Hola Crellston,

So glad you are enjoying this year's SA adventure...and letting us readers enjoy it with you.

I agree with you that the surrounding countryside near Otavalo is truly a highlight for any visit there...but, as a market enthusiast, I do have to tell you that whatever I bought in that Market (as the one in Guate)have been real treasures, once you get them home and out of the area of glut (on the market...:)

Marnie, I hope I did not seem unduly negative on the artesania market, we found the quality of the goods on offer to be really excellent, unfortunately, travelling light and for a long time, the opportunities to buy stuff are necessarily limited, as it was, i had to restrain my wife from buying a handkinitted sweater she fell in love with! What I did find a little off putting was when we walked back to the bus station though the side streets we passed dozens of wholesalers stocking a lot of the stuff we saw in the market stalls. We are off to Saquisilli market this week and will see how that one compares.

Rivet, we do enjoy sampling the truly local cuisine in markets etc. I tend to throw caution to the wind when travelling on the basis that I usually get a stomach bug anyway so I might as well be adventurous. As an aside, the sickness I ever got was in a 5 * hotel in Hue, Vietnam where I was sick for days after eating a dodgy shrimp! Having said that, so far I have been absolutely fine in Ecuador ( touch wood!)

Many thanks for the info on Banos hotels, this is most opportune as we are going down that way next week. I had just finished sourcing accomodation for Latacunga, the Quilatoa loop and Cotopaxi and was just about to start on Banos, so those suggestions are really helpful.

I am really enjoying your trip reports. Can't wait until we go to Ecuador in February (and btw, that pork lunch sounds really really good!).

Crellston, how did your Spanish classes go?

It's tempting to return to Ecuador to study ...

Hi rivet, our Spanish lessons went OK thanks, but not without one or two minor problems. Here is a link to my post on Trip Advisor which provides some detail on our search for a school:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop..._Province.html

There are lots of schools in Quito choosing one is difficult as, even if you do ask clear and concise questions, e.g. What qualifications do your teachers have? It is unlikely you will get anything like a straight answer!
Having studied Thai for 2 years in the formal environment of evening classes at a university language school, I found the teacup hong methods a bit haphazard. In total we studied for around 40 hours and I felt my Spanish improved considerably although for the last few lesson I asked my teacher to concentrate on " travellers spanish" so I could get my in most situations more easily and this seems to have worked for me. My wife tended to spend more time on grammar and vocabulary ( and is now correcting me constantly!)

A lot of the schools seem to be linked to tour operators and so seemed determined to sell tours combined with lessons, not something that we were interested in, but may be attractive to some. Rates are cheap at $6-8 per hour. On balance, our Spanish skills have improved considerably and I think we will probably continue with some more lessons, probably when we get to Bolivia.

Susan, glad you are enjoying my reports, we move on this week from Quito so hopefully my posts will become more varied over the coming months! I am sure you will love Ecuador, we certainly do. The people here are so friendly and there is so much to see in a relatively compact country, choosing where to go is not easy! Good luck with planning your Feb trip.

Thanks Crellston. We'll have 18 nights, and we don't like to be on the go all the time. I'm already thinking we'll have to go back sometime!

Following your reports crellston. Do you have a blog up anywhere yet?

I hate those Spanish verb tenses!

Mlgb -I have just started uploading this trip to our blog and will post the link here in the next few days (having a few issues uploading photos from an iPad!)

Our blog is now up and running at

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...ai/6/tpod.html

Just a couple of entries at the moment but more to follow in the next few days. The link is also on my profile page

Very funny posting on your train excursion!

Crell , you are my Travel hero ;) following along with envy! Loving the updates.

One month was enough in Quito. We did enjoy the place but it is not the greatest capital city we have visited and the time had come to move south.

We decided to catch the bus down to Latacunga, a mid sized provincial city and the main jumping off point for Cotapaxi, the highest active volcano in the world and the Quilotoa loop, a little visited part of Ecuador, famous for its beautiful mountain scenery, its hiking and Laguna Quilotoa, a lake in an extinct volcano crater some 3900m above sea level.

Bus travel in Ecuador is amazingly cheap and and works out at around $1 an hour and sure enough after $1.50 and an hour and a half we arrive in Latacunga. During that time around 20 vendors have gotten on the bus to sell there wares. Everything from one guy selling pencils ( it took him 15 mins of continuous sales chat) to someone selling miracle cures for prostrate troubles and period pains!!. However, what really did appeal was the lady that got on to sell her chicken wings and papas fritas which smelled and looked delicious. Unfortunately we had just eaten- maybe next time?

We had heard great things about the Thursday market in Saquisilli, a small town nearby, so we jump on a local bus and head there early in the morning to catch the animal market before it winds up at 9.00am.

