Ecuadorian Sunset

No, we're not back in Ecuador, but we did have a layover in Quito on our way to Madrid and saw the most beautiful sunset from the plane. We think it's fitting that our last visual of South America is from our first South America experience about 3 months ago. Funny how after only been in a place just one time, there is a sense of knowing and comfort about that place already discovered...even Quito. We suppose that's one reason why we travel. The world becomes more familiar.

Cost: Ecuador for 2-Weeks

We know that everyone spends differently, and a budget can be extremely variable; however, after leaving an area, we want to provide some perspective on the cost associated with staying there for anyone interested in doing a similar trip.  Our budget of $100 - $150/day is for 2 people and does not include the $10,000 round-the-world flights (plus trip insurance) already paid for.  The budget also does not account for the bills we are continuing to pay at home.  Our budget allows for a comfortable, low-to-mid-range lodging in hostels or budget hotels with private bath, meals/drinks, use of public transportation, and cost to do some sightseeing and/or activities.  As foodies, we are not depriving ourselves from eating and drinking whatever and whenever we want to, although we are usually focused on finding local cuisine.  Most of the time, breakfast seems to be included in the cost of lodging, so we are paying for 1-2 meals/day. An article titled, "Set Your Daily Number" by the veteran travel bloggers from Married With Luggage confirms that a daily average is a simple strategy for setting and meeting a budget.  We've got in the habit of taking a few minutes to record our daily expenditure so we can make small adjustments along the way.  

ECUADOR
We spent 15 days total in Ecuador, where on average, $30-50 gets you great lodging with breakfast; a full meal costs less than $5; 25-50 cents for bottled water; a large bottle of beer for $2; laundry service costs $1/kg; and a bus ride is approximately $1/hour.  Expect the cities such as Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca to cost a little more.  We spent 4 nights in Quito, 7 nights in Baños de Agua Santa, and 4 nights in Cuenca.  Here is our breakdown:

LODGING
$35/day.  The average rate in Quito and Cuenca was $60/night, but Baños was only $16/night.

MEALS/GROCERIES
$40/day for 2 full meals per day, including a few more expensive places due to the view or location. We've eaten every meal out because we haven't had a kitchen to cook in.

DRINKS (bottled water, beer, wine, soda)
$11/day...quite inexpensive for us!

TRANSPORTATION
$233 total for taxis and long-haul bus rides.  The 3-hour and $130 private tour to Mindo in a cab killed our budget.  Without this luxury, it would've been more like $8/day.  ($15/day)

PERSONAL CARE ITEMS/SERVICES
$17 on haircut/shave, soap, toothpaste, antibiotic cream, etc.  ($1/day)

SOUVENIRS/POSTCARDS (including postage)
We spent $71 on mostly postage to send the 20 or so, postcards.  ($5/day)  

CLOTHING/LAUNDRY
$54 on buying some clothing items such as a hat and swimwear and laundry service every third day or so. ($3/day)

ATTRACTIONS/ADMISSION
$36 total or $2/day

WIFI/COMPUTER/ATM FEES
$18 on ATM transaction fees - usually an ATM usage surcharge ($5) plus 1% of the withdrawal.  We didn't have to pay for any wifi anywhere.  ($1/day)

TOTAL
Approximately $120/day puts us under budget,  so you can see that Ecuador is perfect for the budget traveler!

Day 51: Bus Trip from Cuenca, Ecuador to Máncora, Peru

The 360 km Ecuador to Peru bus trip was the ride we were dreading because we had read about all the difficulties experienced along this route.  The typical stories included getting on a bus that only took them to the nearest border town, but had to find a taxi to actually take them to the Ecuadorian immigration office (which is 3 km away from the actual border), then had to find a taxi or walk across the border to the Peruvian immigration office (which is also another 3 km away from the actual border in the town of Zarumilla), then had to locate another bus that continued down into Peru.  Also, some have reported getting a bus from Ecuador that takes them across the Peruvian border, but did not stop at the Ecuadorian immigration office to get stamped out, so they had to return to Ecuador.  Not to mention the multiple scam artists who prey on tourists trying to do this border crossing on their own.  It all sounded very complicated so we were not looking forward to this experience.  

