today, i drove from puerto rico to cuenca. that was most of the day. it doesn’t sound like much, and it really wasn’t…but it was a much more exciting drive than you might have in the us. first, going down from puerto lopez, you drive along the ruta del sol….kinda like california’s route 1 (the scenery is not as dramatic, but you pass through many little fishing towns…which is kinda nice). one thing to note is that stray dogs are everywhere in latin america; they’re not as well behaved here as in central america. in ecuador they often chase the cars and run in front of them.

from there, i miraculously drove through guayaquil (the largest city in ecuador) without making any wrong turns…and only asking for directions twice! the road then entered some mountains. here, the road also turned to mud and gravel…not the best terrain for speeding up mountains with no guard rails. one nice thing is that the roads here tend to be wider than the mountain passes in central america…giving more room to swerve around potholes and pass slow moving trucks. although i felt safe at all times, it may be the most dangerous road i’ve driven on (the fog didn’t help). although dangerous, it was much easier on the car than many roads in central america (mud vs. huge rocks).

the pass through the mountains is incredible. you can find out precisely how high i went (google earth?)…but suffice it to say that my ears popped several times, the air was cold, the sun intense, i felt the initial signs of altitude sickness and the car knocked. the people up there are also shorter (…but that’s probably because the majority are of indigenus heritage). it’s a different world up there. i’m not sure how to describe it, but you feel a little more powerful…like you’re above everybody else (literally and metaphorically).

i was also stopped at a police checkpoint (all cars were stopped). i handed them a bunch of documents (car immigration is much more complicated by boat than land). the first guy looked them over…handed them to his superior…and then to another guy. after a few minutes they gave up trying to make sense of it all and said i could leave.

cuenca is a pretty big city (3rd largest in ecuador)…and it seems to go on forever. the city center, however, is a good size (not too big or small) and great for walking (old colonial architecture, cobble stones, etc.). it’s pretty cool. tonight, they had a bunch of live musicians performing in open plazas….one group was an awwesome 8 piece band playing traditional ecuadorian music (pipe flute, guitars, etc.).

pics:
up in the clouds
in some high altitude sections, almost all houses (even shacks) had reflective window tint
the clouds seem so powerful up here
a beautiful church in biblian (just outside of cuenca)