The market is spread over seven Plazas throughout the town and we make it to three of them all selling mountains of vegetables from around the Sierra as well as fruit, I presume from the coast. I have never seen so many bananas in one place! It is quite a walk to the edge of town where the animal market is still in operation with deals still being struck on pigs, cattle, llamas, poultry, sheep. etc. it is towards the end of the market so we see lots of farmers struggling to persuade their purchases on to their trucks for whatever fate awaits them. Walking through the middle of the market we manage to avoid most of the chaos that is going on, apart from getting tangled up with one lady's piglets on ropes and almost getting in the way of a clearly horny bull who spies an attractive cow being led in front of him!

Having had our fill of markets for a while we grab a snack of corn fritters stuffed with local cheese form one of the market stalls before heading back to Latacunga to get sorted for our trip to Quilotoa.

THE QUILOTOA LOOP

Next morning we set off bright and early to find our bus for Quilotoa. At the bus station we are immediately accosted by one of the bus jockeys who sells us tickets for a somewhat less than pristine bus which is already almost full, but we find a couple of seats and 15 mins later we are off on the 2 hour journey into the mountains. On the way out of Latacunga we stop to pick up more passengers, and more, and more! Eventually there are around 20-30 people standing in the aisle most carrying sacks of vegetables or babies. The livestock, apart from one crying kitten in a bag, is stored under the bus.

Only when the bus is , absolute full does the vendor get on to sell some a sort of herbal Viagra. Thankfully his, very loud, sales patter only lasts for 20 mins but he does a roaring trade with many men and even more women buying his wares!

Lucky to have seats for the 2 hour ride, I still get crushed by the people standing next to me as we wind around the mountain roads and they take it in turns to try and sit on my head! I could take the 25 yr old woman leaning on me for a a few kms but when she is replace by the 80 yr old man in a poncho which had not been washed since he bought it, almost certainly in his twenties, it was almost too much to bear. I realise now why Carolyn always seems to prefer the window seat?

Probably our worst bus journey to date but our reward is some truly spectacular scenery as we approach Quilotoa. The village itself is not attractive concrete block buildings and one of the most windswept and dusty places we have ever visited. There numerous hostals in town some are pretty grim but we find Hostal Chukiwara, one of the better looking ones and the couple running it seem really nice so we check in, dump our bags and go off in search of the lake. It turns out that the Hostal is virtually on the edge of the crater so we only have to walk 20 m or so and we are there. The view is just beautiful, certainly ranking in the top ten most impressive we have ever seen. The crater is an almost perfect circle and the lake, Around 400m below changes colour from black to blue to green constantly as the clouds move across the sky. We walk around a small part of the crater ( the whole crater takes around four hours to circumnavigate) and walk part of the track we will take tomorrow when we walk the 10 kms to Chughilan.
The wind is now incredibly strong and there is a sheer drop next to the path into the crater so I guess we will just see what the weather holds for us in the morning.

After over dinner in the hostal (a bargain at $15 per person, dinner, bed and breakfast) we get an early night and ask the guy on duty to light our wood burning stove which he does. 10 minutes later it has gone out so Carolyn returns to the restaurant to ask him to relight it. He is watching the football and is clearly reluctant to move, in fact he completely ignores her (not a good move!), persistence pays off and he returns to our room. There are only a few embers still glowing in the stove so he decides on to employ radical action and stuffs some more cardboard into the fire, lights it, and then places a plastic bottle of what looks like paraffin on top, shuts the door and then crouches down in the corner of the room for a few seconds, clearly decides that his job is done and runs out of the room! A few seconds later there is a big whoosh as the paraffin ignites. Job done! Not sure my father in law, a retired fire station chief, would have approved and for a few seconds, we were wondering which window we would be jumping from!

The wind just gets stronger and stronger roaring around us all night but at least the relighted fire does the job and warms up the room nicely.

Morning comes and I get up to watch dawn rise over the crater. The wind is still blowing and it is difficult to stand up on the ridge and I do wonder whether it is sensible to make the hike to Chughilan as the first 2 kms is right along the ridge with a very steep drop down to the lake!

We have breakfast and decide to go for it. we meet up with Tara, and Aussie backpacker who joins us and the three of us set off armed with a line drawn map of the route (the local guides, keen for business have ripped up most of the direction signs along the way!

Despite the wind we make good headway and once we drop down from the crater edge the wind all but disappears. The track dwindles to nothing so we have to improvise and sure enough, get lost fairly quickly. We come across a couple of 8 year olds looking after some sheep and ask then for directions. They point to a "path", which is invisible to our gringo eyes and incredibly steep. We take them at there word and set off and, sure enough there is a path which takes us back onto the ridge and the proper track.

The three of us walk along admiring the incredible views until we reach what can only be described as a beach. Why or how it got there I really don't know but we quickly move on as the wind is still gale force and is whipping up a sandstorm. We begging to head down on the other side of the volcano through less inhospitable countryside, more like farmland down some very steep slopes to a small village consisting of some concrete block houses, a school and a soccer field. By this time we are still only a third of the way but could really do with some food so we sit on a bench at the side of the football field to eat some fruit, only to be enveloped in another dust storm.