The most important point for us to recognize was that no matter how much research and planning we did, each person experienced a different twist or turn.   The best information we found was through the Cuenca expat website called www.GoGo-Gringo.com.  We took their recommendations, but as imagined, our experience did not exactly match what they went through.  Here is the documentation of OUR Cuenca to Máncora trip in hopes that this will add to the body of information available to alleviate some uncertainty for the next soul thinking about making this trip.

Our plan was to leave Cuenca, Ecuador on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012.

Monday, June 18th:  We took a taxi to the main Terminal Terrestre in Cuenca to purchase tickets for our anticipated bus ride to Máncora, Peru.  GoGo-Gringo recommended buying tickets through the Pullman Sucre bus line all the way to Máncora, because this bus was suppose to take us directly to the Ecuadorian immigration; then transfer us to the CIFA bus line at the border town of Huaquillas, Ecuador; which will then take us through the Peruvian immigration and onto our destination.  We saw on the bus schedule that there was a 9 am bus to Máncora that GoGo-Gringo also took, but when we talked to the attendant at the window, we only had 2 choices: 7:15 am or 9 pm bus.  They should really change the posted bus schedule if it's not accurate...but, whatever.  Yet another reason to go a day or two in advance to purchase tickets.  We went with the 7:15 am departure because we certainly did not want to risk the dangers of traveling overnight.  We were given 2 separate tickets.  One from Cuenca to Huaquillas at $7/pp and another from Huaquillas to Máncora at $8/pp.  


Wednesday, June 20th, 0700: To get from the inside of the terminal to the outside where the buses are lined up, it costs 10 cents to go through the turnstile.  Be warned, once you go through the turnstile, there really is no way to get back into the terminal which has the restrooms, food, etc.

0715:  We located the one and only Pullman Sucre bus among about a dozen buses idling, but we started getting worried when the bus door was still closed, there was no bus driver or bus attendant that usually accompanies the ride, and no overt signage that says this bus was headed towards Huaquillas. Miraculously, the bus personnel and passengers showed up at 0720, we all got onboard and the bus pulled away a couple of minutes later.  We had assigned seats on this bus.

0740:  We meandered through Cuenca, stopping a million times to pick up passengers until the bus was full.  We were finally getting used to this process!  We picked up a bunch of people at Centro Comercial El Arenal - a HUGE indoor and outdoor central market of Cuenca.  It looked like an excellent place for sightseeing...next time we're in town.

0800:  We were finally headed out of Cuenca, southwest bound towards Santa Rosa, Machala, and Huaquillas.

0930: This ride was rough at times.  Literally, dirt roads through the steep mountains!  We hypothesized that the bus attendant started playing a video on board (Rambo, First Blood at that!) so that we would be distracted from the sheer vertical drops along our route.

1000: As we started leaving the Andes behind, the landscape changed dramatically to dry, arrid, rocky, brown mountains with a river running through it.  It was very beautiful. 

1045:  We pulled into the very dusty, depressed town of Machala at an actual Pullman Sucre bus station....and to think we were at one point, thinking about spending the night here to break up the 10-hour bus ride.   

1100:  We started seeing HUGE banana groves to the horizon on both sides.  Ecuador is one of the biggest banana exporters in the world, and we witnessed where they all come from.  Wow!

1130:  We briefly stopped in the city of Santa Rosa.  Also, very dusty and run-down.  

1200:  ...then, the city of Arenillas.  Ditto on the conditions of this town...

