Day 1: Cuenca City tour
Arrival to Cuenca, transfer from airport to the hotel selected. We will have a complete visit of the city including the Plaza of San Sebastian, a colorful artisans market, where handicrafts are sold. Stops will be made at the workshops of Panama hats, then we will continue to the Plaza of San Francisco where the beautifully embroidered skirts of the cholas are for sale. Then we will follow with a visit of the flower market at the small plaza in front of the carved stone entrance to the church of El Carmen de la Asunción. The tour ends with a drive along the Tomebamba river to admire the city’s overhanging houses and laundry spread out to dry on it’s banks.
Day 2: National Park Cajas
After breakfast we drive to the National Park Cajas with its more then 250 mountain lakes. We hike the whole day through the páramo vegetation and the mystic polylepis forests enjoying a unique landscape. In the early evening return to Cuenca for dinner.
Day 3: Ingapirca - Gualaceo - Chordeleg
After breakfast we will drive to the explore Ingapirca, which means "Stonewall of the Inka" in the Quechua language. The fortress or sun temple has been established around 1500 on earlier Cañari buildings and is the largest Inca ruin in Ecuador. After the visit of the interesting museum you have the opportunity to see further certifications of the Inka as the "face of the Inka", an impressive rock formation. Afterwards we go to the thriving little town of Gualaceo with its woolen goods and weaving ateliers, famous for the Ikat dyed shawls. In Gualaceo you can admire the riggings the village is famous for. The market is still relatively unaffected by tourism. Furthermore, we drive to Chordeleg, famous for its crafts in wood, silver and gold filigree, and pottery. Return journey to Cuenca and flight back to Quito in the early evening.
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