Moving ever down the mountains we eventually reach the halfway point and are in sight of the massive canyon which separates us from our destination of Chughilan. We now have to descend to the bottom of the gorge and up the other side. In total we descent around 1000 metres to the bottom of the gorge and 700 m up the other side!! By now all three of us are really tired and praying for a camionetta to come along and whisk us away to our destination. Of course it doesn't, so we continue on down into the canyon, mostly on our feet but occasionally on our backsides, much to the amusement of some Kichwa people we meet along the way. The men all tell me how lucky I am to have two women!!

Eventually we do reach the bottom of the canyon and cross over the piddling little river before ascending the 700 metres and three kilometres to our hostal for the night. I won't describe the rest of the ascent - just too painful to recall! We arrive at the hostal all desperate for some food, a cold beer and a hot shower. The food was crap, the shower was cold but at least the beer was cold. My priorities were met but somehow the girls didn't seem to happy!

I would like to say that we slept the sleep of the exhausted that night but unfortunately, a group of partying US college students had other ideas at least until the beer ran out in the early hours.

This hike is very hard at times, but all things considered, the spectacular views, the amazing Quilotoa crater lake, the spectacular scenery and the wonderful people we met along the way made this one of the best hikes we have ever done. Quilotoa should be on everyone's list when visiting Ecuador.

Smeagol, "travel hero" I have been called many things in my time but that is a new one!!

Rivet, many thanks for the Baños recommendations. We are currently staying at La Chimenea and are loving it. Really good vfm and well run. Also popped into Casa Hood for a bite to eat another good rec.

Wow, what a trek! I somehow have a feeling that my knees might not be able to handle it.

I would be crying at the bottom of the canyon and demanding a porter to carry me back up!

Look forward to the photos when you are back on the internet.

Sounds like the lake should be on my must visit list, but definitely not the hike!

Believe me, if I could have found a porter at the bottom, he would have been considerably richer by now! Thursdaysd, I would definitely put Quilotoa lake on the list but only include the hike if you have masochistic tendencies - after 4 days my legs have finally recovered!

"Look forward to the photos when you are back on the internet." - sadly that is not going to happen. Despite our eternal vigilance and paranoia, On the bus s from Amabato to Banos ( or at one of the bus stations) my wife got pickpocketed and lost both the camera and some cash. No idea how it happened as we didn't notice a thing. Be warned these guys are experts!

Both the. camera and the cash can be replaced but what are irreplaceable are the photo we took on the hike and in Saquisilli market. Fortunately I had backed up all previous photos to the cloud.

My wife is trying to source some photos of the route from the web just to give a flavour of the scenery etc. but not really the same!

That is tragic, crellston. As you said, those guys are good and it is easy to get distracted.

However, "The best pictures are always in your mind", as a birding guide once told me.

Sorry about your photos. Those guys are indeed pros. I'm enjoying following along. Thanks.

Thanks for your commiserations all. In the words of Forrest Gump "sh** happens" a police report was made, a new camera acquired and on we go...

Baños is a small town nestled in a beautiful valley right next to an extremely active volcano. Last time it erupted was in 2006, when the town had to be evacuated. Lately, it has been rumbling away every few months and the last time fire and smoke was spotted was 4 weeks ago. Hopefully it will keep reasonably quiet for the next 4 days! One of the first things we do after visiting he police commissioner, is to wander around and exhibition of paintings of the last volcano activity by the local school children. The pictures are quite something and we would have been tempted to buy one had they been for sale.

Baños is a quiet enough place most of the time but does get very busy at weekends when both foreign and domestic tourists flood the place mainly to take extended soaks in the hot springs and baths for which the town is famous (Baños is Spanish for bath). We are here midweek so it is relatively quiet.

Still aching a bit from our exertions around Quilotoa we make maximum use of the baths and get up at dawn each day to join the locals in the baths in the early morning mist and drizzle. It is quite cold in the mornings but the baths range in temperature from 28c to 40c. The water is a muddy brown colour due to the impressive list of minerals it contains which allegedly cure just about every ailment under the sun. Not too sure about the validity of these claims but an hour or so soaking in the waters does ease our stiff muscles considerably. 15 mins or so is about as much as we can take at a time in the hot pools so we cool off intermittently with a dip in the icy cold pool or by standing under on of the pipes spurting out cold water directly from the mountain. At $2 a head, incredible value and we could really get used to this!

Baños is a great place just to wander around and there are some really good places to eat around, serving everything from Ecuadorian to Mexican, the inevitable Italian and Chifas to hamburgers. In fact one of the best hamburgers I have ever eaten is here from a small shop front stall just off the main plaza, called Hickory Hamburguesa. The one thing we can't seem to find is the Cuy Asado, or roasted guinea pig for which Baños is renowned. Maybe we will have to wait until Peru?

