Feb 6th- Cajas National Park-

 Our first adventure of the day was a trip to the daily market.   What a surprise when Celso told us that we were going to a cleansing.  What an experience.  You sit down in front of a healer and she takes herbs and flowers hitting /swishing  you all around.  Then she took an egg and rubbed it all around you.  This told her where your problem spots were.  I was told that i had dark winds and  evil eye.  This meant that i had bad energy from taking on problems from places mainly and the evil eye was from being with some one that had negative and their negative energy was with me.  They sprayed us - put a black mark on our forehead. A very refreshing experience.

                                                          Our healing process below.

 

                                     My healer

                                  Shark

                                                             Pigs head and legs

 We are off to the Cajas National Park where the altitude is up to 14,600 ft.at top of Cerro Arquitectos. 

The alpine tundra of low growing plants.  We then drive to Biospere Reserve which is protected by UNESCO. - a park of evergreen cloud forest and hundreds of lakes.—300 to 4000 lakes here that drain down the mountain  20% of the drinking water comes from here.    The ground is very spongy and full of water. There are 167 species of birds. Juan took us around the lake picking out trees , vines, flowers and birds for us. He showed us plants and flowers used for medicines. 

                                                            Paper tree

                    The grasses are so soft looking and it is very wet underneath  They call is the sponge.

                                                            Our guide Juan

Lunch was at a beautiful restaurant that raised and caught their own trout which we had for lunch.. and the desserts were devious!!

We came back for free time.  The four of us went out early to try some local beer and then was joined by Celso and Carlos for dinner. After dinner we took one last walk around the square.

Tomorrow we start our beginning of our way home. And heading down to almost sea level.

Great wonderful trip. Thank you Celso.

Feb 5 Monday Cuenca city tour

 We are up and ready, though today we get an extra hour to relax.  Not that it really mattered because we were up at our usual 5AM   We are up about 8200 feet in an UNESCO world heritage site because of it well preserved Spanish architecture - only in the “old town”

                                                                            Our hotel

We see the old church but visit and climb the new church. 

This is the new church which they were hoping to finish with two towers on top but they discovered the church would not hold the weight.

                                                          Top of the church 175 steps up

                      The park where the 15 year old trees stand. Some of the tops have been cut off.

You can buy a candle to burn which is possible in this church but not others.  You pray for whatever you need to to make things better but if you don’t have anything that would like God to hear, you take the candle and rub it on an area that might be hurting you such as you heart and then light the candle.

                                                            Main alter with gold leaf

                                                                    The church is Hugh

                                       The outside door is beautiful.

This statue represent the 17 year old hero that lead and encourage the soldiers for independence.May 24 1832

      Old church which was too small so they built the one across the street.

                                      New church- 1885  you can see the tops are missing- never to be added

We then continue to walk around visiting the park where 150 y/o trees are planted as a gift from Argentina.  We visited the flower market which is one of the top 10 in the world. 

                                       Shops along the way

                                    Fabric store showing examples of materials made up

                                            House plants at the flower market

                                          Just a small portion of the flowers

We travel along the “Killer River”  Tamebamba River which rises 3 feet above the road when it starts raining. And we end up on the Woman’s bridge or Broken bridge which represents the woman who have been abused in some way. The names are written on the side of the bridge.

                                                      This river will rise up 3 feet above the road

                                                   Interesting view as we walk along

                                                                          Candy store

                              These next pictures represent the crafts of the people of the area. 

                            A chola lady wearing her hat. These are the woman that make the hats.

City square

                           She is selling cocnut milk as well as coconut, papaya , and other fruits.

This is a cloister where there are about 18 nuns that are there for life.  The family can visit once a year but only to speak to them but not see them.  If they need medical help the Dr will come to them.  The wooden door above where the lady is standing is were they come to trade, buy or talk to the nun behind.-never seen.

Our next stop is the panama hat maker. Run and owned by one family. These hats are made here not Panama. They are world famous and can cost from $50 to $2000 depending on the weave. There are many steps in making these hats. It also depends on the tightness of the weave.  I will try to remember all the steps.  A hat will take 4 days to 4 -6 months to make.  First they get the straw, bleach it or clean it, may be even die it. - then dry it. The Chola then takes the straw and makes the crown, weaves the hat and brings it back to the shop. The shop inspects it and if they keep it they will wash it again and dry it.then shape it one more time, They will give it back to the weaver to finish an  somewhere in there is ironing with a special iron..then brush it with glue, dry it and shape one last time.  Oh and then it gets to go to the shop for ribbons etc.  i know i have left out some steps but there are a lot of steps. The board showing the hats have very famous people wearing them.

                         This hat has just come from the weaver for the next part of the process.

                                                    Hats shown drying in the old days

Fonder and owner

Being molded.  The ht goes right side  down on the mold on the right , then upside down on the mold on the left.

Look closely at the pattern and the fine weave.  The finer the weave and pattern, the more expensive.

                                                  Different shapes of hats. These are mens hats

                                            Hats that ate drying and have not been molded.

                        These pictures are out of order.. this is the straw that has been dried. The back row of black has been dyed

                            The man is brushing the hats with glue and throwing them to dry.

                                                                    Washing

This hat will be cut and sewn

Famous people and their hats

Last stage …ribbons etc. final inspection.

                                                                    Hats for sale

If you can see, these hats are woven differently . The one on the right is like silk with a very tight and small weave.  Look at the crown.

My hat is only $150 ..i didn’t buy it but they are beautiful.

Then lunch with the specialty of Guinea pig. 

The pictures came backwards. This is a famous artist of a pottery store.

Name of the store

A view of the city during the day and at night.  We are done for the day.