Cuenca Cuisine: Andean Corn, Pork & Colonial Flavours
Cuenca's cuisine is the most sophisticated expression of Andean highland cooking — the mote (dried corn), the cuy (guinea pig), and the hornado (whole roasted pig) are prepared with a refinement that reflects the city's history as the cultural capital of the Ecuadorian sierra
Cuenca's Flower Market: Where the Andes Bloom
The Plaza de las Flores in Cuenca — where indigenous Cañari women in traditional dress sell an overwhelming abundance of Andean flowers — is one of South America's most beautiful markets; Ecuador is the world's third-largest flower exporter
Cuenca: Ecuador's Most Beautiful Colonial City
Cuenca — a UNESCO World Heritage city at 2,550m in the southern Andes — is widely considered Ecuador's most beautiful city; the twin cathedrals on the main plaza, the cobblestone streets, and the Tomebamba River gorge create a colonial landscape of extraordinary harmony
Cuenca's Arts Scene: Ecuador's Cultural Capital
Cuenca is Ecuador's cultural capital — the city has more museums, galleries, and cultural institutions per capita than any other Ecuadorian city; the Biennial of Cuenca and the active contemporary art scene coexist with the colonial heritage
Parque Nacional Cajas: A Thousand Glacial Lakes
The Parque Nacional Cajas — 30 km from Cuenca — is one of the world's most spectacular páramo landscapes; 235 glacial lakes (lagunas) in a treeless high-altitude grassland at 3,000-4,500m, crossed by an ancient Inca road
Pumapungo: Cuenca's Inca Heritage
Pumapungo — the ruins of Tomebamba, the Inca city built by Huayna Cápac — sits at the eastern edge of Cuenca's historic centre; the terraces, the archaeological museum, and the living garden of medicinal plants preserve Ecuador's most important Inca site
Panama Hat: Ecuador's Greatest Craft Secret
The Panama hat — actually Ecuadorian, woven from toquilla straw in Cuenca and the coastal town of Montecristi — is one of the world's great craft traditions; UNESCO inscribed the weaving knowledge on its Intangible Heritage list in 2012
Cuenca's Cloud Forest: Orchids & Hummingbirds
The cloud forests surrounding Cuenca — particularly in the Podocarpus National Park to the south — have extraordinary orchid and hummingbird diversity; Ecuador has more orchid species than any country on Earth