1230:  We finally made it to the Huaquillas CIFA bus terminal where we were...unexpectedly...dropped off.  It was unexpected because in all our research, we were suppose to pass through the Ecuadorian immigration office BEFORE we got dropped off in Huaquillas!  Arrghhh.  Of course, trying to have this conversation with the bus attendant and CIFA office lady was fruitless.  Great.  We had no idea where the Ecuadorian immigration office was, nor did we know when our CIFA bus towards Máncora was leaving.  In the waiting area, we met 2 backpackers who were headed to Piura - a city 3 hours past Máncora.  They said our bus would not be leaving until 2:30 pm (2 hours later), which was confirmed by 2 other CIFA bus personnel.  By the way, none of the posted schedules said anything about Máncora or 2:30 pm - double "great."  After using the nice restrooms at the bus stop for 20 cents, we tried to make good use of our time, so we headed across the street to grab some lunch.  

1245:  While we were finishing up our lunch (chicken, lentils, rice) Mike saw our backpacker buddies getting onto a bus that just pulled in alongside the street, but not into the actual bus station.  Akiko ran across the street to the bus, confirming that it was headed to Piura (which means it will also go through Máncora), so we quickly paid for our lunch half-eaten, and jumped on this bus.  We probably could've waited for the Máncora-bound bus (assuming it was still on its way at 2:30 pm), but this was even better since we didn't have to kill 2 hours at the bus station.  It was a leap of faith, since the only destination signage on the bus was "Directo."  It didn't say Piura anywhere, but the bus attendant saw our CIFA tickets and told us to get on...so, that was that.  The only other concern at this point was getting to the Ecuadorian immigration office before we headed into Peru.

1300:  Lo and behold, we pulled into a brand new Ecuador immigration complex!  Whew.  All the blogs mentioned a run-down immigration building, so with the new facility, perhaps the bus process also changed recently.  Either way, we were very glad to see that things were working out after all.  We filled out an immigration card and waited in line to get stamped out of Ecuador.  20 minutes later, we were back on the same bus, headed towards Peru.

1330:  The bus drove around a crazy busy market and bridge that spans the river separating Ecuador and Peru.  

1345:  We then arrived at the Peruvian immigration office in Zarumilla where we got off the bus again to get stamped-in to Peru.  Again, 20 minutes later, we were back on the same bus, headed towards Máncora. Things were looking good at this point!

1430:  We rolled into an actual CIFA bus terminal in Tumbes to get the windows washed and for a restroom break. 

1500:  We were pleased that we were passing through all these little coastal towns without stopping.  Perhaps the "Directo" on the bus actually meant something.  We could feel the heat of the desert sun, with our only "air conditioning" being the windows wide open, smelling all the smells that rural Peru had to offer.  We saw lots of farmland and desert, but we were finally rewarded with a view of the ocean!  Yay!

1545:  We bypassed Punta Sol, knowing Máncora was the next town.

1600:  It had been a really long day, so when we had to go through a Cargo/Baggage Inspection station in the middle of nowhere, we were not happy.  They actually made us get off of the bus and go through customs.

1620:  20 minutes later, we confirmed with the bus attendant that we wanted off in Máncora and we were finally (hopefully) headed there.  

1630:  The bus attendant flagged us to get ready to jump off the bus as we approach Máncora, and with barely a stop, we jumped off the bus to an assault of mototaxi drivers and salespeople for all the various hotels and tourist services.  

1630:  Although we got off in Máncora, we still had another 15 km to our final destination of Los Organos beach.  After walking through Máncora for a few minutes to gain our bearings, we didn't see any taxis so we paid 30 soles (~$10, too much probably but we didn't care at this point!) for a mototaxi to take us to our lodging.  Apparently, there are no official taxis; however, many people ride-share for approximately 2.50 soles/pp if the car has 5 passengers; or, you can hire the whole car for 12 soles.  The mototaxi was okay, but obviously took longer to get to Los Organos than a car; not to mention we literally thought we would have to get out and push this thing over a few hills that it was sputtering hard to overcome.  

1700:  We finally arrived at our oasis in Los Organos, 10 hours later.

