Today I went on a Paute, Ecuador day trip from Cuenca. Paute is a canton of Ecuador, located in the Azuay Province. The town of Paute is the capitol of the canton and the population is about  23,000.

According to legend, Huayna Cápac, Incan son of the sun was mesmerized by an indigenous woman by the name Nayade. He called out to her, “PAU”,  she responded “TI” back to him. These terms came together to form the name of the town, Paute.

The Paute River runs beside the town downhill from the downtown area. The Paute River powers one of seven hydro electric plants in Ecuador which is how Ecuador generates 100% of our electricity. In fact we even produce a surplus that we sell to neighboring Columbia and Peru.

There’s a huge linear park that runs beside the river in Paute that looks about as big as the town itself. It kind of reminds me of Paradise Park in Cuenca, very impressive. From what I understand on weekends the park is bustling with activity.

Back in town there’s a plaza where many events are held during the year and off to the side there are several food vendors.

About a block from the plaza is a nice little park in front of a church.

Great place in town to have an almuerzo (lunch) too and for $2.00. I got to have lunch with some locals. Very nice place, highly recommend and Paute is so small you can’t miss it just walking around in the downtown area.

If you’re visiting Cuenca, Ecuador a Paute, Ecuador day trip is hard to beat. The bus fare from the main terminal in Cuenca is $1.00 each way and it’s about a 30 minute bus ride.

Very pretty, and friendly town and I’m looking forward to returning and attending some of the many events and festivals held in Paute throughout the year.