A week or two ago we went for a day trip with some other brothers and sisters to a place called Ingapirca. It is Inca ruins and is around 2 hours north (by bus) from Cuenca.
We got an Ecuadorean breakfast start to the day, as one of the sisters is Quechan (an indigenous people) (I think that’s how it’s spelled) and had brought plantain balls she had made (not sure what they are actually called). You boil or steam the plantain (looks like a banana, but tougher) and mash it and make it into balls, with a little bit of cheese in the middle. And some hot sauce with it. And strong coffee. So we ate these in the bus as we headed out into the country – it was a good way to get us into the mood for a little history.
We find bus travel in the country here fascinating – there are people hopping on and off the whole trip by the side of the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We found that there is a definite advantage to catching the bus at the bus terminal – you get a seat! At the busiest parts of the trip it was standing room only and sit wherever you can find a space. Not terribly comfy.
This could be Tasmania, but it’s Ecuador! On the way to Ingapirca
It seems that if you want to get from A to B, you stand at the side of the road going to your destination, wait for a bus to go past displaying a sign indicating the town or place you want to go to, and flag the bus down. Then you make haste to the door, carrying any small children or groceries, etc, you may have, as the buses don’t wait!
We bought tickets at the terminal, but if you hop on along the way, every so often the bus driver’s assistant squeezes past all the people standing in the middle aisle of the bus, and collects coins for the unpaid fares.
The bus driver just does the driving and his assistant does everything else; he definitely has to be on the ball. For starters, he has to remember who has or hasn’t paid and collect the fares. When the bus stops, he jumps off and assists people on or off, and passes any small children, baskets, etc and gets any luggage out from under the bus or on the roof. He has to do this pretty quickly, as the bus driver is on a mission, and isn’t about to waste any time. When the bus stopped in towns, the assistant jumps off and encourages people to get on the bus by calling out the destination, eg “Cuenca Cuenca Cuenca”, and then helps them onto the bus. At times he jumps off at certain stops, and collects letters or packages (rather like a courier service, it seemed), or runs into a depot or other place to swipe the bus’ time card. There is a lot of running involved, especially at times when the bus driver started off when he hadn’t quite got on yet.
Between watching the antics of the assistant, and checking out the variations in local indigenous dress and hats (I would have loved to take photos or video, but I don’t suppose that would have gone down well with the subjects of those photos – more on that later), and watching the scenery, it was an enjoyable trip. And then there was Ingapirca. See below
Circles appear to be the go here at Ingapirca
Precision stone-cutting – no mortar in between the stones
If I remember correctly, Ingapirca was a settlement, and the stone ruins (maybe about knee-height) included such things as housing, storage for crops, irrigation, religious ceremonies, and strange stones for which no-one seems to have worked out a reason. Except maybe for holding beer bottles and other important things. (see below)
There was a reconstructed mud hut, on a stone foundation, so I imagine that may have been how some of the buildings were made. Others were made more completely of stone. Unfortunately the signage there wasn’t as clear or informative as it could have been, so that is why I appear a little unclear and uninformed as to what it was all about.
The wind was quite cold, and one of the brothers with us said that last time he came it actually snowed briefly. Not what one would expect on the equator. Although we are quite a few thousand feet above sea level.
We actually saw some alpacas there – we suspect they brought them in especially for the site, as they were the only ones we saw all day. I’m told they are not common anymore and possibly are endangered.
While at Ingapirca we saw an old man walking towards us along a track and carrying an enormous bundle on his back. Brendan took a photo of him, and when he came up to us held out his hand and said something in Spanish which we didn’t catch, but we figured it was along the lines of “that photo will cost you a dollar, thanks”, so Brendan gave him a dollar. We had heard that people don’t always take kindly to having photos taken; that you either need to ask permission or contribute something for the privilege. So we did. Some people here live pretty hard lives. From statistics I looked at, it appears that large amounts of the population live in poverty, particularly those in the country.