So, this was yet another adventure that overall, went as well as we could expect.  Not knowing what to expect next all along the way is mentally exhausting, but we remained positive the whole trip. We won't go out on a limb and say we enjoyed it, but we gained more confidence and we would do it all over again.  

Eatin' and Drinkin' in Cuenca, Ecuador

We arrived on a Saturday in Cuenca, famished from not eating anything on the 8-hour bus ride from Baños de Agua Santa. Cuenca did not disappoint. Food and drinks everywhere! Here is a few of our eatin' and drinkin' adventures. We did eat our share of street food, but we also frequented a few expat-owned joints, not necessarily because we were craving American or International foods, but their places were very inviting and cozy...a hang-out-able place, versus the many local eat-and-run type establishments.

[Akiko with a fried empanada-like pastry stuffed with cheese.]


[Mike purchased some candy and chocolate from one of the MANY vendors selling similar candies, pastries, chocolates, etc.]


[Kebabs and grilled corn! What's not to love?]


[Ecuadorian tamales vendor.]


[Fresh coconut juice.]


[Traditional Cuencan fish stew with rice at Raymipampa. Reminded us of curry without the coconut milk.]


[Here for the relaxing patio at Coffee Tree. Also had a refreshing nicoise-like salad.]


[Eucalyptus, voted #1 restaurant, owned by an expat Brit. He knows what he's doing. Great ambience, full bar, dancing, and an international menu.]


[Inca Lounge and Bistro, a triple decker place overlooking Río Tomebamba, and voted best burgers in town. They were pretty good! Owner was super welcoming, had a large group of people there to watch England play a fútbol game, and was getting ready to tap some kegs of microbrews.]


[Lovely dinner and a bottle of wine at Zöe. Apparently, a nice place but we were the only ones there on a Monday night. Fine by us!]


[But, our FAVORITE meal was at Mangiare Bene, an Italian restaurant right in the lobby of our hostel! Fresh pasta with a choice of sauces.

Week 7: Cuenca, American Expats' Paradise

Cuenca, Cuenca, Cuenca. Where to begin. Perhaps we should begin with the fact that we've been reading about this place for a long time, and how it is International Living's number one rated place to retire overseas for Americans. Perhaps we should let you know how the climate is almost perfect year-round; that there are no pesky bugs; there are 4 beautiful rivers that run through the city; most of the city is walkable; the Andes surround us on all sides; there are hot spring baths nearby; a major airport just a few kilometers away; and a very cosmopolitan and international city full of fashionable, professional people. The entire historic area that we are staying in is a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site due to the abundance of colonial buildings, churches, and plazas. It is very picturesque.

As tourists, this is a very tourist friendly town with plenty of sites, history, excursions, excellent restaurants, and hotels. For an expat residing in Cuenca, it is inexpensive with a great expat support system, and access to all the modern amenities and culture that any large city has to offer. No wonder we've met plenty of Americans who are living here, or who have been here multiple times to "check it out", and possibly move here for good. Apparently, $500/month rent can get you a 2000+ sq. ft. house near the center of town. If the average Ecuadorian income is $250-$350/month as we've been told, you would be living a very comfortable life on a typical American retiree's budget.

So, yet again, we find ourselves falling in love with a place and we don't want to leave. We gave Baños de Agua Santa an 8 (out of 10) on the "We can live here" scale. Cuenca is about the same. We need to get the heck out of Ecuador before we end up staying here! Oh, right...we ARE leaving Ecuador tomorrow for Peru...whew.

But, before we leave Cuenca, here's a few photos that capture the city.

There are LOTS of churches, every which way we look. [The domes of Catedral Nueva]


Interesting artwork on old buildings...


Lush plazas and parks to relax in.



Clear rivers that run through the city. [This is the main one, Río Tomebamba, where people have built communities around it since the ancient Incan times.]


Museo del Banco Central with an informative collection describing the various (and very different) regions of Ecuador (coast, sierras - Andes, and Amazons).



