Five different experiences in Cuenca, beyond the historic center

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At the gates of the carnival holiday and with the expectation of an economic recovery after the hard blow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cuenca tourism sector is promoting a series of places to visit. The bet for this year is to provide visitors with natural, gastronomic and craft experiences.

In Cuenca, carnival is considered a mostly family party in which people gather in different houses to eat and “get wet”. That, in past years, meant that the city had very little to show during the four days; but at present this has changed, mainly due to the need for an economic reactivation.

The executive director of the Municipal Tourism Foundation, Angélica León, proposes five experiences to national visitors that should not be missed during their stay so as not to stay only in the historic center.

The first experience that he proposes is called “Panoramic views of the city”, from the natural balconies of the city located in the eastern part of the city in the rural parishes of Turi and Nulti.

The first is reached by car or on foot to the viewpoints of El Calvario, Jalshi or El Boquerón; and in Nulti he mentions Khalshi. But whatever the option, visitors will be able to enjoy a harmonious coexistence with nature, but at the same time from the top visualize the urban development of recent years.

Linked to this is the natural, a proposal aimed more at those who like hiking and community life framed in the municipal project ‘Cuenca, adventure city’.

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Here long but satisfying walks are proposed through the so-called “sacred hills” of the city such as Pachamama, Guagualzhumi, Ictocruz, Monjas, Ucholoma, Shio, El Boquerón or Francesurco. The latter was visited by the French Geodesic Mission in 1736 to measure an arc of the meridian and verify the round shape of the Earth.

León says that the matter is not just walking, but also getting to know the inhabitants of each of these sectors, who in addition to offering a traditional food or drink, also make them participate in spiritual healing rituals, known as cleanses.

And since a trip is not complete without food, the third suggested experience is gastronomy in places like the Museum of Cuencan Gastronomy, located in the Challuabamba sector. In this place you can not only taste typical dishes, but also learn about its history where the evolution of agricultural production is shown in chronological order, from the pre-Cañari, Cañari, Inca, colonial, Creole times, to the present.

This without leaving aside the obligatory visits to the public markets of the city, where exclusive and inevitable food of the season is prepared, such as the mote pata or the fig or milk candies.

If there is something that has characterized Cuenca for several decades, it is the production of different types of handicrafts. In this context, the Municipal Tourism Foundation suggests a rural coexistence in the Czech parish, where the skillful hands of its inhabitants offer a variety of toquilla straw products. The work is in charge of the cooperative Uniting Hands (Unima). Checa is located 13 kilometers north of Cuenca.

The tourist experiences for this holiday can also include the so-called Tourist Haciendas, located particularly in the Tarqui parish, in the south of the city. They are private businesses where you can do a variety of activities such as horseback riding, low-level hiking, etc. (I)