Hasta Luego, Cuenca

Every time we think we’ve seen the most impossibly tall, teetering high heels, we see another pair that lifts a woman yet taller.  Walking in these 6” heels above a 2” platform is truly an athle tic accomplishment, particularly as almost all of the streets in the old city are cobblestone and the ladies step down steep curbs before casually strolling across the broken cobbles.   

With these extraordinary shoes lifting them, some of the women tower a few inches above 5 feet.

These are the more modern women, those with more “Castillian” blood, the sexy, urban Latinas  in form-fitting ensembles.

Avoiding the soul-capturing camera

There is another group, the traditional women, those with more Kichwa blood.  If anything, these women are even shorter, and I suspect many would barely break 4’ in height.

These are the wrinkled, peevish, stocky women who wear heavy, brightly-coloured woollen clothing and traditional hats.  They clearly work hard and are most often seen carrying loads in cloth bags – as they carry their babies.  To my delight they adhere stubbornly to their traditional values, and even in a country deeply infected by Catholicism, they exhibit even more atavistic beliefs such as the notion that a camera can steal their soul.

This makes them extraordinarily reluctant to have their photos taken so often I can only get a shot of the top of a hat as they drop their faces.

Happily barbequeing Guinea Pig (Cui)

Lest this seem a terribly sexist post, Ingrid and I both agree that the men -- for the most part -- are quite unremarkable.  Well, perhaps apart from the penchant of the rather stubby Kichwa men to allow their women to do all of the heavy lifting.

Spanish ecclesiastical architecture

As we prepare to leave Cuenca on our way to the Galapagos, we are realizing how much we have enjoyed this city.   

Although there are almost 200,000 people here, most of them will take the time to wish us “buenas dias” whenever our eyes meet.  And although the streets are claustrophobically narrow and crowded, there is no jostling.   

Such a cordial lot.