One evening we have drinks with a couple of Canadians we had met up in Quilotoa who were raving about a bike ride they had just done, so the next day we hire a couple of mountain bikes from one of the ubiquitous bike shops around town and set of 25kms down the valley to Rio Verde towards the jungle town of Puyo on the edge of the Amazon basin.

The trip is virtually all downhill on tarmac roads and thankfully, the drivers here are a lot more considerate than the homicidal maniacs that occupy the streets of Quito. We navigate one long dark tunnel through the mountain and after that, there are diversions for cyclists around the outside which take us by (and sometimes through!) some really beautiful waterfalls along the way. Adventure travel is big business around here so there are lots of place along the way to try zip lining, canyoning etc. (not great with heights so I will give it a miss for now but it is on the bucket list!). We get up a fair speed going downhill certainly keeping pace with the buses but at times, the wind is so strong we have to start pedalling just to keep momentum even downhill.

Eventually we arrive in Rio Verde, not the picturesque town we had been led to believe, indeed, we were not sure at first that we had found the right place. We head off down a dusty side road in search of the waterfall for which the village is famous but we can't find it and are about to turn back when we ask a small boy who tells us that it is the right place and so we carry on

We eventually find the entrance to the 1 km trail to the falls, pay the lady her $1 and set off through the forest seeing loads of orchids, humming birds along the way. After crossing a rickety old cable bridge which swings around from side to side above the gorge we get to the falls which are indeed spectacular and well worth the trip. Climbing down, we get right behind the falls which must be at least 100m high. After staying around fro a while to admire the falls we head back up the way we came and do consider carrying on to the next village or beyond but, after chatting to an Ecuadorian guide leading a small group he tells us that this is the last point we will be able to get a camionetta back to Baños until Puyo which is another 40kms on. Not relishing the thought of a 25kms uphill bike ride back, we load the bikes into the back of the truck and head back. Later that evening we bump into a couple of Norwegian girls we met on the bike ride who tell us that they went all the way to Puyo, 65kms and arrived just as it was getting dark and starting to rain. Luckily they managed o get a lift back.

All things considered we like Baños a lot. O.K. it is a bit touristy with some 400 hostals in such a small town but It is quiet during the week and seems very safe. But where are the guinea pigs?? Heading off to the station to jump on a bus to our next destination of Riobamba we find out as we pass by half a dozen restaurants who have all put BBQs outside and are busy roasting away for what is obviously a weekend only treat. Sadly, we have just eaten breakfast so the Cuy will have to wait for a while. I do stop and ask the price and it is very expensive for Ecuador at $4 for one eighth of a guinea pig!

Just in case anyone is interested in mountain biking in Ecuador here is the website fro Biking Spirit

http://bikingspirit.com/2013/index.php/en/

crellston, we only saw the guinea pigs roasting on the weekends also! we too were surprised at the high price for bbq rodent. Better choices elsewhere for dinners in Banos.

One question: was it chilly in the evenings and mornings. We were in Banos in Sept and the temperature really dipped.

Looking forward to your report on Riobamba - when we were in there, Riobamba was covered in ash from the lastest eruption of Tungurahua so we didn't travel there

Rivet, thanks once again for your suggestions re Baños which we followed and stayed al Hostal Chimenea and loved it. We had booked in to Magic Stone but the wifi was hopeless so we moved on and spent 4 nights there. Great location close to the thermal baths and the town, great staff also.

We also paid a couple of visits to Cafe Hood a great place to meet people - we bumped into two sets of friends we had met elsewhere in Ecuador so a great place to meet people.

The weather in Baños had just changed and move into their wet season. It wasn't too bad though. We had a couple of sunny days and a couple of grey, drizzly days but it didn't get too cold at night - no need for a fleece.

Really liked Riobamba and will post very shortly

We had heard conflicting reports of Riobamba, some people love it, others seem to be ambivalent. We liked it. We booked into Hostal Tren Dorado for a couple of nights, which as the name implies, is right next to the train station. Unfortunately the train to the famous " Nariz del Diablo" hasn't run from here for a couple of years as the track is being repaired ( it now runs from Aluasi). As a result there are few visitors to the town and the tourism industry is suffering. We are the only people in the Hostal which probably has a maximum capacity of 40 guests!

We wander around the city centre and explore the markets and squares and it seems a very relaxed kind of place, much less frenetic than some others we have stayed. As it is a nice sunny day we get tantalising glimpse of Volcano Chimborazo which, at 6300m is the highest mountain in Ecuador, the peak of which is allegedly a couple of metres higher than Everest when measured from the centre of the earth?

After lunching on the roast pork for which Riobamba is renowned, we set off in search of a biking company called "Biking Spirit" which, our guide book tells us is just around he corner from our hotel. Unfortunately, despite being dated 2011 our guide book is already way out of date as we later find out that they moved five years ago! A little online research and we find the phone number and call the guy and arrange a trip to Chimborazo for the following day.

