Loja and Cuenca, Ecuador

Because we'd read that the border crossing near Tumbes, Peru is difficult and dangerous, we decided to cross at the inland alternative, between Piura and Loja, at night. It was ridiculously easy. Our bus stopped at the border and waited for all of the passengers to get their exit and entry visas and stamps in order (this took all of 20 minutes, as we were the only bus there), and then brought us to Loja, arriving early in the morning. No problems whatsoever. When we arrived in Loja, we decided to just continue immediately on to Cuenca (Jay took photos on the bus, I slept).

Due to the longer bus time, we ended up with three days in Cuenca instead of the original 2. The first day, we went to the center, wandered around, and drank chocolate and fresh juice at a cafe downtown while studying.

The next day, we went to the park in the south of the city to run - it was so beautiful that we decided to return with our cameras that afternoon. We bought fruit and veggies at a market, dreaming of a lovely afternoon picnic... and then the rain started. Apparently the weather in the Andes near the equator is extremely predictable: Beautiful sunny (not humid) mornings and early afternoons followed by thunderstorms. Daily. We hoped to sit it out in a restaurant drinking jugo de mora (fresh blackberry juice) and batidos de fresa (blended drinks made from fresh strawberries and milk), but after a few hours we knew the storm was going to win. It only cleared up half an hour before the sunset, so we returned to the hostel to plan for the next day and play card games.

Today, on our last day, we finally managed to get photos of the elusive sunlight in the park and we're preparing to head on towards Quito. (Photos will be posted later; this computer does not have any available USB ports.)

Cuenca is a surprising city in many ways - unlike the chaos of taxis in Trujillo, or the beggars in Cajamarca, the city is shockingly reminiscent of some of the cities we saw in Italy. It's clean, welcoming, and full of electronic stores (one of which had the guitar-headphone adaptor that Jay has been searching for for a couple weeks). Maybe it was the notable difference from the last few cities in Peru. Maybe it was the park. Maybe it was the fact that the weather was tolerable and enjoyable (for at least half the day) so close to the equator... and maybe it was the endless supply of fresh fruit juice and batidos, but we kind of loved Cuenca.

Even after just a few hours we found ourselves looking around for English schools (we found them), thinking "We could live here. Happily. And cheaply. How do we do that?" We'll have to return, of course (we say this about everyone, so we are going to have to find an impressively steady stream of jobs abroad or charter a private jet pretty soon), and maybe then we'll actually get some pictures of the city itself. Until then, we dream, and we research, and we move on towards Quito, the capital only 45 minutes from the center of the world.

Stay tuned!