Touring Southern Ecuador on $25 a day

Southern Ecuador on $25 a day:

Sun 10-3-2004 Bahia to Guayaquil
Linda and Teri left Bahia at 7:15am on the Reina del Camino bus for Guayaquil ($7 each). After a 15-minute stop in Puertoviejo at 9:30 we arrived in Guayaquil about 12:30. Took a taxi for $3 to the Pacifica Hosteling on Escobedo and Luis Urdaneta, and got a spacious room for $7 per person, with private bath and shower with hot water. (The TV didn’t work though.) Pacifica Hosteling is on the edge of the downtown area, three blocks north of the department stores. We walked in the opposite direction though; four blocks to the artisan mercado where we found the prices to be high for that sort of stuff. You can always talk the vendors down in price but it was too early in our trip to be buying things. Had an almuerzo lunch across from the market. Went to the 1-2-3 dollar store and bought a box of 100 colored pens for $3 to have something to throw to the kids when we do our Great Train Ride. Crossed the street to the north end of the malecón, a very wide promenade that runs for blocks along the river. The show at the IMAX caught our eye so got tickets for $2 to see The Galapagos. IMAX is like being in a planetarium, the screen wrapping overhead and around. The Galapagos show was dramatic with views of the volcanic islands, the wildlife and a ride in a two-man submarine to scoop up deep sea creatures. After the show we strolled through the botanical gardens, then on down to the south end of the malecón where we did a tour of the “Orion”, a research ship of the Ecuadorian Navy, and found a Chinese sidewalk restaurant for dinner. We window shopped the stores in the underground shopping mall of the malecón and were doing fine until we found a bead shop. We each spent $5 on necklaces and beads and bought a $6 bottle of Amaretto. Not quite sure what Amaretto was doing in a bead store but it was made in Ecuador, with a cute label. Back up from the underground we had ice cream cones for dessert as we walked back to the other end of the malecón. Took a taxi for $1 from the malecón back to our hostel. So far so good – it was a $25 day for each, excluding the bottle of Amaretto which we will amortize over the total days of our trip. Oh, and excluding the bead shop purchase.
Pacific Hosteling on Escobedo between Luis Urdaneta and Junin
Artisan market on Montalvo and Moreno

Mon 10-4 Guayaquil to Guaranda to Salinas
Up at 6:30 and took a taxi to the bus terminal in Guayaquil, keeping an eye out for how to ride the city bus next time. Avoiding all the shouting bus ticket barkers inside the terminal, we found the Guaranda bus and caught the 8am bound for Babahoyo first. Babahoyo is at sea level, a watery town at the juncture of five rivers flowing down from the Andes. The riverbanks are lined with interesting bamboo houses on stilts, long gangplank sidewalks running every which way. Tried to take some pictures but the busses never slow down enough. After Bahahoyo soon we started climbing up into the Andes, arriving in Guaranda about 12:30. Panting from the altitude, we walked the mountainous town toward the bus stop to Salinas, stopping every few blocks to catch our breath and to ask directions. Found a place for an almuerzo lunch along the way then found the bus stop. Waiting there was a bus/truck ready for boarding. A bus like this I had never seen, church pew wooden benches mounted on a flat bed truck, with a roof overhead. We were ready for great views, as we knew we were climbing higher into the Andes, but just before we took off they rolled down plastic curtains from the roof, which we could barely see through. The rest of the passengers, all indigenous wearing their felt hats and all seeming to know each other, laughed at our disappointment. They explained that it would be a cold ride without the curtains. Linda and I were clearly a curiosity to everyone on the bus, but they were very nice and smiling, asking where we were from and how we liked their mountains.