Edison, the owner and a dead ringer for Robert Downey Junior, picks us up in his 4WD at 8.00am sharp and off we go to Chimborazo. The drive there takes around 90 mins and we pass through the suburbs of Riobamba ( which is bigger than we thought), through the outlying villages and then rising into the Paramo (moorlands). We continue ever upwards, passing into the altiplano where there is little or no human habitation, indeed, the only signs of life are alpacas and vicuñas. Eventually we reach the ranger station at he entrance to the Chiborazo NP, stop for a break, and then continue on ever upwards along gravel and sand tracks until finally we reach Hermanos Carrel refuge at 4800 m. Here we take a break for some coca tea to help with the altitude (illegal in Ecuador, they have to import it from Columbia)

After, our coca tea break we set off on foot to the Whymper refuge, which is where the mountaineers ascending to the peaks spend the night before their final ascent. We chat with the man that looks after the refuge who tells us that he spends two weeks at a time here looking after the place before going back home for a week at a time. A lonely existence in the quiet season!

We set off on the climb to the Whymper refuge, named after the English mountaineer who first ascended to the peak. It is only 1 km away and a 200m increase in altitude to 5000m but it is hard going. Another group is making the ascent at the same time and some of them decide to turn back after a short distance with the altitude taking its toll. Edison tells us that it normally takes 45 mins for this ascent but it seems like forever. Eventually, we do make it to the refuge and Edison tells us we managed it in 38 mins which apparently is pretty good going. Either we are getting fitter, more used to the altitude, or both. Either way, it is and amazing feeling to have made it and the views are simply wonderful!

The return journey takes a mere 15 minutes and we are back at the lower refugio and Edison is setting up our bikes. Biking Spirit sensibly offers three options when it comes to routes back down the volcano depending upon experience and, I suppose, desire for an adrenaline rush. We choose the middle option of around 36 kms., of which 8kms. is on Tarmac the rest on dirt tracks. As we will find out later, a proportion is uphill as well as down!

Our only experience of mountain biking is around the gently rolling farm land around our home in England. Carolyn's brother John is an adrenaline junkie and a very keen mountain biker so I am keen to see what all the fuss is about. It doesn't take long to find out!

The first section of the route back is around 8kms back down to the NP entrance zig zagging down the dirt track which in places has been corrugated by the effects of the wind and feels what is perhaps best described as like siting on top of a pneumatic drill! We soon learn to avoid the worst patches when we can.. As the road winds back down the mountain the wind gets quite strong and blows sand into our faces which stings a bit at times (now understand why we were told to bring sunglasses). After 20 mins or so we are back at the park entrance and we are yet to actually pedal our bikes. A huge thrill and I can now see why my brother in law is hooked.

The next section of the route is on nice smooth Tarmac and takes us down through the altiplano and paramo whizzing past the alpacas and vicuñas along the way. This is really smooth cycling and although we are going downhill, we still have to pedal away quite hard to keep going when the wind is against us. We stop briefly for some water at a big gorge part way down and just marvel at the wonderful scenery. We continue on down until we reach the point where we leave the road again to head uphill on a dirt track. We are still at high altitude, maybe 3600 m so this is really, really hard work partly beacause of the altitude but also because we are trying to ride through volcanic sand (imagine trying to ride along a beach uphill and you will get a general idea!). We carry on, at times pushing our bikes through the worst bits but the views make it all worthwhile. After what seems like forever, we come to the end of the uphill sections through the paramo and come to a crossroads from where it is all downhill through the villages. Edison warns us to go carefully through the villages, partly because the many dogs like to chase cyclists and partly because it is Sunday afternoon when most of the villagers will be busy getting drip ink on Chicha ( beer made by chewing corn, spitting it into a bucket, topping up with water and leaving it to ferment - sound nice? It certainly didn't look appetising! We pass through a few of these villages managing to avoid the drunk pedestrians and eventually, 35kms later, we arrive back in a small village which is just packing up after its fiesta. For a small village they have clearly been doing a lot of celebrating!

We load the bikes back onto the 4WD and, completely exhausted, head back to Riobamba, totally understanding why brother in law John is addicted to mountain biking. Death Road in Bolivia, here we come... maybe...


For anyone interested in a bike trip
http://bikingspirit.com/2013/index.php/en/

Some photos of the trip are on our blog


http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...4442/tpod.html

Crellston, you mention that you didn't stay at the Magic Stone in Baños. That was the place that I had thought about booking when we go to Baños. Do you know if the wifi is always a problem? It sounds like maybe we should be looking elsewhere.

Wifi in Banos is generally not that great anywhere it seems but we got a decent, but not perfect service at Hostal Chimenea. I had asked in advance about the wifi as it is important to me for a variety of reasons and was assured that it was ok. The owners of Magic Stone where very helpful and even asked the wifi provider to come out and have a look. He suggested that a bush between the house and the block where the rooms are was over grown and causing the problem - I really doubted that! The only way I could get a signal was to stand in the door way - not great solution, so we decided to move after one night.

