Bsoque Petrificado de Puyango

Araucarias enormes (un arbol entre pino y palmera) convertidas en piedra hace millones de años. Muy impresionante.

Cariamanga, dealing with reality

Cariamanga is the capital of Calvas. It is three hours away from Loja city, and here is when I fully realise what will be living in Ecuador next year. There are none of the amenities I take for granted. Not even paved roads. To go everywhere takes ages, even if it is only a few kilometers away. There is dust everywhere. I guess I will get use to eat dust in a daily basis. This area is also quite baren. On the positive side, the views are incredible. I´ve got in love with them.

In relation with the research, remittances are the only think that can possibly supporting this booming economy in the middle of nowhere. This is the only place in Ecuador so far I´ve seen packed fruits. Houses (what I have come to call 'remittance houses') are amazing, the colour of the window glasses match with the colour of the facades! There is a lot to know in here.

My research site will not be Cariamanga itself. It is a much smaller place, but I cannot reveal its name!!! The parish priest will probably help me to first be introduced to the comunity. I hope so.

Vilvabamba, 'the' touristic place in the province of Loja

Vilvabamba is also known as the place of life forever. Villagers state it is because of the pureness of its drinking water. I doub it very much after spend two days throwing up all the liquid I put into my body. I guess the absolutely lack of stress has more to do. That stressfree life can be very stressfull for an European like me, who wonder everyday in the evening what the earth to do with my life till night time (well apart the days I spent ill, in which I didn´t think at all, it was hard enough to try to keep something within my body).

En Vilcabamba hicimos el guiri, guiri... nos fuimos de excursión guiada a caballo!!!! Y aunque las fotos tengan una pinta muy chula, no teneis ni idea de lo que duele el culo y los muslos. Y total, que a mi caballo lo adelantaban las viejas andando. Y yo me pregunto, tanta diferencia hicieron los caballos cuando los españoles llegaron a América? Imagino que los suyos correrian más que mi vago Capuchino (así se llamaba mi caballo).

Loja (city of musicians and artists, well in theory)

Loja is well-known in Ecuador as the capital of the artists and musicians. Well that is just a fame. The city is rather boring, small and boring. Maybe because I had this romantic idea about it. There is almost no research about international migration and remittances in Loja. The two universities of the city (one public, one private) are concerned with issues of agriculture and agro-business and distance education. Communications in the province are by far worse than those in Azuay. Some places are relatively close by it takes ages to get there. And not always one can get there. Research is going to be challenging here.
There is one good thing about the city of Loja: its parks. There are a lot of them, big and really neat. So, I guess I must get into sports next year!

Pues como veis ya estamos en Loja. Llueve, lo que hace que no podamos disfrutar de los parques de la ciudad, lo unico asi realmente bonito. La ciudad es muy alargada, más como un pueblo, y muy tranquila. Ah no!! miento, el domingo estuvimos escuchando a la banda municipal tocando cumbias o yo que sé que era. Para haberlo visto. Imaginaros lo entretenidos que estabamos que casi casi vamos a misa por hacer algo (pero solo casi casi!).

Saraguro (y su vinculo con Bilbao?!)

Between Cuenca and Loja city, the small village of Saraguro welcomed us with a gorgeous day.

Saraguro is the name of the main ethnic group in the South highlands of Ecuador. As with the rest of the indigenous groups in the Andes, clothing and hairdoes make the difference. Men (and this is the first indigenous group I´ve seen in which men keep up with clothes tradition more than women) wear short black trousers, black hats and long black ponchos. I know is silly but for me it is very funny the sight of grown men wearing short trousers.

Saraguros state that they are descendants of the Inca aristocracy that was moved from near Cuzco to this area in Ecuador. They are currently encouraging but they call 'communal tourism', for toursits to stay in private houses and share the daily routines of the community.

As usual, migration come into the conversation. This group has been migrating to rural Spain (Murcia, Almeria, etc.) where they can earn a living working in the huge green houses.