Arriving in the town square of little Salinas we found a little tourist bureau where no one spoke any English, but they directed us UP the dirt road to the El Refugio Hotel. It was a quite a trudge, under a drizzly sky. But we found the cozy hotel, looking like a ski lodge with overstuffed chairs around a wooden fireplace in the lobby, a diningroom with big windows overlooking the green valley, and dorm rooms upstairs. The proprietress was a kindly Ecuadorian lady who ushered us up the wide wooden staircase to a dorm room with our choice of 6 beds, $5 per person, bathroom and shower down the hall. Since we were the only customers, we had the whole floor to ourselves. We could have had a lovely room downstairs, with private bath and garden for $9 per person (breakfast included) but we were bound and determined to do this trip at $25 a day. We each picked a bed under a window with a beautiful view overlooking the town, mountains looming behind, looking like a scene in the Alps. It was minus the snow, but it felt cold enough for snow. Went downstairs to the lobby where the Direct TV was on; but the real attraction was the fire in the fireplace. We both had headaches from the altitude and I had to miss dinner because I had a bad stomachache. We had come from sea level to 3550 meters (11,600 feet). Linda had to enjoy a good meal in the diningroom by herself ($2). We watched TV with the proprietress until 9 o’clock at night before retiring to our cold beds upstairs. But we managed to stay warm by sleeping under many heavy blankets that weighed a ton. In the night I awoke once to see a beautiful scene of the silver full moon rising up from behind the mountains and playing hide and seek with the clouds.
El Refugio Hotel, Salinas: www.salinerito.com email: turismo1@salinerito.com or isael_71@hotmail.com Telefax: (593) 03-2 390-022

Tue 10-5 Salinas to Guaranda to Riobamba via Volcan Chimborazo
Awoke at 6am to almost clear skies, thankfully with headaches and stomachache gone. We took pictures of the surrounding area from our dorm room windows, attracted by our view down onto to a hobbit house with a grass roof. After breakfast we went to the town square where they were setting up for market day and bought beautiful wool shawls for $2. At the tourist bureau we decided to take the $3.50, 2-hour factory tour with Lenin, the English-speaking Ecuadorian who runs the restaurant/Internet Café.
The walking tour started off with the cheese co-op where they made many kinds of cheese from milk we saw being brought in on the backs of donkeys. Their local springs supply mineral water for the brine to make the chess, a special mix from two different springs. We learned that a Swiss man visited this little town in the 70ies who felt at home and decided to bring Swiss techniques and machinery to the people here. Next we visited a Soya bean factory where kids were working to sort and package beans. One kid was stirring some brew of milk and Soya in a big pot. Ahhh, on to the chocolate co-op of good smells, where we sampled some white chocolate and macadamia nut candy. The macadamia nuts are grown here in Ecuador as well as the cacao beans for the chocolate. Then we walked across town (which consisted of just a few blocks) to the soccer factory. The jefe here was a woman who owned this one private company, not part of the co-op system. Here we saw a young woman winding and winding six cones of thread on to an inflated rubber ball, developing a right arm like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many colored piles of hexagon patches were on the other side of the room, a pot of glue was brewing, and some balls in iron forms were cooking in the overn. They were proud of the fact that all the makings for the balls come from Ecuador. They showed us a box of the finished product, soccer balls marked “make in Salinas”, which they hope make it to the next Olympics. Next we poked our heads into the sausage co-op, of not-so-good smells. A team of six men and women were stuffing some red concoction of meat (?) into endlessly long casings. In the outer room brewing over a flame was a large black cast iron pot of unidentifiable animal parts. Lenin picked out some pieces and offered them to us, but we declined, saying we were full from the candy. Next we walked up the hill to the wool factory, stopping along the way to take pictures of a saddled llama parked out in front of someone’s house. We toured two big buildings full of interesting big whirling machinery, where they wash and spin tons of wool yarn from sheep and alpaca, dye it and package it. Next door was the hongo co-op where they dry mushrooms picked from under the pine trees in the rainy season and package them for export to many clients around the world. Back toward the town square we stopped at a shop where ladies were learning to knit with the factory’s yarn. They come from the outlying villages, their husbands bringing livestock to the Tuesday mercado, they learning to knit the sweaters that are for sale in the shop. This little town is incredibly industrious; everyone gets into the act. Passing the school we saw some of the school kids in the field next-door learning how to till the soil. Back at the town square, the mercado was in full swing, colorful and busy. But we had a bus to catch so we only had time to stop at Lenin’s café and buy a package of Mate de Coca tea, reported to cure altitude headaches. Our headaches were still gone so we didn’t test the brew.
Got the 11:30 bus to Guaranda, a regular bus this time with windows to view the lush green countryside of vertical cultivated hillsides. Met another gringa on the bus, a young girl from Mountain View, CA. Brandy is teaching English in Salinas and asks for anyone coming to visit Salinas to bring her children’s books in English.
