Cuenca

Down in the Southern highlands just a few hours from the Peruvian border, downtown Cuenca surpasses even Quito's Old Town for its European feel. The narrow stone streets lead up to a least a dozen churches. The streets seem to go on for ever, so the area takes at least an hour to cross in any direction.

A street in downtown Cuenca on an early Sunday morning

At the center of the old town is a lively park called Parque Calderon, which sits in front of the Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepcion, the largest and most spectacular of the churches (though actually one of the newest at only 125 years old). The oldest churches date back to the 16th century.

There really isn't a good place to get a picture of the entire Catedral from. Here's the top.

The edge of downtown Cuenca. The river is just off the edge of the picture at the left.

Another church

This is outside a cafe in a part of town that's under renovation but they hope will become a mini Greenwich Village.

A street called the Calle Larga overlooks Rio Tomebamba, which divides the old and new sections of town, at least in one direction. Downriver is a gorgeous forested park with a very elaborate system of wooden walkways in places. Just on the other side from downtown is the university as well as the majority of Cuenca's 400,000 people.

At the very edge of the historical center on the Calle Larga there are still ruins from the Incan city of Tomebamba, which can be walked through anytime the Pumapungo museum is open. The museum itself has five of the creepy shrunken heads from the Shuar people of the Oriente. There are about a dozen other museums in town as well, dedicated to everything from Incas and other pre-Spanish civilizations to modern art.

What's left of Pumapungo. The ruins cover an entire hillside.

The downtown also has a huge daily market where you can get all the vegetables, fruits, grains, meat -- anything you need. It covers two entire city blocks, two stories high.

A woman who was nice enough to pose for me at the market.