Edited! The most famous orchid farm in Latin America

First, for mi familia, we are staying at a different hostel than the one we had reservations at, a better one. We are at Confradia del Monje here in Cuenca. It´s part of a monastery. I thought it was no longer a monastery, but part of the building must still be as we heard chanting or singing yesterday evening when we can back from dinner. Either that, or the place is haunted! Our room is quite nice, overlooking the street (which means we did have the ubiquitous car alarm sound in the middle of the night) with a small balcony. I FOUND A COMPUTER THAT READ THE SD CARD! PICTURES!

First, we went to San Bartelom, where the famous guitar makers are. We saw some beautiful guitars, including some made out of armadillo shells. Then, we went to Chordeleg, which is famous for its jewelry making. We saw a jewelry maker at work, putting very small stones into a silver setting, fascinating. We also saw the pottery area, but the potter wasn´t there. Then we went to a famous fruit and vegetable market, seeing all manner of different potatoes, learning the difference between varieties of papaya, and what a tree tomato is. Our next stop was to see ikat weavers at work, creating a pattern from naturally dyed fibers, then using a wood device to weave the patterned threads into material.

Our final stop was at the most famous orchid farm in Latin America. We first saw the orchid seedlings in bottles, where the seeds have germinated. They grow very slowly and spend about 2 years in the bottle before the seedlings are big enough to plant in flats. Another 1 to 3 years and they go into small pots. And the end results, after many years are the most lovely flowers. Orchids, including the "monkey faced" orchid!

Tomorrow, we have a tour of Incapirca, the most complete Incan ruins in Ecuador....