Christmas greetings to family and friends, Oslo is cold. It was good to come back to South America. Astahaya is waiting in Panama City, with deckhand Dwayne on board. We are finally ready for taking off to Galapagos. Christian and I are, however, before casting off granting us a fortnight in Ecuador. We celebrate Christmas in Cuenca, an UNESCO heritage sight on 2500 metres asl! The four hours drive up here from Guayaquil, was of the spectacular Kind. The Andes rose majestic, and the mountain pass on 3500 metres brought us up to the Christmas snow! Surprising for us as we are on the equator! The road took us through the national park of Cajas, where we saw llamas in their native environment, divine (see photo). Cuenca was located along the Inca highway that joined Peru with Quito. See enclosed photo of the ancient ruins of the Inca town Tumipamba which was here before the Spanish arrived. It is memorable to arrive from the mountains to this historic well preserved city. The city is clean and the climate is all year around like a good Norwegian summer day. It was so pleasant to arrive. The city is famous for the Panama hats! The local indigenous people have used hats for centuries and the famous Panama hat is a version of those. The Spanish recognized the quality of the hats and started to export them via Panama in the 1800s. The hats are made in Cuenca, and the best quality hats are still exported from here to Panama and for that sake all over the world. I include some photos from a workshop in town. Cuenca is a religious center not only for Ecuador, but for the whole South America. Since this is my Christmas greetings, I enclose photos I have snapped of the preparations going on all over the old town. Tomorrow on Christmas Eve the major event elapses, the El Paso del Nino procession. The procession will be going on the whole day, as 70 000 people are expected to attend! This will be a different Christmas and I look forward as a child. Have a nice and peaceful Christmas and New Year wherever you are and give a good hug from me also to your family and friends. Best greetings Tom
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 05:27:35 +0000
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