The coca tea is served everywhere in Peru and Bolivia and sometimes in Ecuador and Chile. Also, one can buy the leaves the same way you buy green tea. They claim it´s good for those who experience sickeness due to high altitudes. After all, it´s a stimulant so it does pretty much the same job as the coffee. And it tastes very good with lemon!
Mate de coca
From Cuenca to Macará
This was the last segment of road before exiting Ecuador and the third crossing over the Andes. Very spectacular views. For the first time since our departure (2 months!!!), we found something other than rice at an affordable restaurant. Next, on our way there was Loja, another colonial city (where we pictured the brown church with two towers). Finally we reached Macara (last 3 images), a place so boring and with such bad services that I want to never remember about it!
Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca is another colonial city located in a mountainous region in Southern Ecuador. There is not much I can say about it, but it was OK.
Gasoline prices
At $1.48 per US Gallon (or $0.39 per liter, for the 84 octane unleaded gasoline) this the lowest price we ever found. The 90 octane costs some $1.98 but is nowhere to be found…
The rotary phone
Discontinued in all other countries that we visited before, the rotary phone (with genuine pulse dialing) is still common in Ecuador. Back home, I still own a working machine manufactured in 1959 but I am unable to use it 🙁
