best panama hats in the world and there is a museum/factory there, so I asked him where it was and he said he would drop me off there which was out of his way! Real nice guy!
I did a little self guided tour of the place and then debated with myself over buying another hat and I ended up getting a really nice two coloured one for $13!!! 100% hand made!!!
After walking back into town, having lunch in the market and an ice cream cone in the central plaza I started walking back to Cuenca!
It was really hot and really sunny, I walked about 2 km out of town with no luck of being picked up. Finally a bus came going towards Cuenca so I ran 100 m to make it to the bus stop where there was another man sitting, the bus stopped and it was absolutely packed full! So I said no thanks and can you believe it the next car picked me up! Another really nice guy, Juan Carlos, who lived in Cuenca gave me a ride back all the way from Sigsig to about a kilometer away from the house! Really great day! Cristina really liked her present also!