We arrived at the bus terminal in Guaranda at 12:55 and rushed right on to the 1:00 bus to Riobamba. This bus took us part way up the side of the volcano Chimborazo, with views of barren landscape and a herd of vicuña (resembling small camels). A man on the bus pointed out the top of the volcano but it was enveloped in white clouds.
Arrived in Riobamba at 3pm. We had lunch across from the bus terminal then walked many blocks to the hostel end of town. Found Tren Dorado Hostel, a block from the train station, with a room with private bath for $8 per person. Well, almost private bath; the shower had an open grate-covered window looking into a hallway. Walked up to the Cathedral Park for a great view of the city and the surrounding mountains, to a bakery to buy dinner snacks and tomorrow’s breakfast and to the train station to buy our tickets for tomorrow ($11). There was a line to buy the tickets, mostly young adults, European back packer types.
Lenin Vasconez, English speaking tourguide in Salinas: Fundacion_Salinas@hotmail.com or Lamingacupe@hotmail.com
Brandy Dettmer, gringa teacher in La Escuela de Salinas. Needs children’s books in English and “MadLibs”: Icetape@yahoo.com
Hotel Tren Dorado in Riobamba: Carabobo 22-35 y 10 de Agosto email: htrendorado@hotmail.com

Wed 10-6 The Great Train Ride Riobamba to Alausi to Ingapirca
We got up at 5:30, packed and got to the train station by 5:50. A guy was in the lobby of our hotel renting cushions for a dollar, which we grabbed, having heard you certainly need one. We stopped to buy bananas and yogurt from one of the stands in front of the station and found they were charging double the price. Better to have gone to a store yesterday.
At the train, first we had to check in our luggage, then find a spot on top of the train. Even though departure time was an hour away there was already a throng of people, four boxcars starting to fill up on top. We were told the rear of the train was best, away from the smoke from the engine, so we climbed up on the fourth car and found a single seat on the right side and a single seat on the left side, back to back. This worked out well because we could trade sides now and then, getting the best of both views. For the finale, the Devil’s Nose, the right side was best for the precipitous view. But long before the Nariz del Diablo part, the train ride was spectacular on both sides, through beautiful green country, past fields and forests, rivers and streams. And towns where the kids would chase after the train yelling for candy to be thrown down. Wonder what they thought of the colored pens we tossed instead. All along the path of the train people would stop and wave, ladies from their front porch, men in the fields, kids on their way to school. One group of farmers surprised us by throwing up stocks of broccoli from the field. Linda was able to catch one, stowing it away in her backpack. I had thought the train ride would be scary, the roof is somewhat rounded and the guard rail they have installed to accommodate people riding on top is only two bars, 10 inches high. But the train doesn’t go very fast and you soon become in tune with the motion and captivated by the scenery. The scariest part is climbing up on to the roof by the narrow rung ladder on the side of the train. It was a several hour ride to the town of Alausi where we disembarked for a bathroom brake, then piled back on for the ride into the canyon and down the Devil’s Nose. At the bottom they shuffled the cars around, then pulled us back up the Nose and back to the town of Alausi. We got to know our immediate train mates during the 6 hour ride, a group from Italy with an Ecuadorian tour guide, a group of four from Switzerland, a couple from Holland and two young missionaries from England.
After a long wait for our luggage to be uncovered behind all the giant European backpacks we walked a block to the bus station where we got the last two seats on the bus to Cuenca ($4). Our goal was Ingapirca, an hour short of Cuenca, but everyone kept telling us we couldn’t stay in Ingapirca; that the nearest town was Cañar. The Lonely Planet GuideBook said there was a hostel in Ingapirca so we decided to get there somehow. From the bus I saw the turnoff for Ingapirca go by and 15 minutes later we were dropped off in Cañar. Quickly looking Cañar up in the Lonny Planet it said there was a Hostal Ingapirca in Cañar so we started asking directions and were directed across town to another bus stop, which was the bus for Ingapirca. Thoroughly confused, we got on the bus and went back the way we came, to the town of El Tambo where the bus circled around town a couple of times before heading up the back hills to Ingapirca. When we pulled up into the town we spotted the one hostel that was listed in the Lonely Planet, a street away from the bus stop. So we made a beeline for it, our rule being to always find a room before the sun went down. In our haste we walked right past a newer hostel, not seeing it until the next morning.
