INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS, ECUADOR STYLE

Ecuador celebrates three separate independence days.   The 10th of August is one of them and is special to Quito as it was the beginning of their liberation, while Cuenca's big day is the 3rd of November.  My first surprise came when I realized that the 10th of August came and went with no fireworks and nothing was closed.   I learned that like we do in the States, Ecuador moves their holidays so they can have a 3 day weekend.  Sure enough on Friday Cuenca got really empty.  Apparently lots of people go to the coast for their holiday.  We decided to go east to one of my favorite towns, Chordeleg, where their specialty is fine silver jewelry made locally.

First we were going to stop in Gualaceo which is the orchid capital of the world.  They have a really fascinating tour showing the propagation of the orchids.  Alas, as we turned in to the orchid place we saw it was over run with tour buses.  We decided to stop on the way back instead.

In Chordeleg we couldn't believe our eyes - the town was packed with people and there was no parking around the usually peaceful square.  At first we were dismayed but then we noticed that the tourists were at least 95% Ecuadorian!  Apparently not everyone goes to the coast.  There was quite the festive atmosphere and commerce was booming.

It had been 4 years since I was last here and I was amazed at how much more infrastructure was evident in town.  They have built a whole shopping plaza complete with restaurant and tile murals.

When we first came to Chordeleg some 8 years ago the only place to eat was down a dusty side road in the courtyard of a house.  We noticed that the proprietor of this new restaurant was the same guy from the house!

We had live music and really good fried trout.

Here's an example of the fine filigree silver work they do in Chordeleg.

Nancy and I had so much fun shopping and chatting with the shop keepers while Jim and Chuck did their own thing.

After our fun in Chordeleg we headed back to the orchids but alas this time the tour area was closed.  We had to be content with the show room which had an overwhelming amount and variety of orchids for sale.  Chuck found a beautiful huge plant while I settled for this stem of beauties for only $4.50!

We took the scenic route home and stopped by this amazingly old aqueduct along the river.

To get to it we had to go over this really old bridge.

All along the river there were lots of families on the grass having picnics.  Of course we also saw many pigs being roasted along the road.

Today, the final day of the holiday weekend, we went to breakfast downtown and were treated to this gathering of Royal Enfield motorcycles.

Chuck and Jim

Nancy

These are imported to Ecuador from India.

It was an absolutely lovely warm day.

Jim and I walked to Parque Calderón, stopping first at the modern art museum where we loved these stone "Faces of Andian Ethnicities" displayed on an old, old adobe wall.

As we were walking toward the cathedral we noticed there was a huge traffic jam.

Sure enough it was party time downtown with lots of vendors selling everything from hats to art work and the requisite out of tune band playing loudly.

And at Parque Calderón  it was great people watching, as always.

On cell phone with meringues balanced on her head!

My impressions of this Independence Day in Ecuador?  Everyone is out enjoying their country and each other's company.  No big fireworks displays, no "patriotic" clothing or flag waving.  Just good holiday fun.  I'm glad we could be part of it.

Audrey