Por cierto, la foto de aqui debajo es de la plaza de Saraguro. Verídico

El azulejo Bilbao en Saraguro!!

Giron (where fiesta lasts for month and a half!!) and San Fernando

Somewhere close to Giron could also be another of my candidates. The fact that the annual fiesta lasts for 45 days could definitely help me to make my mind.




My experience in San Fernando was short but awful. In a misty, cold, pouring evening I got to know I just missed the last bus to get out of the village. Villagers were really amused with our experience. Luckily we managed to find a taxi, and got a lot of information from the driver!!

Despues de caminar un montón cuesta arriba llegamos a una cascada impresionante que llaman el chorro. La verdad, mereció la pena la caminata. Debido a la niebla no pudimos ir a la laguna de Busa, que según los lugareños de San Fernando es digna de verse. Igual otro día, aunque la experiencia en San Fernando no fue nada agradable (sin autobus de vuelta, sin casi dinero, con frio, lluvia, en fin un éxito de sitio).

Parque Nacional de Cajas

Gualaceo, Chordeleg, Sigsig (getting closer)

Gualaceo is a town with an incredible high rate of out migration (mainly to the US). It is called the Azuay´s garden (el jardín azuayo). Still working on that, but one of the parish (this is the smallest administrative division in Ecuador) in this canton could be my home for 6 months next year.

Chordeleg is a even smalled village than Gualaceo. It is well-know for its jewelery. As most of the Ecuadorian villages (a Spanish legacy) are located around a usually very nice square and a colourful church. However, contrary to Spain, houses are well spread, so even a village has very few inhabitants, the village owns quite a lot of space.

The last village of the day is Sigsig. Very quiet, and people still look at foreigners as aliens from a different country! Nonetheless, I must say in spite of their puzzlement they are extremely polite, saying us good morning whenever they see us.

In all the three villages, the effects of migration are easily noticeable. There are houses completely out of place, next to an old small rural house, stands a Miami-like house with dark glass in the windows. There are also all sorts of kinky stationery for graduations, birthdays... a new 'tradition' very likely to come from the US.

Ingapirca

Ingapirca es un yacimiento inca, con restos anteriores de la cultura cañari, en la provincia de Cañar. A la derecha lo que se cree un templo de adoración al sol, aunque se le denomina comunmente 'el castillo'. A la derecha la cabeza del Inca (aunque para mi que podria ser la cabeza del alemán, o el sueco, vamos). Lastima que lloviera.

Cuenca (at last). This is where real work starts

Cuenca is the third biggest city in Ecuador. However, it has a quiet colonial spirit. There is money, that is very easy to realise, as well as the strong links with the US. There is one ad board that fascinates me. It is a box with cooked cuy ( a kind of rabbit which is eaten here in special days) about to be sent to Queens in NY. Surprisingly it is cheaper to call to the US than an Ecuadorian mobile. The strong US improntus is noticeable everywhere. The city is clean, the most European-like we have seen so far in Ecuador.

I am really intersting in the arquitecture colonial legacy. Contrary to the North highlands where the colonial houses are exactly the ones one could find in Extremadura, here in Cuenca, the colonial buildings reminds me of the arquitecture in the North of Spain.

The indigenous landscape becomes more and more complex as time goes by, what allures me more and more. Although in Europe we tend to think about the Inca history of Ecuador, in fact the Incas stayed for less than a century in this area. Thanks to the hairdoes and the clothes it is still possible nowadays to notice the pre-inca groups legacy. The group par excellance in Azuay (the province Cuenca is capital of) is called Cañaris. They speak kitchwa (different from the quechua spoken in Peru) and wear bombin-shaped hats. Cañari women wear colourful skirts and ponchos. And it is not a touristic thing. They do wear those same beautiful clothes wherever they are, even working at their small land plots.

Baños

Baños is probably one of the most beautiful places I have seen in Ecuador so far. Taking a warm bath outdoors while raining and seing the gorgeous landscape (with an active volcano, Tunguragua) is, completely unrelated with the research of course, but so nice!

Quito (again): surviving at 4,100 m