An Incan archeological site right in the heart of Cuenca by Río Tomebamba called Pumapungo - a former administrative and religious center of the Incan town of Tomebamba.


...and of course, the food. Viee the post on Cuenca Eatin' and Drinkin' for more.


Well, hasta luego, Cuenca! Until we meet again...

View the entire Ecuador Photo Album.

Our Cuenca "Home": Hostal Posada del Angel

Hostal Posada del Angel is located in the historic district of Cuenca (corner of Simon Bolivar and Estevez de Toral) about 6 blocks west from the main plaza. We found the place had good reviews through TripAdvisor, Hostel World, and Hostels.com; and we agree it is a comfortable place with nice large rooms in a charmingly, historic building. It is costing us $56/night for 2 people in a double-room with private bath. It is a HUGE room with plenty of room for a family. The cost comes with breakfast and the usual hotel amenities such as towels, hot water, cleaning service, laundry service, and free Wifi is available everywhere on the property.

It is an upgrade from last week's hostel stay in Baños, which seemed like a dormitory-setting, but it was exactly what we expected for a $16/night place, with plenty of budget left over to spend on other activities, eating and drinking.

Day 47: Bus Trip from Baños de Agua Santa via Ríobamba to Cuenca, Ecuador

We intended for this blog to be an update for our friends and family so y'all know we're alive and kickin'; but this time, we are writing in detail, the bus trip from Baños to Cuenca, as it is a common backpacker route.  We have appreciated the invaluable details provided by other blogs to help us prepare for these trips, so we want to pay-it-forward.  Our apologies in advance to our friends/family for the overkill, and here's to any future bus traveler from Baños to Cuenca.  

Our plan was to leave Baños de Agua Santa on Saturday, June 16th.

Friday morning: We walked to the main bus terminal in Baños and purchased our bus tickets to Cuenca.  It is advisable to buy tickets a day in advance, as the buses may be full.  There is only one ticketing window for Ríobamba-Cuenca operated by Transporte Ríobamba (orange bus), which made it easy.  We selected the 0715 bus departure.  The next ones were at 1100 and 1700, daily (including weekends).  We paid $18 ($9/pp) for a ticket to Cuenca with a bus transfer in Ríobamba (there is no direct bus).  We were assured that the bus operator on board would assist us with finding the correct transfer bus.

Saturday morning, 0700:  We arrived at the bus station, but our bus had not yet arrived, so we sat on the benches and waited.  The office lady told us that the bus would pull into its designated parking spot, and we should look for the orange bus with Ríobamba written all over it.  Okay, easy enough.  

0720: We still hadn't seen the 0715 bus pull into its spot at the bus station, when the Transportes office lady - while talking very fast on a cell phone - beckoned us to follow her across the street (Amazones Avenue) to a bus idling on the side of the road.  This bus was not orange, nor did it say Ríobamba on it, but she told us to get on this bus!  Well, we figured she had more information than we did, so we trusted her lead and got on this bus.  Due to our (one and only) positive bus experience from Quito, we expected another nice express bus.  This was not a nice bus.  It reeked of body odor, a little dirty, no bathroom, and hardly any legroom (where we were hoping to keep our backpacks stowed).  However, there were no chickens or dogs onboard or people piled on top of you - we should be thankful.  Not what we expected but tolerable for the next 1.5 hour bus ride to Ríobamba.  

0730: The bus ended up driving around the corner and pulls into its parking spot after all, for about a minute, where lots of people piled on.  Perhaps the lady wanted us to get seats before the crowd...who knows.  

0735: Yay!  We left the bus station, vowing not to drink anything so that we don't have to experience a restroom need.

0745:  We first headed west towards Ambato, then south toward Ríobamba.  As we looked back, we FINALLY saw Volcano Tungurahua, puffing away!

0830:  We started wondering how long we can keep our backpacks on our lap before our legs go numb.  We don't want to test out the theory, but most travel sites advise to never part from your belongings, including while on the bus, in a taxi, etc.  Nobody looked suspicious enough to rob our stuff, but there is a lot of on/off foot traffic with the bus stopping every few minutes (it seems) for the locals.  Best to keep our belongings close.

