Our Trip to Chordelg and Gualaceo - or not!

We decided to do a local day trip from Cuenca to two towns, Chordeleg, a town known for its silver and gold jewelery as well as ceramics and Gualaceo, known for its lively Sunday morning market. We hired a driver we had never met before, but came highly recommended. He arrived promptly at 8:00 am and we jumped in his Ford Explorer and off we went. We drove through Azogues, the town with the 6 bedroom 6 bath home with built in pool, that we looked at but ruled out due the distance from Cuenca. The next thing I knew, our driver, named Efrian, was taking us up a mountain road, that would have challenged a mountain goat, and we arrived at an Inca ruins site called Cojitambo. Wow, this wasn't on the intinerary I had planned! Efrian was very knowledgeable about the ruins because it turns out that this is an area he used to go and hang out with his buddies when he was in high school! LOL. The site dates to 500 B.C., it was built on a volcanic rock formation. When it was excavated they found materials linked to the Canari culture. We climbed above the site and had a 360 degree view of the surrounding valleys and mountains. The Incas built their sites on high mountain tops for two reasons; the sun and moon were gods they worshiped, therefore, being high up meant they were closer to the gods, and second, but no less important, they could see their enemies coming. Enough history lessons, here are a few pics: Add caption  Michael and Our Guide Efrian After we left the ruins Efrian took us to a town called Biblian to show us a beautiful church named Santuario de la Virgen del Rocio, it is built into a mountain side, it all started with a small carving of the Blessed Virgin. There had been a terrible drought in the town in 1894, and the people brought an image of the The Blessed Virgin to the hilltop and prayed, and the rains came. The small carving of the Virgin was created, and the church was built around her, it was finished around 1908. Some pics: Men that Efrian Knew at the Church Stairway down from the church After we left this beautiful church we went to a town called Puate, known for its Potato Soup with Cheese and Avocado. The food was heavenly, absolutley FANTASTIC. The following are a few street murals in Puate. After Paute we went to another town, sorry I don't remember the name, to see weavers that still weave in the old tradition. We were introduced to a woman we were told is considered a classic weaver here in Ecuador. She showed us a few different ways they make the dyes, one included making the dye from BUGS!!! It was not one of those high pressure things about buying stuff, but of course we did. The quality of the weaving is unbelievable. Some Pics: After we left the weaver, Efrian brought us to a little nursery to buy some palms trees (I have not lost my gardening bug) and on our way home we drove through Chordeleg and Gualaceo, the two towns I thought we were going to see. I am so happy that we did not spend our day there, it was so, so great to to see places that tourists do not bother with, it was so much more enriching. Efrian has become a friend, he told us a hysterical story about getting arrested in New Jersey, it involves his cousin bringing Cuy (Guinea Pigs) for a family Christmas celebration. I know my friend Hal and cousin Steve G. will get a kick out of that one. More stories to follow. The people, culture and history here are phenomenal. We made the right choice!! More stories and photos to follow from my cousins visit.