We figured it was time to 'get out of Dodge' and visit another nearby town. This time we took a drive to the town of Azogues with Barbara and Howard, about a half hour NE of Cuenca. Azogues is the capitol of nearby Canar province.
(One of the high points of the visit was making friends with this beautiful Mom and family.)
The scenery along the way is definitely 'country'.
A few animals, too!.
The first mallards we've seen in Ecuador.
Saturday is market day. Azogues is known for its cattle market, and we had to visit for another touch of Country. The market was loud, stinky (as only livestock markets can be), very busy-crazy, but we loved it!
Cows, of all colors and sizes, pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys, but we didn't see any llamas like we did at the animal market in Cuenca. A large food area, too.
For pictures and stories of the animal market right on the edge of Cuenca, you can go back in our blog here:
http://richandnancy.blogspot.com/2010/10/animal-market.html
(We have so many pics of the Azogues market, we'll post more in a separate blog entry.)
After a fun visit to see the animals,
we climbed the many stairs of the Cathedral
and admired all the beauty inside.
Major gold and lots of beautiful roses!
Just stunning!
As we climbed, we noticed several new cars lined up, awaiting a blessing from a priest with holy water. We were so interested in the scene, we didn't get a good pic to share.
Lovely paintings, too.
There is a police station at the ground level of the Church.
A young girl was selling treats. (These are not ice cream, but some kind of airy, whipped sweet.)
Fabulous views of the City!
You can see the umbrellas from the market below.
A ride up to the small Inca/Canar ruins and a breathtaking view over the area.
The winding road took us up to about 13,000 ft altitude.
Here we are, enjoying it all.
More pics of the town.
The town itself seems more prosperous than other small towns we've visited. A few older adobes in need of care, but most buildings are more modern and in pretty good shape, at least they looked that way from the outside.
We enjoyed traditional music in the market and out on the streets, too.
The town still seemed quieter than Cuenca...even with about 25-35,000 residents.
Maybe the quiet was because most of the activity was centered in the market on a Saturday. We didn't hear one car alarm!
Lovely, lovely town!
Another slice of life. We'll be back.
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