Curiosities in Cuenca

Cuenca has a beautiful colonial city like Quito, but it is much smaller and cleaner with less traffic and pollution. The unique skyline is full of spires and massive rotundas and their main plaza, Parque Calderon, features a spectacular church with large blue domes visible throughout much of the city. Most people who visit Ecuador say Cuenca is their favorite city, although I still prefer the craziness of Quito. If you are in Ecuador and find that Quito is just too much for you (too loud, dirty, polluted, crowded, etc) I suggest spending some time in Cuenca. Cuenca feels very safe and is definitely a nice walking city as it seems like around every corner there is another plaza or church filled with uniformed school kids lounging on wooden benches shaded by flowering trees. Although it is a very picturesque city, you can definitely find the unusual too.

On one of my solitary walks through Cuenca I found a museum called Prohibido Museo de Art Extremo, which sounded interesting. I tried the door, but it was locked and so I rang the bell. After a minute a man wearing all black and covered in silver chains answered and motioned for me to follow him and then locked the door behind me. I found myself trapped in what looked like an S&M dungeon. Skeleton chandeliers hung from the ceiling, murals of demons crawling out of vaginas adorned the walls, statues of grotesque, nude, half-creatures leaned against walls, and dismembered mannequins dangled from above.

Those of you who know me well know that I would rather die than admit shock, so I acted half-bored and unimpressed despite temporarily fearing for my life. Luckily the man acted just as indifferent and bored towards me as I did to him and quickly walked away to a desk off in one corner and began typing vigorously. Relieved of any immediate danger I decided to explore the weirdness. The more I walked around the more oddities I discovered such as the toilets are statues of troll-men whose arms you urinate into, etc. I realized it also functions as a bar during the evenings and a café during the day, although at the moment I was the only patron.

After a few minutes I asked the man to let me out and made my way to the Panama Hat Museum called Barranco located on Calle Larga. Cuenca is famous for their Panama Hats and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the Panama Hat is a misnomer, and they actually originated from Ecuador. The confusion comes from the fact that they were exported via Panama, hence the name Panama Hat. It’s interesting because the indigenous wear them, but the typical Ecuadorian does not. They indicate wealth and power in the United States, but here in Ecuador they are associated with the poor. However, that doesn’t stop tourists like myself from snatching them up. You can buy a hat here for $15 which would easily cost you $100 in the States. Anyway, Barranco has a great selection of hats including unusual colors, sizes, and designs. I bought a yellow hat and we actually managed to find some that fit Zach’s large head a few days later. There are cheaper places to buy hats that are of equal quality and also of unusual design at Casa de la Mujer in Plaza de San Francisco, although if you have a particularly small or large head you will probably not be able to find your size.

I ended my walk at Museo Centro Inter Americanas de Artes Popular, a free museum at the base of La Escualinta Staircase near the river, which features indigenous outfits from different areas of Ecuador. It’s definitely interesting and worth checking out.

Zach and I went to Museo Del Banco Central, which was a wonderfully laid out and interesting museum. They had a few rooms devoted to Oswaldo Guayasamin’s work, which is amazing. They also had an entire floor devoted to spinning dioramas showing scenes of typical Ecuadorian rural life in the different regions. We saw some shrunken heads and other curiosities as well and then went outside and explored the archeological park out back that features the ruins of the old Incan city of Tomebamba. It’s not spectacular, but very lovely and enclosed by small paths through botanical gardens. There is also a bird sanctuary in the park with parrots, macaws, tucans, hawks, and an eagle.


Tips For Cuenca:

There are two great breakfast places in Cuenca that we found. The first is located conveniently next to our new hostel and called Bananas Café. It caters to tourists, is a little pricier than the usual Ecuadorian breakfast, ($2-$6) but has the greasy spoon options we all know and love like eggs, hash browns, and bacon as well as pancakes and healthier options like fruit plates and oatmeal. It’s run by some young, friendly women and is always packed. The second place is in Hotel Victoria on Calle Larga. The dining room has beautiful views, an upscale atmosphere, and a tasty and well-done expensive Ecuadorian breakfast $6-$8. They also have a really nice bar for evening cocktails.

Our favorite restaurant was Moliendo Café, a delicious Columbian restaurant with yummy pitchers of sugarcane alcohol and lemonade that tasted exactly like bul, and good sized plates full of rice and beans, or meat, or all of the above heaped on top of a heavy corn pancake. This place is ultra casual and cheap. Meals are $3-$6 per person and the pitchers are $6.

There is a red tour bus for $5 with English-speaking, entertaining guides, that will take you all around Cuenca and transport you up to Mirador De Turi, a famous viewpoint. Not to be missed is the studio of Eduardo Varga, one of Ecuador’s most famous artists. His ceramic work is beautiful and affordable, and his studio, just below the viewpoint, is one of the loveliest spots in Cuenca.

I really liked a new café called Kookaburro located on calle larga 9-40 between Padre Aguirre and Benign Malo. It opens at 7:00 AM, has plugs for laptops, and features light café fare. For example: Tamales $1.70, fried tomatoes with pesto .60, toast with avocado 1.50, gluten-free deserts $2.00. It’s owned by a nice Australian couple who can accommodate special dietary needs. They also have a few elegant suites available upstairs for people to rent. Their website is KookaburraCafe.typepad.com.

There is a daily flower market in Plazoleta del Carmen that is a site to see. Bring your camera.

We loved Carolina Bookstore. It’s a great place to stock up on second-hand English books.

Multicines sadly no longer shows movies in English. They are all dubbed.

El Cafeteria Jhuly no longer exists.