Yesterday was a full day of travel. Had high hopes for the day, but our guide did not live up to expectations. He is a very nice, smart young man but was very disorganized. As a result we got lost numerous times, spent far more time in the car than necessary and missed a number of things we wanted to do because we lost so much time.  Hope to get back to that part of Ecuador, as it was very interesting.  In fairness, the plan was to go on an alternative route (than the normal tourist routes) in order to take in some things not normally done. The execution of the plan wasn't too not good, unfortunately.  On the bright side, we did get to practice our Spanish, in the car, a lot.

The first stop was outside the small town of Deleg.  This whole trip was in the mountains, so the vistas were remarkable. On a mountain, near Deleg a battle was fought between the Canaris (original tribe) and the incoming Incas.  The Canaris, ultimately, surrendered. They were systematically persecuted after that. In time, the two groups co-existed.  Ironically, today, the Canaries are, relatively, thriving as compared to the Incas.  The route up the mountain was on an extremely steep, windy dirt road. We got stuck about three quarters of the way up. Our guide, finally, got free and backed the car back to a safe spot.  Becky and I had visions of the car  rolling down the mountainside.  Not a promising start to the trip.

Next was the village of Biblian. There is an incredible Iglesia built into the side of the mountain.  It is four or five stories high.  Inside, the back walls, of the Iglesia, are exposed parts of the mountain. To get to the church , we had another steep climb up a cobblestone road.  This time the car made it.  As you can tell, the  first two activities involved great heights. Suffice it to say, I did not participate much. Our guide knew about my problem with heights, but felt we needed to go to these places anyway.

Our next stop was Canar. This is a city that is, almost exclusively, Canari people. They have their own culture and life style.  For the most part, they, apparently, take care of themselves. There is almost no crime.  Canari and some twenty villages around it are all Canari natives. If someone omits a crime, they all work together to apprehend the criminal.  They then administer their own justice. Each village gets a day with the prisoner. As our guide put it, they learn an "extreme lesson" in each place. He gave us a couple of examples. Believe me, we were on our best behavior in Canar. Unfortunately, we were too late to visit the museum in Canar devoted to the Canari history.  We were, also, late for the market.

El Tambo was next (another indigenous town).  We were to take an old train into some interesting areas, but were too late. The museum was unavailable, there, also. We, finally went to Ingapirca.  This is the second largest Inca site after Machu Pichu. This area was actually a place for the royalty and favored people of Machu Pichu to visit and live.  It is a relatively small site, but gives a good indication of what life was like. This is a place that both the Incans and Canaris habituated.  The architecture is interesting.  The Canaris used the stones, at hand, to build with.  The Incas cut the stones into blocks for building.  As a result, there are two different styles, readily discernable. Llamas roamed the area freely.  They are strange creatures. It was extremely foggy, at the site, so pictures aren't that good.  It was, also, cold and windy. Apparently, this is normal. I can't think why the Incans or anybody would want to live there.

We then took a back way to the main road to Cuenca.  It took us through some incredible scenery.  The road were terrible and it took forever - so it was not a relaxing ride. I am pretty sure we were lost half the time. After nine hours we were done (in).  All in all, we do know we want to go back and know when and where we want to go. Hopefully, we will get back soon.

Today, we went to the Mall del Rio. It is a modern mall about a 10 minute cab ride from our apartment. It  is very upscale (imagine faux Roman fountains in the walking area). It is the only mall that I have been in that has automobile showrooms. Unfortunately, the first store you see when walking into the Mall is Payless Shoes.  It gets infinitely better after that.  We needed to replace the coffee maker in the apartment. We were told to go to this mall. The mall is anchored by, ironically, a huge Super - Wallmart type store. Apparently, it is a chain in parts of South America (Coral Hipermercado). The first floor is clothing and groceries.  The second is electronics, appliances auto parts, motorcycles and whatever you want. It was Wallmart shopping with a little Latin American chaos thrown in. On Sunday, the shopping was a family affair. I could have used a sedative. Back to class tomorrow.

Fotos: Battlefield, vista from battlefield (2), Iglesia Virgen de Rocio graves/tombs (3), Virgen (with water faucet we didn't ask), altar, outside of Iglesia, Ingipirca - Incan storage areas (2), astrological aid (notch with gap in wall), Incan calendar, llamas, castillo, living quarters, cases, castillo (side of mountain).