On Wednesday May 7 2025, I went on a day trip to Sisid Anejo, Ingapirca, and Biblian in Ecuador. The trip was organized by my friend Kendel, with his friend Francisco as our main guide.
The day started with coffee and light snacks with my trip mates at Kendel’s apartment. We left on the approximately two hour trip to Sisid Anejo at 9am. Sisid Anejo is an indigenous village in the canton of Cañar. On arrival we were given a drink – a colada made with machica (toasted wheat ground on an ancestral stone).
We then had a tour of the community’s church, which is the second oldest in Ecuador. It’s largely only used on holidays and for ceremonies, but it is remarkably well preserved.
After our tour of the church, we were treated to some indigenous music, played on a drum, some other percussion instruments, and an accordion. Accordions are very popular here – a lot of both traditional and current popular music uses them. And we danced! Well, some of us did anyway. I am a child of my mother, and she never missed a chance to clap, dance, and participate in any way she could. So yeah, Pat, I clapped and danced and had a great time, thinking of you.
Next we made our own machica. They asked for a volunteer to help. Yeah, Pat, I volunteered. Our indigenous guide from Sisid Anejo ground the toasted wheat on a stone, using another stone, and I caught the machica in a container.. Someone asked how old the stones were, and they had been in use by at least her great great grandmother. so no-one really knows for sure. Man did that machica smell good.
Lunch was next. It was a typical Ecuadorian almuerzo: soup, second course, dessert, and juice. but everything was fresh from the community farm and was absolutely delicious. The details – Soup: Pea flour soup with cabbage, potato, and fresh cheese. Second course: Dry barley rice with quinoa, baked chicken, and corn and peas with homemade mayonnaise and lettuce. Drink: Melon juice. Dessert: Sweet pumpkin. There was also a really innovative aji (the hot sauce served with most Ecuadorian meals) made with fresh pumpkin seeds. Five stars, baby. Absolutely wonderful.
After lunch we took the Uillcañan tourist train to Ingapirca. Tourist train it was. It was more like a party bus that was made to look like a train, and it ran on the road, not on tracks. It was great fun though. I was on the top of the train car with some others, dancing to the music, and waving to the locals as we went through the little towns. Everyone of all ages was smiling and waving, and not sarcastically. They really do appreciate that you are coming to their area.
At Ingapirca, we got another local supplementary tour guide. Access to Ingapirca is tightly controlled; you can’t just show up and go in. You need an advance reservation and you must be accompanied by an approved local guide. I like that a lot – it separates out the yahoos, and ensures that the site remains as untouched as possible.
Ingapirca is basically kind of the Ecuadorian Machu Picchu. It is part of the network of sites along the Inca Trail. But Ingapirca predates the Incas – the Cañari were there thousands of years prior to their arrival. You can clearly tell which areas are which: the Cañari used round stones from the river to build, and the Incas used milled square stones. Our guide was very informative as she described the various histories, eras, and areas.
We finished our tour of Ingapirca with our choice of chicha (a fermented drink made from yuca/manioc) or coca tea.
Last stop for the day was Church of the Virgen del Rocio at Biblian. The gothic style church is built into the side of the mountain, so the sanctuary has only three walls. The fourth wall is the mountain itself. Beautiful and inspirational. Quite a few steps to get to the church itself, and then you can optionally take even more steps to visit the fourteen stations of the cross that rise far above the church itself. Of course I went to the very top, high above the dome of the church.
We got back home about 7pm – tired, but the day was so interesting, and I made several new friends. Highly recommended, but remember, except for Biblian, you’ll need to book a tour to duplicate the day.