So we were a captive audience at the Hostal Ingapirca, her only customers (probably for the year judging by the state of the place). The room at was expensive ($6) for what it was: small, an old place, not too clean, bathroom with a sink that half drained onto the floor, and not-so-hot water in the shower. The proprietress was not very friendly and wouldn’t take less for the neglected accommodations. The rooms were upstairs, over her house and restaurant and we could hear her yelling at her children at night. The dinner in the restaurant was OK but she charged us twice the price she original told us. We aren’t going to recommend this place to anyone. To top it off, when we got to Cuenca the next day I noticed my lipstick from my backpack and my baggie of hair clips were missing, probably pilfered out of the room by the children while we were touring the ruins. But at least nothing expensive was taken, and this was our only bad experience on the whole trip, not bad for an extemporaneous venture.

Thur 10-7 Ingapirca Ruins Cañar to Cuenca
Up at 7am. We had granola bars for breakfast and walked half a mile up a country road to the ruins (10,000 feet altitude). There was a $6 entry fee that included a museum with guided talk and another guide for the ruins. The museum was small but very nicely laid out with an interesting talk as far as we could tell, but it was in Spanish. As we started to walk to the ruins we were approached by a handsome Ecuadorian man in a safari hat who said in English he was our assigned guide. For an extra fee he would walk with us about the ruins but a talk on the mound was free. We opted for “free”. We certainly got our money’s worth; he must have talked with us for an hour and a half. He told us of the Cañari civilization of the early 1400’s (before the Incas), who started this city. They were a peaceful civilization, farmers and sun worshipers, having erected the sun temple still standing today. The rounded base, of precise square stone work in greenish square foot blocks, was built by the Cañaris. The top half of the temple, their way of measuring the solstice, was rebuilt by the conquering Incas. The Incas only reigned for 30 years, then disappeared here for unknown reasons. The Spanish came in the early 1500’s. The dress of the indigenous that we see today that we think of as “Indian” is really the dress adopted by the Indians from the Spanish, the heavy colorful skirts of velvet with embroidery around the bottom and the capes of wool. Each region has its unique pin or button for fastening the cape. We sidetracked Raphael at one point, asking him about the nice American style houses we could see scattered on the hills. In our part of the Ecuadorian countryside in the north you don’t see that. Well – we found out that many of these families find a way (using coyotes) to send a son or a husband to the US to work and send back money. There is a large community of Ecuadorians for example in Queens in New York. Raphael had been in New York for five years, hence his good English. But he didn’t have to use a Coyote; his family legally sent him, being of wealth. After hearing of the ancient civilizations of this land we also got a glimpse into the modern civilization of this land. Raphael told us he has a 21-day-old son, just born to him by the daughter of a servant of his family. She is actually the daughter of the nanny who raised him. So we thought they must have grown up together, but found out she is 20 years younger than Raphael. He has moved out of the family house and set up a house for his new family. He has taken the baby to be seen by his mother and sister and they approve because fortunately the baby has light skin, but he can’t show the baby to his father or he would be disinherited. Linda and I thought how romantic for the mother of the baby but Raphael informed us that he will never marry her, he is going to look for his proper wife someday, but he will continue to support the girl and his baby. This is the stuff of which movies are made.
Back on the subject of the ruins, Raphael explained the lay of the land: the short walls defining the palaces, the common housing, the store rooms for the harvest, the craft workshops, and the highest mound with the temple still standing tall. Lastly he pointed out the area we were standing on, the burial grounds for the sacrificed virgins (Linda and I both jumped) and then he had to get back to the museum having talked with us longer than he was supposed to. So we headed off to walk the ruins with a better appreciation of what we were looking at. Behind the ruins was a slope of smooth rocks Raphael had told us to be sure and climb. So we did and were rewarded with a perfect view overlooking a perfect valley behind. We lay on the smooth rocks and hung our heads over the cliff to take in the forested hills, grassy hills, green fields, a winding river and a waterfall.
Reluctant to pull ourselves away from this perfect spot, but we had other places to go, things to see, so we walked back to the hostel to retrieve our luggage. Caught the bus to Cañar where we grabbed a hamburger and a coke to consume on the bus to Cuenca. Arrived at the bus terminal in Cuenca about 2:30. This is the nicest of bus terminals we have found in Ecuador, with a visitor’s lounge where you can organize yourself and get a city map and good information from the girl at the counter. She helped us figure out which city bus to take downtown to find The Hostal Monasterio. This turned out to be an interesting place, hotel rooms spread throughout a 6-story office building. We chose a two-bed dorm room on the third floor with a half bath on the third floor, in-between a lawyer’s office and a language school. The hostel desk, TV lobby, showroom and lunchroom were on the 6th floor.
