Cuenca

Welcome to Cuenca! The third city of Ecuador, after Quito and Guayaquil. Cuenca is located south of Quito, about 10 hours by bus. Surrounded by mountains and close to the Las Cajas National Park, it’s easy to head out for a weekend in nature. During the month and a half that I will spend in the city, I will take the time to explore the hidden streets of this city with its colonial architecture. Old Spanish-style houses, a massive cathedral, churches on every corner—Cuenca is a city that’s quite different from what I’ve seen since my arrival on the South American continent.

Craft city, there are markets at every street corner, every week. Jewelry, clothing, food, trinkets, these small markets attract crowds! Street artists are also present in the city’s backdrop: musicians, painters, circus performers, magicians, you can find it all in Cuenca! The city is well-known, and rightly so, for being « safe, » so there’s no concern regarding safety. Of course, like any major city, there are certain neighborhoods to avoid, but from my experience and feedback received, the city is not dangerous. You can stroll back at 3 a.m. without worry. There’s also no problem spending the afternoon by the river napping or reading a good book. To conclude the presentation of the city, I would add that it’s very easy to eat vegetarian. Eva and I had the chance to try several vegetarian restaurants and we were not disappointed!

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am going to start a training course to become a masseur. Why? Why not, after all? I have been thinking about it for a while now, so why not take the plunge! I found a training center in the city center, and just a few days after our vacation, I begin the training. About ten hours of training on relaxing massages, sports massages, hot stone massages, bamboo massages, reflexology, and reducing techniques… We learn massage techniques, the parts of the body, which oils to use, and the contraindications… At the end of the course, we receive a diploma in therapeutic massage!

At the same time, I will do 2 volunteer positions in youth hostels. The first one at Tony’s, the manager of Cafecito in the city center. A small hostel well-located but very noisy due to its proximity to the market. There are almost no travelers in the hostel, so not much work to do. By the time my last days of volunteering come, I will be taking photos of rooms in a nearby hotel. Photos of rooms from all angles to update the booking.com and Google Maps pages. It’s a good experience to know how to take real estate photos. At Cafecito, there are no places to rest or common areas, so I decide to leave and go work at Mochiliers. A hostel a bit farther from the center (about a 30-minute walk) but the difference is that there are 6 volunteers (mostly Argentinians), we have our casita (small house with a bathroom and kitchen), breakfast, and basic food items (rice, pasta, oil…). Additionally, the hostel has a large garden, resting areas, and a big kitchen for cooking with the travelers, in short, I prefer it.

Here we have fixed reception hours, mainly 4 hours a day, 6 out of 7 days. The atmosphere is really good; we sing, dance, and have big meals with people. During the month spent at Mochiliers, I had the opportunity to do and learn many things. First, I got « Argentinized. » I started drinking mate. For those who don’t know what we’re talking about, it’s a drink originating from Argentina made from mate herbs. We infuse the plants in a special cup, then drink it with a special straw. And we drink it all day long.

Spiritually, I had the opportunity to participate in a Temazcal, a natural medicine ceremony practiced for quite a long time. To put it simply, it’s a sauna with medicinal plants but on level 10. In the sense that the steam literally burns the body and the lungs. And yes, physically it’s hard to handle. On this occasion, I got to try liquid tobacco, to be ingested through the nose. It’s not very pleasant, but it helps to cleanse the energies and prepare for what comes next. The next step is called Râpé. It’s powdered tobacco mixed with medicinal plants. The powder is placed in a sort of blowpipe, and the shaman blows very hard into the blowpipe to send the powder up the nose. Similarly, it’s not pleasant and it kind of knocks you out. Cold and hot sweats, nausea, dizzy spells. Fortunately, it calms down quickly, and then we enter « the belly of the mother, » a shelter where the sauna takes place. There are four doors to pass through (figuratively speaking). Each door corresponds to a different level of steam intensity. Each moment is accompanied by music, songs, thanks, or prayers. In this little hut, we are several who are really suffering, but we stick it out until the end anyway. Physically, it’s tough, and spiritually, it was not easy to concentrate with that heat. Anyway, I would do it again now that I know what to expect.

A girl from the inn gives me a Reiki session, the owner of the inn conducts a family constellation session, and the highlight of the event is my participation in an Ayahuasca ceremony. This well-known hallucinogenic plant from South America comes from a vine found in the jungle. I had some apprehensions before the ceremony because there’s a lot of chatter surrounding it. It changes your life, you can go crazy, it’s incredibly intense… just a lot of rumors. After a preliminary meeting with the shaman and discussions with people who had already participated in ceremonies, I decide to go and form my own opinion. We go to a guy’s place in the countryside, under a Carbet, where we set up the area with cushions, blankets, and mattresses to spend the night. The central fire is lit, and vomit buckets are placed for everyone. We chat casually until the liquid tobacco arrives. First step. We start to feel a bit high, then some time later the rest of the group arrives. There will be about twenty of us for the ceremony, both seasoned participants and newcomers. Rituals, purifications, worship, and then around 11 PM, the Ayahuasca brew arrives, and each person takes a small shot. I’ll take a second one a bit later in the night, and after each drink, I end up vomiting into the bucket (like most people). For my part, I didn’t have a huge experience. I think it was due to my apprehension and stress, but apparently, other newcomers felt the same way during their first time. The night goes on like this, with the shaman purifying people and the sounds of vomiting. Everything went smoothly for everyone; some had intense trips while others felt nothing at all. We share our experiences the next morning and then have breakfast together, mainly consisting of fruits.

The past few weeks have flown by, and to finish on a high note, we’re having a piercing and tattoo night at the hostel with Rodri and Marti (two Argentine volunteers) and two French friends passing through the hostel. We also meet at the bar with all the friends from the house (actually at Eva’s) for the despedida (the goodbye), and at the hostel, we have a pizza afternoon together. I’ve met loads of people from different countries here. From the house: Eva, Maeve, Jules, Enzo, Facu, Manon, Aníbal… From the hostel: Nico, Rodri, Marti, Pao, Jomis, Léonie, Sebastian… Anyway, big hugs to everyone ❤️

Now, the idea is to go on vacation again with Eva in mid-December to head to Piura, Peru, where Gian, a Couchsurfing ambassador, has invited us to spend Christmas. Then, at the end of January/beginning of February, we’ll go to the Amazon and travel down the longest river in the world to reach Brazil and French Guiana! The plan is definitely subject to change at any time.