Cuenca

We decided to go to Cuenca for a few days, primarily for the purpose of acclimatisation to the upcoming higher altitudes (Cuenca lies at 2600 meters above sealevel). Not knowing a lot about the small city, Cuenca really surprised us with its many beautiful churches and colonial buildings, as well as with an extensive tourist-oriented infrastructure. We later learned that Cuenca is even said to be the safest city of Ecuador (which seemed to be true, in our experience)! It was nice to have a city which you can roam freely, even at night, and without taking the risk of being robbed 😉 Nothing to get used to, though, as we were told many many times 😅
The acclimatisation went really well and we felt fit for our excursion to the nearby Cajas National Park very soon (which is again covered in a separate footprint). We even managed to shop some warm essentials for our time in the Andes 🥶 We also learned (again) that Ecuador is definitely not as cheap as we hoped for, so we started to get really backpacky and make our own cheap oatmeal breakfasts to safe some $ 🤷🏻‍♀️. Still, Cuenca definitely is a big yes from us!En savoir plus