If we had believed latinbus.com, we would have thought that there was only one bus to Cuenca that left at 7:15 am. However, having checked it out a couple of days before at the terminal, with help from the Chilean couple we met, we knew that there are many buses to Riobamba and from there, many buses to Cuenca.
So, we had breakfast at a civilized pace in our hotel, checked out and took the $1 cab ride back to the bus station. For $1 we weren't carrying our packs the 8 blocks or so. We got to the terminal about 9, thinking that the next bus for Riobamba left at 9:30. However, one was leaving right away so we hopped on. For $2 each we got tickets to Riobamba. It was a pleasant ride. The helper asked if we were going on to Cuenca and we said yes, not knowing why he cared.
Shortly before 11, we arrived at the outskirts of what we assumed was Riobamba. The bus stopped at a stoplight, the helper said, "Cuenca" and motioned for us to follow him. We had assumed we would change buses at a terminal. However we got off, got our packs out from under the bus and the helper said, "Cuenca bus, acqui" and pointed at the ground. In other words, stay here and another bus will come to take you to Cuenca. So we stood there on the street corner, not really knowing where we were, but it was a sunny day and we had lots of time left, so we thought we'd give it an hour and see what happened.
Within 15 minutes, another bus with a Cuenca sticker on the windshield pulled up and we got on. That was the extent of our visit to Riobamba. For another $8 each, we began the 6 hour ride to Cuenca.
The mountain scenery was beautiful on such a bright sunny day. At one point, we could see mist in a valley ahead. We descended through thick fog into the valley for a long time until we reached the town of Alausi. That's the place where the famous "Devil's Nose Train" descends a steep cliff in a series of switchbacks. I had wanted to take that train but was glad that we hadn't. Because of all the fog in the valley, we wouldn't have seen anything anyway.
We were wondering when there'd be a bathroom stop but the helper assured us it was coming. At one point the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere. We didn't know why until we saw a small flood trickling across the road in front of the bus. Apparently the driver was having trouble holding it too. Finally we stopped for lunch at a little diner in the town of Chunchi, sometime around 2:30 pm. None too soon.
Eventually we got to Cuenca about 5 pm. It was a long bus ride but we had really enjoyed the beautiful scenery, except for the hour or two in the foggy valley. For $2 we quickly got a cab to our hotel, the Forum, which is in a renovated old home in the old part of the city, about 2 minutes walk from Parque Calderon, the main plaza. We were so tired we just had a salad and burger in the hotel restaurant and stood outside the door for a few minutes for some fresh air. We'd see Cuenca tomorrow.
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