Primero En Mi Corazon
8 October 2005 (Saturday) – Cuenca to Ingapirca to Cuenca, Ecuador
Ingapirca is a Cañar-Incan ruin about 2.5 hours away from Cuenca. The Cañars had previously built their site here, using rocks brought in from the rivers. The rocks by the Cañars, as such, were roundish. When the Incas conquered them, they destroyed some parts of the settlement, and built their temples and houses, using rocks CARVED out from bigger rocks, as is the style of the Incas. As such, one could see two different types of rocks here on this site.
The Cañars worshipped the moon, so there were several crescent-shaped structures like the terraces for cultivation. Meanwhile, the Incas worshipped the sun. There is a Sun Temple with 4 trapezoidal niches at the base of the wall and a door. During the 4 solstices and equinoxes, the sun would shine through the door and illuminate each of the niches accordingly.
Besides this ruin, there was apparently a rock called The Face of The Inca about 10 minutes’ walk away. Curious, we headed that way for a look. Well, it turned out to be a profile of a wall of rock that looked like a face. Could be anyone’s face, actually.
However, as the bus was leaving at 1pm, we barely had time for the tour of the ruins, the sighting of the Face and the visit to the museum, before we had to hop back on the bus to return to Cuenca.
Along the way, I was assaulted by a very cheesy jingle about ‘Ecuador es siempre primero, primero en mi corazon’ (Ecuador is always first, first in my heart) and heard the radio deejay asking Ecuadoreans for the possible football score between Ecuador and Uruguay to be played later in the afternoon. Oh, it turned out this was the final match for Ecuador to decide if it gets placed in the top 4 or 5 countries from South America for World Cup. They guessed 1-0, 2-0, 3-0… always Ecuador wins, of course.
Along the route back to Cuenca, I spotted many people wearing bright yellow soccer shirts (even babies) to support Ecuador. Some of these were taking the bus to Cuenca as well. I guess, they wanted to go to a bigger town for a better mood. But when I arrived in Cuenca, I was surprised to find the whole town deserted.
Cuenca itself is a very tranquil town. Although it is touted as the third largest city in Ecuador, it has only 400,000 inhabitants. Not that many. While it is a very pretty town, full of lovingly preserved architecture and an impressive Cathedral and clean, broad pavements at the centre, it is rather calm and unexciting. I like it, but often, I find the shops closed during the afternoon siesta and by 7pm, the whole town shuts right down.
Now, on a Saturday afternoon, with an important match starting at 4pm, everyone was off the street and all the shops were closed. I had had nothing to eat since last night and I was desperate to look for a place to eat. One restaurant near the main plaza was opened, but it was a little expensive. I soon found a cheaper chifa (Chinese restaurant).
I met Juan and Rene in Cafe Austria after some suitable sustenance. I had expected the whole place to be full of excited Cuencaños but gosh, it was practically empty, with just a handful of tables filled. Hmmm… where was everyone?
The score was 0-0 but due to other results between the other countries which were simultaneously at play, Ecuador was IN!! The TV panned across rowdy crazy elated street scenes of Guayaquil and Quito, and very happy Ecuadorean footballers and fans at the stadium. Well, Cuenca became a little more alive now, as cars started tooting their horns everywhere they went.
Movie of today – ‘The Maltese Falcon‘, 1941 movie with Humphrey Bogart. What a cool dude!
Tags: 07) Crossing Ecuador Line, Cuenca
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