Chapter 11: The View from Turi

  I ventured out on a Saturday afternoon after sleeping in and having felt a bit under the weather the past two days. My plan was to just explore the path that ran alongside the river by our house and see what happened from there. The sun was beating down on me with only scant clouds in sight and my nose full of sniffles. The sun and the sniffles brought me back to a similar day, a day with a twin sun to this one: Lobsterfest '09. When I was part of the radio station, Lobsterfest was the outdoor concert we had every year at the end of spring quarter. The day of Lobsterfest I couldn't breathe very well due to a stuffy nose and also couldn't talk very well due to losing my voice a few days before. My brother had come down for the weekend to hang out and listen to music, all of my favorite people from the radio station were there. The sun was mercilessly beating down, but the bands were great. Russenorsk, Kaslo, She Bears, they were all there as well as a ton more. Jay Reatard headlined; he was kind of a jerk to the set up crew and sound technicians, but he put up on a good show nevertheless.

Lobsterfest '09, the band is either Kaslo or She Bears

  Back in the present tense I was walking alone, only accompanied by the music in my headphones and the supplies I had brought along. In a short while I ran into my host mom and my sobrinos who were also out for a stroll. We all laughed at meeting there on the path. Lupe asked me where I was going, I admitted I did not know. Her eyes lit up and she told me that if I was feeling energetic then I could walk to Turi, the hillside vantage point on the outskirts of town. I thought that sounded like a fine adventure. Lupe told me to follow the river to the third bridge, there I was to cross. Then I was to wind my way through the new part of town until I found a staircase that would take me up to Turi. It was a quest!

Incan ruins, kind of like Starbucks, but more historically important

  I walked until I found the third bridge, on my side of the river there was a small site of Incan Ruins, yes perhaps they are everywhere here, like Starbucks in the US, except more historically important. I crossed the bridge then crossed the following roundabout. Just as prescribed I wound my way through the city streets, keeping Turi in sight as I went. Each step closer meant the sun beating down more and more, though I put sunscreen on before I left, I neglected to bring a water bottle. As I climbed one of the ascending streets I lucked into finding a store that had   large water bottles for only 50 cents. Proud of my find and now less in danger of becoming dehydrated, I continued on.

One of the cows, less dangerous than at Ingapirca

Sheep on a hill

   I ended up crossing yet another river that I did not know existed in Cuenca, finding a flock of cows and sheep as I went. A little further down the way I had to cross a four lane high way, it really wasn't too bad. I still wasn't sure exactly where the staircase was located, so I ended up asking a few different people. It was a good way to practice my Spanish and they were all fairly friendly. The grandma with her grand-daughter I asked, said that Turi was very close and in fact they were going the way way as well. Wow those stairs were steep, and they seemed to just go on forever. Once I made it to the top, it made the whole trek worth it. Wow, just wow, the view was magnificent. You could see all of Cuenca, the mountains in the distance and Cajas the national park nestled between the mountains. I was still extremely hot from the sun and the hike so I walked around a bit in Turi in search of ice cream. Luck beyond luck I found a vendor selling cones, two flavors per cone for 50 cents. I got a Guayaba and Chocolate cone, it hit the spot.

the endless staircase

The view from Turi # 1

The View from Turi # 2

The View from Turi #3, I magically got myself in this one, imagine that!

   The way back was a bit quicker since I didn't have to wind my way quite as much. When I was almost home I found some guys playing volleyball in the park so I stopped to watch for a bit. I think it was then that I decided I want to play volley ball some Saturday or Sunday afternoon before I leave. When I got home I wolfed my lunch down, Lupe asked me if I enjoyed the food. I replied it wasn't bad. She laughed and told me that there is an Ecuadorian saying that goes " Cuando hay mucho hambre, no hay mal pan" or roughly translated, "When you're really hungry, nothing tastes bad". I laughed and agreed that was a good saying.

PS I snagged an awesome pic of the clouds on the way home