Old man carrying a very big load
And Now to Other Matters.
I’m pleased to have found a use for our vegie scraps, other than putting them into landfill – in Tassie we would put them in the compost heap, but seeing as a compost heap is not really feasible here due to gardens (if you are fortunate enough to have one) being about the size of a pocket handkerchief, I have been donating them to the chickens at the end of the road. They seem to be most grateful and cluck appreciatively. And the lady who looks after them says “muchas gracias”, as well. It’s nice to be getting to know one’s neighbours, even if it is just a few words while passing over vegie scraps. It’s also nice to have chickens in one’s road – it seems less like we are living in a city. We have also seen a variety of animals keeping the grass down in some of the empty blocks of land – such as horses, donkeys, alpacas, cows and goats. But generally not all at the same time. That’s rather fun, too. There are not too many cities where you still have that touch of nature.
If you look closely, there are some chickens
“Cuencanos”, as people who live in Cuenca are known, are renowned for being reserved until they get to know you, so we generally aim to say “Buenas dias” (good day) to people we meet. Normally we have to make the first greeting, but hopefully after a while when they get used to seeing us around, we will be accepted. The man across the road from us, who fixes stoves and fridges etc, welcomed us when we moved in, and sometimes people we meet on the street greet us first, and that’s nice.
Recently a young couple in our congregation got married, but not without a bit of drama. He is an Ecuadorian national, and she is a foreigner (U.S.A). In Ecuador only civil marriages are recognised by law, so they couldn't just go down to their local Kingdom Hall and tie the knot. And because she was not an Ecuadorian national, they couldn't just go down to the local Cuenca registry office to make it official. No, they had to go down to Guayaquil, the only place where nationals can marry foreigners. So, they decided that while they were all down there for the District Assembly, they would save time and travel etc, and do the legal marriage then, well in time for their Kingdom Hall ceremony a few weeks later.
Some who had lived here for a while were not convinced that all would go smoothly and that the legal ceremony would take place on the Monday following the District Convention, as planned. They felt that there were bound to be complications, and that the young lady’s paperwork would somehow be found lacking, and that the ceremony would be postponed. That was, in fact, what occurred. But, after a false start, another attempt was made within the week to unite them in wedlock, only this time it was found that he was actually already married!!! (Aghast!) Upon the Department of Happy Couples examining their computers it was found that he had actually got married at the mature age of 17, which his wife-to-be found rather amusing, but left him slightly stunned. Upon him denying that said marriage had ever taken place, he was shown the indisputable facts of his nuptials on the computer screen. This was complicated by the fact that his Cedula (an identity card everyone who resides in Ecuador is required to have) showed he was single. To make matters even more interesting, the computer further disclosed that this wife had since married someone else. After investigation, it turned out that a wrong i.d. number had been entered into the computer.
Easy to fix, you might think? Alas, no. This sort of error can only be fixed by one man, in one Department, in Quito (a bus trip of a mere 8 or so hours from Cuenca). Unfortunately, this rather indispensable man happened to be away for a few days, delaying further resolution of the issue. But, fortunately for our young couple, the matter was resolved before long and they were legally married, with a week or so to spare.
And the moral of the story? If you happen to be in Ecuador and have any dealings with government departments, take a change of clothes and a toothbrush - you're going to need them!
A building in progress (maybe, as it seems they often leave thing half built here) – on the way to Ingapirca
P.S. Brendan here with my 2 cents worth. Just an experience (not a nice one, but felt I needed to share the good and the not so good of Ecuador) I had while out witnessing the other day. While going from door-to-door in town I heard a squeal from across the road. I looked over to see a Cuy (Sarah says it is Cuye - both, it seems, are correct, but mine is more so) (Guinea Pig) being taken out of a bag and then promptly strangled out there in the open on the side of a suburban street. Not a sight I expected to see or want to see again. It was good Sarah was on the other side of the block and didn’t see it. The moral is: if you want to try Guinea Pig in Ecuador make sure it is bled.