The owners assured me that they had not had problems before that didn't help me much. Our equipment has worked fine everywhere else so it wasn't that.

I am no expert, but I suspect that Banos is overrun with wifi hotspots and the infrastructure just can't cope. That coupled with the other factors meant that we got virtually no access. We are in Cuenca at Casa Cuencana, a small Hostal and the wifi is superb, even allowing us to stream movies etc.

MS It is a nice, if expensive place for Banos and the hosts are really nice but there are some 400 places to stay so you won't be short of choices

MS is expensive? They had sent me info that it was $15/person, which doesn't seem expensive, but maybe I've misunderstood?

expensive for Baños. Hostal Chimenea cost us $19 per night for a similar sized and nicely decorated double ensuite room. Breakfast ran to around $2.50 for juice, coffee, toast, jam eggs etc. if i recall correctly MS were charging $2 for a pot of tea.
Absolutely nothing wrong with the place, it just seemed expensive by comparison with other places we have stayed in Ecuador.

OK, thanks for the update.

DOWN TO THE COAST

Having heard tell of $3 lobsters we felt it was about time to explore the coastal area so we set off on a marathon bus trip from the lovely city of Riobamba to Puerto Lopez, which, apart from cheap seafood, is famed as the pilace for whale watching and the jumping of point for Isla del Plata aka - "the poor mans Galapagos".

Riobamba has a new bus station and we find a bus to Guayaquil straight away. Thankfully it is a relatively modern bus with decent sized seats for the 4 hour journey. As usual, the bus picks up more and more passengers as we moved out of the city. A new one on us is that after about 15 mins the driver stops at a bakery to eat his breakfast!! Oh well, it is only 7.30am and I suppose the poor guy needs his sustenance. It only adds another 30 mins onto our journey so I don't suppose we should complain ( not that it would have the slightest effect!)

After a long journey through some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen so far, as we wind our way down through the Andes towards the coast, we eventually reach Guayaquil, the largest city in and economic powerhouse of, Ecuador. A brief stop for lunch in the food court and we buy tickets for the next 5 hour leg to Puerto Lopez, this time in the oldest, most decrepit bus we have encountered to date. The scenery becomes much less interesting, mostly fruit and vegetable plantations and more bananas than I have ever seen (or want too see again), in my life. As we approach the coast it becomes grey, very grey and the mist rolls in from the sea.

As we roll in to Puerto Lopez, first impressions are not great. Even charitably it could only be described as ramshackle, with half finished buildings and mostly dirt roads for streets. Even though we are on the equator, it is cool and damp and very, very grey. Apparently the weather stays like this from May to November not great if you have SAD syndrome, but I a sure it looks much better in the high season when the sun comes out.
We check quickly into our Hostal, whose first impressions mirror those of the town itself and go off in search of a beer and some food.

We order a couple of beers at a likely looking place called Spondylus. After seeing some of the giant prawns someone else has ordered we try to order some food. No chance! The waiter tells us they have a group booking and won't be serving food to us. We try to order more beer, and no, they need our table straight away! After making the dregs of our beer last as long as we can and watching them place reserved signs all around us we move on to another place. I doubt we will return anytime soon.

The next day we shop around for boat trips to Isla del Plata ( so named because all the bird crap makes the island look silver from a distance). All the tours start off at the same price and end up after negotiation at $35. All said they had 8 people booked on their tours and all that we saw had at least 16!

The food around the town is obviously heavy on fish and, fresh though it is, it is not as cheap as one might think, at least in the beach front restaurants. Restaurant prices here were higher than elsewhere in Ecuador. That said, we did eat some great meals, notable the best seafood pizza ever at Casa Vecchia on the Malecon (beachfront). Unsurprising really as the owner was Italian. The best meal we ate however was in a roadside stall just outside of the market. The best fish soup ever, (including bouillabaisse in the south of France) followed by fried bonito, with rice, plantain and veggies all for $2.50!

We arrive bright and early, too early as we forget about "Ecuadorian time"! So head off for breakfast to wait for the boat. We leave about 30 mins late and join our boat which is a veritable United Nations, Argentines, Ecuadorians, Germans, Swedes etc. and set off for Isla del Plata about one hour away. It is still dull, grey and quite cold so not the greatest sea journey we have ever experienced. We are just in sight of the island when the engine breaks down, thankfully down wind from the bloating rotting carcass of a huge sea lion we passed a few minutes earlier! After some banging with a spanner the engine is persuaded to restart and we reach the island. Just as we dock, we are surrounded first by pelicans in search of fish and then by a group of turtles who spend ages investigating the boat no doubt hoping for some tidbits over the side.

After landing the 16 of us set off into the interior of the island along a number of trails. Everyone elects to go on the longest "red" trail in search of blue footed boobies. The trail takes us up to the centre of the island and a round by the cliffs. These weird looking birds are everywhere. Not usually interested in birds, but it was fascinating to watch the interaction as they prepare to engage a mate. The other main type of bird here which seemed to hang out near the cliffs were the Red Breasted Frigate birds. The males have bright red breasts which puff up dramatically when they try to attract a female ( some traits just seem to transcend the species!).

