Stairs, Gasp, Stairs, Wheeze, and more Stairs!

A newcomer to Cuenca might be forgiven for cursing the city's many stairways. While much of the city is relatively flat, there's only one way to get to the old center of town, and that's to climb some stairs. A lot of stairs.

And these are not simple flights of stairs, as you can see. These are monster staircases that leave you gasping for breath after the first flight because of the altitude (8300 feet).

After the second flight, a heartfelt thanks goes out to the staircase builders of old for putting landings every so often, where a novice stairclimber can rest and walk slowly back and forth to catch her breath.

By the third and fourth landing, not only is the novice stairclimber out of breath, but thighs are burning and water is desperately needed.

My first ascent of the steps above, the day I arrived in Cuenca, was illuminating, to say the least. Maybe it was just oxygen deprivation, but it seemed to me that a lot of people were stopping on every landing for a breather. So why not me?

Then I noticed that street vendors had their wares laid out on the landings - must be a lot of people stopping, I figured.

Okay, there were some guys who could trip along all the way to the top without stopping. Awe inspiring, to say the least. And my Spanish conversational teacher suggested that taking the stairs two at a time was easier. She actually did that as we went up the stairs together, lightly taking the steps two at a time, with me gasping along behind her.

It is true that one could avoid the stairs altogether by taking a bus or a taxi. And it's also true that coming down the stairs is delightful, with the city spread out below and the Tomebamba river gurgling along.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the day that I can climb one staircase all the way to the top without stopping. Forget about that two-stepping, though.