Incan Explorations Part 1: Sept. 19-22, 2011

After four or five days in Montañita, I once again experienced the slight sadness at leaving like I did when leaving Quito. After some hugs and handshakes I headed for the bus stop where I ran into three of the Aussies headed south too. It was nice to have some company on at least one leg of the bus journey. En route something broke in the engine and the bus driver and his assistant had to spend 30 minutes fixing it on the side of the highway to Guayaquil.

Once back in the crazy sprawl of Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, we shared a lunch at the massive bus terminal before I headed off in search of a bus to Cuenca, "Inca capital of the north". Sure enough, within minutes of beginning my search I was on a direct bus back into the Andes. After passing through stretches of sugar cane lowlands, the bus began its ascent. I nodded off only to wake up as we entered El Cajas National Park. To say the park was breath taking is kind of a double entendre as most of it is above 3,000 metres. The vistas are truly amazing... as you crest the passes leaving the coast behind, incredibly steep, cloud engulfed tropical valleys transform into bizarre combinations of tropical and coniferous trees until the grasslands of the high Andes is all that is left. The sometimes rolling but much of the time dramatic hills and peaks are dotted with miniature lakes and huts and the occassional stand of quinua trees, clinging to life higher than any other tree in the world.

Clombing into the Andes

More Andes climbing by bus

While learning about this area I came across an interesting factoid which I am going to quote entirely in here... **A research project in Peru by scientists from the University of British Columbia made some surprising findings among the highland Quecha (natives of the Andes). Not only do the high-altitude indigenas have larger lungs and hearts up to one-fifth bigger than normal - pumping two quarts more blood through their bodies than lowlanders - but their muscles also operate differently.
When you and I push our muscles to the point of anaerobic metabolism (relying on stored-up energy rather than oxygen from the outside air), they produce lactic acid that eventually builds up and causes cramps. With such little oxygen at high altitude, youd think that Quechua muscles would produce a lot of this, but instead they accumulate less lactate byproducts.
It might have something to do with their preference for carbohydrates (i.e., grains) rather than fats as body fuel, but their muscles act the same when theyre brought down to sea level, suggesting an actual genetic adaptation. Researchers hope to use this sort of information to help people survive the temporary lack of oxygen caused by strokes and heart attacks.**

Once in the Andes it doesnt seem like you truly ever come down unless going back to the coast. After about an hour of natural eye candy, we exited the parks eastern perimeter and began encountering habitations. The coniferous trees surprised me, but the size and quality of the houses surprised me even more. Up until this point bamboo shacks or cinder block hovels had dominated most of the locals housing I had seen. But as we approached Cuenca, there were some seriously beautiful buildings.

Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción

San Sebastoan Plaza, Cuenca

San Sebastian Cathedral, Cuenca

Random cool architecture, Cuenca

Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador with over 400,000 people. It has a similar feel to Victoria that way... everything is walking distance with plenty of natural and architectural beauty. Its by far the cleanest Ecuadorian city I have yet seen. There is a lot of the colonial look in the city, from cobblestone streets, whitewashed  or nicely painted buildings, many plazas and squares, and plenty of churches.

Cañari Moon Temple viewed from Sun Temple

Before being colonized by the Incas and the Spanish, Cuenca was a settlement of the indigenous Cañari who maintained a culture in the area for centuries before the Inca arrived. The Cañari people were a matriarchal moon worshipping culture as is evidenced by the temple ruins a couple hours north by bus at Ingapirca, close to the pueblo of Cañar.

Sun temple aligned with sun cycles



Where artisans made holy crafts



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Doorway to Sun temple ante chamber



Around 1500 C.E. fter several heavy battles, the Cañari negotiated a truce with the Inca permitting Incan occupation and rule so long as the Cañari could retain their cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. It was at this time that Ingapirca (which literally means "Inca Wall") was established with half of the religious compound dedicated to moon worship ceremonies and celebrations and the other half to sun worship. Ironically, the Cañari were matriarchal moon worhsipers while the Inca were patriarchal sun worshipers. Although both cultures were eventually subsumed by the Spanish (who took advantage of the Incan fraternal civil war) the Cañari did influence the Inca during their brief combinations of culture. Typically Incan religious centres, and architecture in general, were based on square type motifs while the Cañari were elliptical. The sun temple at Ingapirca is the only one ever discovered to incorporate elliptical architectural styles.

 

Entrance to Pumapungo,

 

 Water Management at Pumapungo



The Incan occupation only lasted 40-70 years before civil war broke out between two Incan princes who each inherited either the north or south half of the Incan empire. The north had its capital in Cuenca, evidenced by the royal ruins left in the city at Pumapungo. The south had its capital in Cuzco, but more on that place when I get there. Once the Spanish and their attendant religion, Catholicism, took over, many of the stones from Incan structures, which were of superior masonry, were used as foundation stones for the many churches built around the area. 

Looking up at Pumapungo



Suffice to say, my experience in Cuenca was a relaxing exploration into some of Ecuador´s ancient cultures and I enjoyed it. But the calmness and culture of the altitudinous Andes wore thin on me like the altitude and the ocean beckoned to me again and I had to answer it... even if only to be near it for a layover. So I got up early the day after exploring Ingapira and walked across the city to the bus depot where I promptly hopped on to a bus headed for Machala. While staying there I planned to explore the Puyango petrified forest before crossing the hectic border near Huaquiallas into Peru.