Across the street was an artisan’s market covering most of the block so there we went. Same stuff you see in all the artisan markets, but what caught our eye was the crocheting being done by many of the Indian ladies with interesting fuzzy yarn in rich colors. We got one of the ladies to show us her pattern for crocheting the scraf and she offered to sell us some of the yarn for $4 a skein (the finished scarves are $6), saying she couldn’t take less and the yarn could only be bought in Quito or Otovalo. So we bought a couple of skeins. There was still daylight left and we could see a yarn shop across the street so we decided to do some research. Turned out there was a shop in Cuenca that sold the yarn, but it took an hour of asking directions and walking several blocks to find it. There we bought some of the same yarn at $1.90 a skein, many colors to choose from. On the way back to the hostel we bought some crochet hooks and couldn’t pass up the panadería for dessert goodies for 60 cents. We found a trendy little café for merinda dinners of $1.50 with great soup. Back to our room on the now deserted office floor where we enjoyed our dessert and talked until midnight, planning the rest of our itinerary.
Good yarn shop: F&M Bazar on Calle Tarqui 7-56 entre P. Córdova y Sucre
Hostal Monasterio on Aguirre 7-24 across from mercado San Francisco

Fri 10-8 Cuenca
We were awakened at 5:30am by a profusion of church bells. Guess that is what you get when you stay in the downtown church district. Worked on crocheting scarves. Walked to a tienda, bought yogurt, bananas, cheese and raisins for $4 and went back to the lunchroom in the hostel for breakfast. Made a tour of the downtown, visiting some of the churches to see the elaborate stained glass windows, stopping at the flower mart to smell the roses, dropping in at the courthouse to photograph the architecture, perusing an art gallery and browsing some of the shops.
Found a tourist information center to ask about going to Principal, a small town 40 miles from Cuenca. Linda had picked up a flyer in Riobamba advertising the place. The tourist agent made a phone call and assured us the town existed but didn’t have any more information on it. Went back to the hostel to fix our lunch. Linda made us a salad from the broccoli she caught on the train, with raisins and yogurt. We shared the lunchroom with a Swiss couple and heard about their 6-month tour of the US. They bought a van and drove from coast to coast, staying at Wal-Marts. They really liked the US, said everyone was very friendly and the shopping was good at Wal-Mart. Then they traveled by bus through Mexico, Central America and here to Ecuador. In Ecuador she had her passport and credit cards stolen on the bus from Quito to Baños. Her backpack was on the floor between her feet and some kid or very thin person crawled under the seat to get at it.
After lunch we walked around the town some more, coming across a Che Guevara memorial concert on the steps of one of the churches. They were selling some nice drawings of Che. He is sure popular in this country; you see his picture in many places. Walked several blocks to the edge of downtown to find the hostel where Linda’s John stayed when he came to Cuenca with Joe. La Cafecita Hostel/Restaurant is near the river, so we wanted to check it out for a place to stay when we do the riverwalk and ruins. We liked the place, dorm rooms for $4 per person around an interior courtyard restaurant or rooms with private bathroom and shower along a garden out in back for $7 per person. There is music in the restaurant until 11:00 every night but after that the place is very quiet. It looked like a hangout for bohemian types so we put it on our list of likely places to stay in Cuenca. Back to our neck of the woods, in the heart of downtown, we went to Casa de la Mujer across from the Artisan market. It was almost 5:00 so many of the shops were closed but we looked at what was there, two stories of small shops built around an interior courtyard. Looks like this would be a great place to spend some time looking and shopping and having lunch. Oh well, another day.
For dinner we splurged and went to The Eucalyptus, a nice restaurant in the downtown area. We spent $10 (expensive for us), enjoyed the ambiance with a glass of wine and planned our route to Principal for tomorrow. Hey, we are still averaging $25 a day!
Casa de la Mujer: interesting place on General torres www.cartesanalcmujer.com

Sat 10-9 Cuenca to Principal
We fixed breakfast in the kitchen at our hostel – granola and yogurt. The kitchen/diningroom could sure use some help. With a good cleaning, some paint and a bit of imagination it could be a charming place with its glass ceiling and wrap around windows. It has a fabulous view across the many church tops and down on to the mercado across the street.