0845: The view of snow capped Mount Chimborazo was also stunning.

0910: We arrived in Ríobamba as the bus pulled into a legitimate bus terminal.  Sure enough, the bus operator told us to follow him, while he negotiated a deal with the bus operator going to Cuenca.  We could see that he paid the other guy $10 ($5/pp), and told us to get on the blue Cooperativa Transporte Patria bus.  We got on board and found a couple of seats, when another bus operator gave us a new ticket from Ríobamba to Cuenca and started talking frantically to us in Spanish.  Hmmmm.  Come to find out we had assigned seats on this much nicer bus, so we left our self-appointed seats for our assigned...and he looked much happier.  I figured I should go to the restroom while I had a chance, so I found one at the far end of the bus terminal, paid the attendant 10 cents, and did my business.  There's was no running water so the attendant flushed the toilet with a bucket of water after me, and scooped another bucket of water to wash my hands.  Not sure where she's getting the buckets of water but it was crystal clear.

0930: This bus was much nicer.  I think it had a restroom in the back, as well as more legroom so that we could put our backpacks on the floor in front of us.   The Cuenca bus started on the road.  A sign on the bus said 'no food' on board, and started wondering if indeed we would not have anything to eat until we got to Cuenca after 3pm.  We were counting on the food vendors that came on board like they did during our Quito to Baños bus trip, but we hadn't seen any thus far.

0935: This also happened on our trip from Quito to Baños.  People started playing their own music out loud.  Viewing the scenery, it feels like we should've been listening to traditional Andean music, but no.  Latin discoteque music with some Lady Gaga sprinkled in. "Mr. Saxobeat" was very popular also.  Not to mention how it was competing with the Latin Top 40 music streaming through the bus speakers...

1130:  Apparently, while I dozed off, I missed some amazing scenery; but it helped to pass the time because it was already 1130 and the bus was making a pit stop in Alausí.  Due to the huge Andes mountains, buses are the main public transportation system in Ecuador instead of trains.  Since these buses pass through so many villages, it also serves as a cargo bus.  We saw a lot of cargo being dropped off at a Transporte outpost station in Alausí.  This outpost also had a restroom.  The bus operator was trying to tell us that there was a bathroom, "baños, baños, baños."  We were like, "no, Cuenca!" (since we just came from Baños, the town).  It was a classic gringo moment.  

1230: We continued to climb, higher and higher, until we were riding in the clouds, literally.  The clouds were so thick, it was difficult to see anything...hoping the bus driver knew how to stay on the road.

1330: We were starting to get antsy with only an hour or so left of our trip.  We still hadn't eaten or had anything to drink...might as well wait until we got to Cuenca.  We stopped briefly in El Tambo, which looked like a bustling town with a nice plaza.


1345: We dropped people off at Cañar also.

1415:  We think the town was Biblian.  The bus driver stopped the bus for about 10 minutes next to a food stand while people piled off to buy lunch, and bring it on board to eat!  They really need to take the 'no food' sign down.  We probably would've gotten off and grabbed something, too, but had no idea how long we were stopped for.  In the past, we've seen people almost get left behind as the bus just pulled away.

1430: Azogues was right before Cuenca.  There is an actual bus terminal there where we dropped more people off.

1500: Finally, we arrived at the Terminal Terreste in Cuenca!  It is a nice bus station with restaurants and many taxis waiting to take you somewhere.  We decided to investigate our potential bus route to Peru before hopping in a taxi and paying the $3 to get to our hostel in historic Cuenca by 1530.  

That makes Saturday an 8.5 hour day, which went well without any major challenges.  The bus operators were very helpful, the long-haul bus was really nice and clean, and the drive through the Andes was incredible!

Stay tuned for our next bus ride to Máncora, Peru, where we will have the added adventure of a border crossing.  

-A