Banos de Cuenca

To mark the first day of Carnival, we were blasted awake multiple times throughout the night by fireworks set off at this, our neighboring church. BOMBAS de Cuenca became our new name for this village.

Our hotel at Banos de Cuenca, a little village with several volcanic hotsprings.

A street altar in a niche in the wall, on the sidewalk across from our hotel.

Downtown Cuenca... a night walk

Defiende el agua!

Street art in Cuenca.

Weaving woman

Inga Pirca village... Mary

Incan Policia

Inga Pirca... the Temple of the Sun

Inga Pirca... the pieces come together

Inga Pirca moon rocks

Inga Pirca

Looking toward the modern day village of Inga Pirca from the ruins.

Inga Pirca... some different perspectives

Inga Pirca... ruins in sight

A building reconstructed as it would have looked at the time it was built. Smooth mud walls and tightly woven roof, with the classic Incan doorway, more narrow at the top than the bottom.

Inga Pirca... the best preserved and northern-most Incan ruins in Ecuador

View across the whole zone to the main structure... the Sun Temple.

Looking out over the approaching valley from the site.

A map of the whole complex, showing the puma shaped layout of the site.

Beauty!

Pre-Incan artifacts found near Inga Pirca

Museum at Inga Pirca

Looking through time. Pre-Incan art.

Pre-Incan wisdom.

Super sweet replica of a traditional dwelling.

Local traditional clothing, still worn today by the people of the Andean highlands.

Inga Pirca... shopping

First night in Cuenca

Getting reorganized at our hotel in Banos de Cuenca.

Cathedral in downtown Cuenca.

Government office in downtown Cuenca.