The walk lasts about 2.5 hours and the guide, having warned us at outset that we need to keep up a brisk pace and he is certainly true to his word as it is, a times, more like a forced march around the island.

Back at the starting point, we re board the boat and head to a cove for lunch and the next activity of snorkelling. We are both keen divers but are used to tropical waters. Here it is more like England in the spring i.e. bloody cold! We forego the opportunity but others partake. Some stay in quite a while. Most do not. The Argentinian guy hold the record of about 30 seconds. The guide tries to persuade us that he can see a Manta Ray but, convinced he is bluffing we ignore him.

With everyone back aboard the crewman gets out his fishing line and promptly catches 5 large Bonito in as many minutes ( one for each crew). That done we head off back to port in search of whales along the way. The weather closes in a bit, we get some rain and rougher seas and don't hold out much hope of whale spotting as the season has barely begun. Halfway back, the skipper cuts the engine and, sure enough, we spot a couple of pods of humpback whales, about 4 in each pod. They come within 50 metre of the boat which is plenty close enough to see how huge these animals are. Hard to imagine why there are still nations that insist on hunting these magnificent creatures when there is absolutely no necessity to do so.

We head back to port after a very long and very grey day but it has definitely been worth it as far as the day is concerned but I can't say were were sorry to be leaving PL as it is not the most attractive town in Ecuador. Nor was the Hostal where we stayed Yemaya. It was very noisy, despite being almost empty ( the staff made all the noise). Worst of all, we woke up on our last morning covered in ant bites as the room had been invaded overnight. Yuk!

Keen to get back into the mountains, we catch a bus along the coast to the major resort of Salinas, Ecuador's answer to Monte Carlo. We had planned to stay at some of the small villages along the way, but the weather just persuades to head on back to the Andes.

Salinas is the upmarket beach resort in Ecuador and is where the wealthy Ecuadorians have there beach homes. It is also a favourite with North Americans in the summer months. It is winter now and therefore comparatively quiet. We have nowhere to stay so we wander around the streets to check out a few places. The first two hostels are a bit grim and not especially cheap an then a hotel tout hands us a card for a nice looking hotel so we go and have a look. It is very nice and modern, has a swimming pool and is clearly expensive but after some, not too strenuous negotiation, we get a very nice room for a third of what they initially asked and stay for three nights.

Whilst here we explore the town, its beach, and very expensive yacht club and pass some property agents so we spend a day looking at few properties. Even though this is one of the most expensive places in Ecuador, it is still very cheap by UK standards. We look a couple of great places. One is a penthouse apartment on the Malecon which is brand new and has fantastic views along the coast to he yacht club and beyond and another is right on the beach and reminds us of Charlie Sheens place in "Two and a Half Men" all very tempting but I am not sure we could cope with the 5 months of grey skies each year.

The food here is good, if somewhat expensive for Ecuador. There is a place towards the end of the Beach called "cevechelanderia" which is a whole block of cevecherias clearly aimed at the high season tourist market and triple the price of anywhere else and, by all accounts, not that great. There must be 40 restaurants here, all empty and walking along we encounter dozens of waiters all beseech inn us to eat with them as we are the only potential customers in sight. We move on and find a small place close to the hotel and try out their almeruezo ( set lunch) for $2.50 which is very good. we also try and a couple of places on the sea front which may have better surroundings but the increased prices are not reflected in increased quality. One place where we did succumb to a taste of home was "Big Ralph's " a fish and chip shop run by an English expat which was fantastic, serving the best fish and chips in a long, long time in absolutely enormous portions.

Salinas was a pleasant enough place and Puerto Lopez was a nice experience for a few days but we doubt that we will be hurrying back to this part of the coast anytime soon. To be fair, we may have had a more favourable impression under blue skies and sunshine, but we did know that it was going to be damp and grey this time of year. We failed in our search for the $3 lobster but did find live king crabs on sale in the road, but for $55!

Back to the highlands and to Cuenca. Another long bus journey!

For some reason, I didn't see this until this evening. Very interesting to read. We had thought about going to Puerto Lopez when we visit Ecuador in February, but with only 18 days, we've decided to spend our time in the interior.

Glad to hear you're still going strong.

Based on your report I think I'll hold out for the real Galapagos - friends of mine cut the price by waiting until they got to Quito and negotiating there.

Susan, I think that is a good decision. I am sure PL will be a lot better in Feb when the weather will be nicer but it is a long way from the highlands. There is so much to see in the mountains that I think you will find it difficult to leave!

Thursdaysd, I would definitely hold out for the Galapagos and wait until Quito to book. We saw some terrific offers just walking around the Mariscal tour operators. All had plenty of deals at quite substantial discounts if you could leave in a couple of days , though the airrfares will stay high I imagine. The amazon trips also seemed a bargain, much cheaper than Peru or even Bolivia.

