Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Southern Sierra
Moving south along the Ecuadorian sierras, one notices a world that looks a lot like that of
the North but which feels completely different. Populations are denser in the southern
Andes with fewer indigenous communities inhabiting fewer towns, and the remote wilder-
nesses that flow around them reign. The towering volcanoes become wavy hills and the
words 'tropical' and 'Andean' are no longer separate entities. Few travelers journey to the
Southern sierras and the ones that do tend to never leave.
Of these unforgettable cities Cuenca shines the brightest as Ecuador's most European des-
tination, bearing spellbinding indigenous history and beautiful colonial architecture.
Cuenca was built to replace Cusco as the heart of the Inca Empire but when the Spanish
came along in search of El Dorado, all that was left were ruins and ever since Cuenca's
story has been shrouded in a mist of myth, drama and a golden legend.
Just outside of Cuenca stands Ecuador's most notable Inca ruins,
Ingapirca,
or 'Wall of
The Inca' where a temple to the sun god Inti was built in the 1500s. By their side sit the in-
digenous Cañari ruins which predate the Incan ones and whose people even fought them
valiantly in defense of their territory. The site marks a stop on the lesser-known Ecuadorian
Inca Trail which snakes through the rolling tundra, paper-tree forests and glacial lakes of El
Cajas National Park, Ecuador's best-protected badlands. Wild horses gallop through the no-
torious clouds of Cajas and the country's greatest concentration of llamas graze upon its
hills.
The South's only other national park is Podocarpus, which cascades off the Eastern Andean
slopes and slides into the tropics that hug the Peruvian border. Anyone looking to explore
the reserve's contrasting terrain will find the endemic Ecuadorian Podocarpus tree and
large tracts of primary forest teeming with an astonishing array of species. Anyone looking
to explore Podocarpus can use the charming city of Loja or the laid-back village of Vil-
cabamba as jumping-off points.
About 3 hours south of Cuenca, Loja is Ecuador's acclaimed musical and cultural capital
and hometown to many artistic
Lojanos
who were either born there and became inspired by
the city's natural charm or who studied at one of its lauded art academies. Loja is also
known for its production and general love of coffee and chocolate. With its cobblestone
