Have three free days ahead of us.  Met this morning with Edgar. He is  friend of our Spanish teacher.  He is a self employed computer programmer/jack of all trades computer guy. He has a lull between jobs and will act as our guide while he can.  He spent several years in school in New York.  We practice Spanish with him and he practices his English with us.

We outlined a few tours with him, including one into the Amazon.  He can get us there at a fraction of the cost of the tour agencies. That is down the road away, however.  More immediately, we are going on a tour of some towns north and east of Cuenca tomorrow. They have weekend markets. We are going to go a different route than the normal tourist tours. We will end up at an Incan ruin site, if we have time.  This may be a two trip deal.

After we got that all finalized,  he insists we take a quick trip into Parque National Cajas.  This was on our list, but the main park is a full day (minimum) trip.  He knows of a side trip not far from Cuenca. He offered it gratis - so we said OK.  Our weekend plans, now were totally scrapped, but that was no problema (this is Ecuador).

The trip out of Cuenca was only twenty minutes.  We gained about a thousand feet, however. We passed through some areas on the outskirts of town that offered more insights into Ecudoriano life.  More on that at a later time. We turned off the main road and proceeded down, a basically, cobblestone road for several miles. The scenery was incredible. Large and small farms dotted the landscape.  Not a place to make a lot of money, given the severity of the terrain but an amazing place to live, no doubt. We finally got to the Parque. Only walking permitted once in the  Parque.

Our hike was, primarily, around Lago Llaviucu.  We took the short route - which was about  2.5 hours. It was an an amazing place. We were basically the only people there.  Normally, the bird life is very obvious.  Unfortunately, they were hiding today - probably scared off by the gringos. We passed by free ranging cattle and llamas. An old proposed cerveza factory sat in the middle of all this.  Apparently, it never reached fruition - but what an idea. The water is totally pure - could have made some nice brew.

All is going well. until we cross over the lake and ahead back to the starting point. As we walked the initial route we could see a bridge on the other side of the lake tucked into the mountain. Becky asked Edgar, a few times what it was. He answered in Spanish, but neither of us got the message. As it turns out, we have to climb (not seriously) up the mountain and traverse some steep trails and some bridges, as well. Needless to say, I am not thrilled. It doesn't help that Edgar thinks I am crazy, but I make it.

We leave the Parque and it is time for almuerzo. On the way up, we saw a roadside stand with a pig (think whole pig) roasting on a spit. We stop there on the way back to eat.  They, also, had cuy and chicken. We opt for the pork. But we need to try cuy before we leave. We have a great meal.  Worthy of Andrew Zimmern.  Hope tomorrow is as fun.

Fotos: Entrance to the parque, parque view, Lago Llaviusu (three), gringa con guia, cerveza factory, gringa, purple flowers, steps to cerveza factory, river to lake, bridge, alpacas grazing, caballo (did not like gringos).