CUENCA

We had heard so much about Cuenca before coming to South America we wondered if it would all be a bit of an anticlimax. It wasn't! It is a beautiful city and very different from other big cities in Ecuador. The Centro Historico area where we are staying was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status a few years ago and was quickly followed by being nominated as the best city to retire to by International Living magazine. Which I am sure is why their are so many North American expats living here. The streets are clean and safe, the buildings are well maintained and it is very evident that the city council take a great pride in improving the city and its environment. It is altogether more relaxed than many South American cities and we instantly feel very at home here.

After a very long, hot journey from the coast we were looking forward to a good nights sleep which sadly, was not to be. I had not chosen our our accommodation well. Hostal Hogar Cuencano was in a good location but that was all. We had asked for two things when booking, a quiet room and good wifi. The wifi was didn't work and as soon as we tried to sleep, the noise started and didn't stop until 4.00am, mainly drunk backpackers coming back from a concert in the city who either forgot their keys or, more likely, were too drunk to get their key in the door. The manager, who was in the room next door to us went into the kitchen every 30 mins or so to get another beer. Every time he did, he switched on the light which lit up our room like a football stadium as our one and only window was internal, straight into the kitchen. When I complained to the manager who happened to be in the room next door to us he really was not interested and simply said "it is a Hostal, what can I do?" I could have told him but decided not to waste my breath. Having resolved not to lose my temper on this holiday, we just decided to cut our losses and checked out first thing. We moved just across the street to a very nice place called La Casa Cuencana. The owner Marta welcomed us like long lost friends and gave us a really nice, very spacious (and quiet!) room with access to a kitchen and we stayed longer than we had planned. Why can't all places be like this?


It is rare that we ever go on organised tours but after visiting the Officina Turistico we jumped on an open topped bus for a tour of the city, just to get our bearings and to see a few of the main sights. At just $5 it is good value and we got a good idea of where we would explore over the coming days.

Cuenca, although the 3rd largest city in Ecuador only has a population of 0.5 million and is relatively compact and the centre is easily seen on foot. We spent many hours and walked many miles exploring the place which served only to reinforce our initial positive impressions.

Food, if anything, is even more varied and less expensive than other places in Ecuador. Jus around the corner from us is a Cuenca institution, Moliendos, a Columbian restaurant. It is small and its clientele is a mixture of locals and travellers and it is always packed. The speciality of the house is "Arepas" a thick flatbread made of ground corn dough which is then piled high with meat, chicken, vegetables beans or just about anything you can think of. We each went for different toppings, both were simply delicious and immediately made us regret not going into Columbia when we were in the north! Maybe another time? The food was so good here we returned time and again and the owner and his wife began to welcome us like old friend. They have a brass bell in the middle of the room and a sign asking customers to ring it when they have enjoyed their food. it gets a lot of use!!

Elsewhere around town we just wander admiring the Spanish colonial architecture, some restored other buildings still in the process. What is nice is the way the buildings have been incorporated into daily use without losing their charm.

The central market was an entertaining place to visit with huge variety of fruit piled high, choosing our breakfast fruit was always difficult because it was all so good. The meat and poultry were also very good and probably a fifth of the price we would pay back home. Also a great place to eat, very tasty food, notably the ubiquitous roast pork and the encebollado or fish soup is so good!

After a few days we stumble across a property agents office and after a brief chat, the main man Jhon, shows us a variety of houses and apartments over a couple of afternoon. Some good, some not so much but this is certainly on the list of places we would consider living and it has provided us with a good idea of prices and the sort of place we may like. We also have a look in a number of brand new apartment blocks, some still in the process of being built. One involves us climbing 13 floors to the penthouse to see the view ( spectacular) because the elevators have not yet been installed. Not great at this altitude and, not being overly fond of heights, I really wish they had finished building the walls on the balcony!

We like Cuenca a lot, whether it is a place for us remains to be seen, but we can certainly see why so many expats have made it their home.

Anyway, enough for now as I will get back to watching the Rolling Stones live at Glastonbury. Still the greatest rock and roll band in the world!

Interested to get your take on Cuenca, as I have been reading International Living again, and it is still high on their list. (But I am really thinking Europe - even UK! - not SA, for settling next.)

Just catching up with your updates Crellston. Fab report, makes me want to go to Ecuador!

Still loving your report. I think we may follow your exact path when we go in March. Thank you.

Thursdaysd, back to the UK!! You must be homesick. After 6 months of living in Spain we came t appreciate how expensive the UK had become. Spain was nice but its possible exit from the Euro is a concern. Cuenca was the sort of place where we felt instantly at home. The downside is that it has already been "discovered" and already has an abundance of expats bringing with them and increase in property prices and other accompanying problems like a gring ghetto opinion part of the city where few Ecuadorians now live.

You should come smeagol, it would provide a nice contrast to SEA.

Thanks, live42day, I am sure you will have a great time here.