A little bit of Cuenca

George had mentioned the Hotel Victoria as being a very nice and affordable place to stay, and he was correct.

The hotel has been fully retored to its original glory. Wooden handrails, tile and wood stairs, beautiful wood accents throughout, numerous antiques and a bunch of travel trunks adorn the hallways.

Half of our room. There are two beds up on the loft.

The other half of our room.

Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador and home to about 400-700 thousand people, depending how much of the surrounding area is included. Ten thousand of those are expats from USA, Canada and other parts of the world. They even have an area nicknamed “Gringolandia” where the majority of these folks live.  This also adds certain services that other cities do not have, like retired American dentists that supplement their retirement with a small practice in Ecuador, along with other medical professionals. As an example I had Dr. Alan Woods from Missouri check a chipped crown that has been bothering me. The x-ray was $13 and the repair was $85, if I had to replace the crown it would have been $350. So much more affordable than Canada or the US. Because of Cuenca’s year round spring-like climate it is also home to many of Ecuador’s “old money families” and this can be seen when touring the city as there are some very nice neighborhoods and properties.

In any event it is a fair sized city with all the modern conveniences mixed in with tradition architecture, friendly people, and enough cultural variety to keep a person busy whether on holidays or living here full-time. We decide to take a bus tour of the city in an attempt to get the full view of the place. The first half of the tour covered the South side of the city including a lookout point over the whole valley. The North half of the  tour was highlighted by a visit to a Panama hat factory owned by the Ortega family. 

Hats drying after the bleaching and washing stage. They completely lose all shape a this point, then need to be pressed in to desired finished shape.

Brenda Heisenberge from Breaking Bad.

One more fancy hat for Brenda.

Somewhat ironic that the famous Panama hats are made in Ecuador, but we learned that during the construction of the Panama Canal, these hats were imported from Ecuador due to their lightweight and durability. From there they became widely known and called the Panama Hat.

Ruins found near the city center.

Much of the North side of town is of colonial architecture with narrow one way streets, numerous styles of balconies, some cobblestone and countless styles of wooden doors.