We took the shuttle bus back to Guayaquil yesterday, and spent a sultry night back at Ecuahogar. I don't recommend this place--it is too run down with no apparent effort at maintenance.

We sent Nicki and Phil off to the Guayaquil airport at 5:30 this morning. Rather than call a reputable taxi for us, they sent us out on the street to wave down our own taxi. One of the 20 reasons I don't recommend Ecuahogar in Guayaquil.

We haven't heard from them, so assume they are safely back in Melbourne by now.

Dave and I took the 9:45 Reina del Camina bus to Bahia, arriving at about 3:15pm. We are glad to be home!

Now we start our final preps for leaving for the Galapagos.

Labels: Ecuador, Ecuador Inland

We have spent a couple of days sightseeing around Cuenca. Both Nicki and Dave came down with the 'touristas' so we've passed on some of the more strenuous stuff. We have all been enjoying our 'vacation'.

Dave and I took the 'Cuenca City Tour' on a double-decker bus. It is a 2-hour drive around town past the major sights (mostly churches). The last stop is the church up high on the hill overlooking the city. We didn't get much in the way of pictures, because we took our tour at night.


The next day, while Nicki was hanging out in the hotel with 'stomach issues', Dave and Phil and I hiked out to the Arenal Market. This is a HUGE open-air market in which they sell everything from shoes, to plasticware, to fish, to veggies, and even 'Cuy' (guinea pig). But we never found any handicrafts. They may be there, but we did a 'random walk' through the market for about a half an hour and didn't find them. This market is mostly for locals, not tourists.

On our walk out there, we passed the Flower Market and yet another 'Christmas Parade'.

And of course we visited some churches. There is almost an old spanish-style church on every street corner here. The big one on the square is so big that we had a hard time capturing the whole thing. The white one is the first church in Cuenca, circa late 1500's.

Labels: Ecuador, Ecuador Inland

When we set out to see the Ingapirca ruins from Cuenca, we had 2 or 3 choices. Our friends chose a dedicated tour, for $48 per person. We didn't think that was necessary. We chose the $5 bus ride instead. The price was certainly right, and we got to see how the real Ecuadoreans live.

But after it was all over, Nicki commented "Next time, Mom, lets make sure the time at the site is longer than the bus ride." (5 hour bus ride, 1 1/2 hour there)

We had been told that the bus ride was only 1 hour each way. You might be able to make it in a car in an hour, but in the bus, it took 2 and a half hours, each way. Our bus stopped for anyone on the side of the road who waved it down. By the time we got into the major town of Cañar, there were people standing in the aisle. We also had at least one 5-minute wait for 'road repair'. Plus a stop in each major town at the bus station. And on Saturdays, the bus comes back at 1pm instead of 2pm.

But it turns out that an hour and a half were just about enough time to see what there was to see. It would have been nice to have another hour to browse the local craft vendors tables, and get a bite to eat.

Segundo Shows Us How to Grind Corn
We had a good English-speaking guide, named Segundo. He was well acquainted with the local history and the structures there. He guides for tips, so we gave him $5 for the four of us. Plus we had a couple of other people join our group during the tour.

Ingapirka has ruins from two cultures: The Cañari and the Inca. The Cañari started there in about 800 AD, and the Inca first tried to conquer them, and then intermarried with them, in about 1400 AD. The ruins and the architecture are nothing like the quality and the extensive ruins in Cuzco, Peru. But it was interesting all the same. Certainly worth a day and $11 per person (bus + entry).

The Primary Inca Structure at Ingapirka

More about Ingapirka on Wikipedia

Labels: Ecuador Inland

We had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We shared Christmas eve dinner with the owners of our hotel (Casa Ordonez). It was very nice of them to invite us to eat with them, and quite a homey touch.

We had a great american-style Christmas breakfast (included in the room price) and then went out to walk around town. Most things are closed, but we did get to go into the big cathedral (amazing) and walk along the 'waterfront' (more like a babbling brook). By afternoon some of the shops had opened up and we went gift shopping for a few of Nicki and Phil's friends. Dave also bought me a nice pair of handmade earings for Christmas.

The evening was capped by a nice Christmas dinner at a local restaurant, the Eucalyptus Cafe. It caters to 'gringos' and does a great job at it. They had Christmas music in english (on CD) and then some live local music for an hour. Very nice.

Today we head out for the Inca Pirca ruins nearby. More to follow.

Labels: Ecuador, Ecuador Inland

Well, we arrived OK in Quito, all our luggage intact, with no extra fees or problems with our 'boat stuff'.

But just when we thought we had the Ecuadorean immigration situation figured out, we got another surprise. When we went thru Immigration in Quito, they only gave us 5 days!!

This is the remainder of the original 90 days we got when we entered in February. They permit 90 days per year on tourist visas. Period. Even though when we left, our passports from the previous entry said we had about 60 days left. That was because we entered into Ecuador once when the computers were down and they gave us a new 90 days. But the Immigration lady would not budge, not even to give us a few extra days because of the holiday.

We think we know how to get a longer stay visa--lots of paperwork, running around, and some money. But the problem is that Ecuador celebrates Halloween with a vengence. Monday and Tuesday are holidays (and Tuesday is the end of our 5 days). So we are scrambling to get to Guayaquil this morning to try to get the renewal process started before our time runs out and we get fined $200 per passport, on top of the visa fee.

We changed our flight from Quito to Guayaquil to leave earlier, so we have more time today to scramble around. Too bad we're lugging 200lbs of luggage with us (still trying to figure out what to do with it while we run around town).

Just the fun of being sn international traveler on a slow trip around the world...

Labels: Ecuador, Ecuador Inland

With only 2 days in Quito on this trip, we were having a hard time deciding what to do with our time. The weather was great so we decided to just walk around 'Ciudad Viejo' (old town) and experience Quito on a Sunday afternoon. It was a great decision. We hooked up with a solo Australian lady named Raylee--or rather, she hooked up with us. And took off with map in hand.


The Plaza Grande was totally packed... mostly with Ecuadorians just out enjoying a fine Sunday afternoon. They close down the central area to cars for a few hours, so it's very relaxing to just stroll the streets.

The Tourist Police were also out in force, watching over all the tourists. Downtown Quito can be dicey for unsuspecting tourists... pickpockets and all. Dave and I took the barest minimum--only what we could fit in secure pockets, and one of the things in our pockets were personal cans of pepper spray.

But Raylee had a big camera and backpack, and was warned twice by the police to be careful and carry the backpack in front of her. Fortunately, nothing happened.

The street performers were out in force, too. Musicians, artists, and just plain pan-handlers.



After we'd tired of walking around, we took a cab up to the Teleferico, a cable car to the top of a nearby mountain overlooking Quito.


It tops out at about 13,500 feet... the air is thin and cold and the wind was blowing. But the view was spectacular. We hiked around the paths at the top of the mountain and tried to figure out what we were looking at below us. We could see 3 volcanos in the distance, in different directions. And of course, the whole city of Quito below us.

The last stop was to see a couple of churches... the Basilica, the most recent large church constructed in this century, and the Compania (the Jesuit church). Unfortunately, both were closed on Sunday!

The best part... we managed to find our way back home (to the Secret Garden Hostal). We had a really nice time at happy hour, watching the sunset over Quito, and dinner on their 5th story patio.

Labels: Ecuador, Ecuador Inland