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Friday December 30, 2016
My good wife wanted to go to the mountaintop on the right of Turi this morning so I rushed home from my appointment with the Spanish School, Instituto Cuenca by 11am. In true Latin fashion, we did not get away to Turi until 3pm...
In 2012 I checked out this mountaintop and spoke to the owner who was just beginning to make major changes to make it a major tourist stop. He claimed that he bought 300 meters by 300 meters of the mountaintop for $30,000 in 2010, right when we were there scouting the place out! So there are 2 sites on the Turi mountain that, in hindsight, we should have bought. At the time, the climb up was quite treacherous so I suggested that a funicular would be the thing to get people up and down safely... Guess what they have running now, just in the last 2 months, called the "Turiferico"..!! And it is painfully obvious that it is homemade, built in Ecuador, complete with old bus seats,... but it works smoothly...
You can now climb up many safer concrete stairs for $1 entrance fee, of you can ride the Turiferico for $1.50.
Up above you have one of the "end of the world" swings out over the mountain's edge, some other swings, a bar, a food stand, zip lines, many little swinging walkways, and several huts for views and photos. I managed to stay out of trouble while Christian had to try the zipline.
A few of the photos are taken by Cristina with the Lumix.
We walked down, explored the Turi site a little before catching a cab to Pizza House for supper. I must say that my appetite is surely waning these days, and my new slimmer self is the result of the diet that Cristina has imposed on me.
Again, I must compliment my lovely wife for all she has done, without complaint, since the accident. She has been absolutely incredible.
I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement. Cheers, Al
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NOTE that
you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.
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| The obligatory shot from the Mirador de Turi |
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| The new funicular, just up the road |
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| Starting up the funicular, nice view |
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| Higher and higher, to treetop level |
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| Looking down at the base station |
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| Up yet higher |
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| Another great view |
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| Someone swinging out over the edge |
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| Homemade rig with bus seats up front |
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| and bus seats in back too |
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| The group, at the top |
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| Worth the extra 50c to come up this way |
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| Neat stairway for good photos |
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| Another hardy soul braves the thin air |
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| Cristina and Christian |
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| Always need more than one shot |
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| Ana and Christian |
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| The traveling buddies |
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| Who, me?? |
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| One of the many viewpoints |
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| Taken with Christian's phone |
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| Another less dangerous swing |
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| Love this shot.. |
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| Same shot with Ana |
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| Christian psyching himself up |
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| Great view of Cuenca from up there |
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| Another swing is idle |
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| I wonder if this could be the reason???? |
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| First stage of the zipline |
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| He's done this before |
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| Crossing the 2nd stage |
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| Still crossing |
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| Ok, one more |
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| Landing and moving to the next platform |
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| Nativity scene inside the church |
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| Third stage |
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| All done and coming back on a swinging bridge |
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| Kid on a concrete slide |
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| Posing above the church |
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| Great backdrop, don't you think?? |
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| Including the broken guy |
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| Glad I came to be with my lovely wife |
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| I know that I am a lucky man in many respects |
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| Back down to church level |
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| The church was open |
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| Priest agreed to pose |
