Blogs from Cuenca, South, Ecuador, South America - page 38

I arrived in Cuenca on the 4th November (a day after the Independence party). I left on the 8th for Baños. Journey details: Origen/Destination... Loja - Cuenca / Cuenca - Baños Mode of transport... Coach Company... Viajeros & Sucre Express Cost.... $4 & $7 Duration... 5 Hours & 8 Hours Remarks... the trip from Cuenca to Baños was fine. I had to change at Ambato but this wasn't a problem. The first trip from Loja really wasn't fun though... in true South America style the bus was packed beyond capacity and I had the pleasure of some fat guy's ass in my face for the majority of 5 hours. Pleasant. When I arrived in Cuenca it was dark and raining... the worst possible conditions to arrive in a city that you've never been to before. I ... read more

Hey In Ecuador sind die religiöse täg voll wichtig, sind ja au 95% katholisch-gläubig! jedefalls ischmer nüt bessers in sinn cho, als mit drü andere girls nach cuenca z ga. vo cuecnca seitmer einersiits, dass si die schönschti stadt in ecuador isch, andersiits isch aber grad am samschtig/sunntig s stadtfäscht (unabhängigkeitsjahrestag) gsi. will heisse das jede hinderletscht nach cuenca welle het, sigs verwanti go bsueche oder eifach s lange wuchenänd nutze zum go reise. erscht bim dritte busbahnhof hemmer am mittwuch no billet becho. s gid nid nur ei verbindig, sondern x verschidnigi busgsellschafte wot d linie abietet...mer hend voll glück gha ond hend en abieter verwütscht, wo ächt vell beifreiheit botte het, bi 10 stonde busfahrt isch das doch no chli entscheidend;-) im bus muessmer aber voll ufpasse! gwüssne fraue us de sprochschuel sind auscho ... read more

From Alausi to Cuenca the local bus raced thru the countryside as it picked up passengers on high roads, in deep valleys and in barely lit towns. The setting sun put on a magnificent display of pink and fuchsia reflected on the low lying clouds. As the bus went around peligroso curves, emerged from behind mountainous hills and dipped into valleys, the sun played hide and seek. There were some tourists on the bus but local passengers filled the empty seats and clogged the aisle from back to front. After six hours the bus arrived at the Cuenca Terminal Terrestre. Seems every town has a Terminal Terrestre. By taxi we found The Casa Naranja. The streets were dead quiet. The Scot women followed right behind. Paul and I took the bigger room. The lady who ... read more

Hey Everyone! Here is Chris and my address for Cuenca, we will be here from Oct through Aug. Also, Chris and I bought prepaid cell phones, it is free for us to receive calls, so feel free to call anytime! My mom tried sending a letter to directly to our house, and it never showed up. So please, send all letters and packages to our PO BOX. Thanks everyone. We love you and we miss you! Cuenca P.O. Box (for packages AND LETTERS, or things of value. Just remember if you are sending a package declare zero value and try to keep in below 4.4 lbs): Christopher Phipps (or Karina Phipps) Casilla 01-01-173 Correo Central Cuenca, Ecuador Mobile Phone Numbers (the numbers include country code and province code, so dial as is) Karina: 011-593-9-901-8684 Christopher: 011-593-9-901-8636 ... read more

I’m really using some licence here, quoting yet again from that famed authority Lonely Planet, but they certainly got it right this time. We basically have some time to kill prior to our Galapagos cruise, and Cuenca was a great place to just chill out for 5 days. It is a big enough city (400,000 pax, #3 in Ecuador) that you are not running into the same people all the time as you stroll around, but it doesn’t have the hustle and bustle traditionally associated with big cities. More importantly, in the central part of the city where we stayed, it has narrow cobblestone streets, white-washed red tile buildings, and many plazas, generally backed by old domed churches. Furthermore, it lies on the banks of a very attractive river, where women still wash their clothes ... read more