❧ Before Cuenca was Cuenca it was Pumapungo, and it was a important city in the Incan Empire: many sources maintain the emperor Huayna Cápac was born in this place. Some complete structures remain, yet the astounding engineering feat lies within the mountain itself: look at it, divided in terraces, stones exactly where they were left. The complex makes for a lovely morning visit, and the Banco Central Museum, upstairs, holds an ethnographical collection that explains the vibrant human diversity of this small country. It’s pretty awesome.

❧ Our garden is next to the CIDAP museum, which hosts marvelous handicrafts from all over Latin America: there’s textiles, ceramics, metalwork and woodcarving (and you can take a bit on our brand new cuy-meat hamburgers). A bit further away there’s the Modern Art Museum, notable for holding pieces of great ecuadorian painters and also Biennal winners.

❧ The Tomebamba River divides centre and periphery, but also shapes the city itself, and within its riverbank you’ll find vibrant gathering spots for every taste: restaurants (if we are to recommend you one, it’s ought to be El Jardín), bars, cafes, the state university, numerous pintoresque bridges, the unbelievable Tres de Noviembre trail. Take a sit, grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, let your thoughts flow just like the waters in front of you. That’s exactly how we have survived in our basin-like, mountain-surrounded conditions: let it flow down the stream.