We packed our bags and caught the city bus at the corner, two blocks away. Twenty-five cents to the bus terminal beats a taxi and these buses seem fine safety-wise unlike the crowded buses in Quito. Caught the bus to Chordeleg ($!.50), a 25-mile ride east of Cuenca. Dropped off at the plaza in Chordeleg, we were offered a ride in a truck to Principal for $10. But we kept insisting there was a bus going there until someone finally pointed up the street. So we started walking and another bus came along and picked us up to drive us several blocks to drop us off where we told to wait on the corner. Sure enough, the bus to Principal showed up in a few minutes. The bus to Principal was 50 cents and a beautiful scenic ride, up into green countryside, a river winding below. At the end of the road, at the top of the river valley, we arrived in the very small town of Principal and were dropped off in front of Hostel Anabel. We were met by Nida and her little 7-year-old daughter who live in and run the hostel. Nida showed us upstairs where we had our pick of two dorm rooms; the one in front with four beds or the one in back with three sets of bunk beds. We chose the front room but were thwarted in our decision by the immediate arrival of 5 girls, and then a family of four. Poor Nida, no one had made a reservation, so she was confused about what to do with all of us. Turned out the 5 girls knew the family as they were all from the same Spanish language school in Cuenca. So we organized ourselves and Linda and I ended up in the bunkbed room with four of the girls and Dedra opted to stay with the family in the front room.
We left Nida making beds as we all walked across the street to the restaurant which was really just the diningroom of someone’s house. We took them by surprise too; so while waiting quite awhile for the meal to be prepared (they probably had to go in their garden to pick enough vegetables) we sat on the side porch and got to know each other. The family of four from the States was Susan, a teacher on sabbatical, Tim, a design drafter and 7-year-old Kate and 11-year old Tad. The girls, all 20-somethings, were Lilli a Chinese girl from Canada, Stephanie from Switzerland, Dedra from Denmark, Elizabeth from Michigan and Keara from Washington State, each very interesting and friendly. Our hour-long wait was well rewarded with a delicious homecooked meal of soup with popcorn, chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli.
After lunch Guido and Juan, the local tour guides showed up to take us for a hike. First was a walk through the small village where we saw some colorful skirts hanging out on a line. We thought it was laundry but our guide said something about someone dying and these were the clothes put out for people to take. Guido is a Quechua Indian, Spanish not his native language, so we had a hard time understanding him. (Quechua was the official language of the Inca Empire, which ruled much of the Andes region from the mid-1400s until the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1532. Those who speak Quechua as their first language are called Quechua Indians by the dominant Spanish-speaking cultures, but most Quechua speakers, who live in numerous distinct cultural groups, prefer to identify themselves with their Inca heritage…… From Encarta)
Continuing through the village we saw some ladies making panama hats and tried on the almost finished products. Saw some kids playing in the street. Not a lot of Tonka Toys around here – one kid was rolling a big hoop with a stick (bringing to Linda’s mind a picture of her Grandfather as a child) and several kids were running with plastic bags tied to cassette tape. Out past the last house of the village was a trail leading uphill where we came across an abandoned adobe house – full of guinea pigs. I thought the guide was kidding but he went up and rattled the door causing the squeaks of a hundred trapped guinea pigs. Leaving that Stephen King like novel setting behind we continued up the trail to a view across the river of the El Chorro de Principal Waterfall. Next in order was a walk down a steep trail to the river, to cool our feet in the clear cold rushing water before rock climbing up the river to a different trail home. On the edge of town we stopped at a small house with a trout pond in front, a pile of puppies and chickens all mixed up on the front porch.
Back to our cozy dinigroom across the street for a dinner of cream of carrot soup, bananas and grapes and good tea. This time while waiting for dinner we drew pictures with Kate and Tad. Back to our dorm room where sat on our bunk beds and talked and passed around the bottle of Amaretto.
To get to Pricipal: Buses from Cuenca Bus Terminal to Chordeleg leave every ½ hour. Change buses in Chordeleg. Bus stop for Principal Bus is four blocks after Chordeleg’s Parque Central, on Av. Guayaquil. Buses Chordeleg – Principal every 40 minutes (6:30am to 6:30pm).
Only hostel in Principal is Hostel Anabel www.projectsforpeace.org/chordeleg email: guacamayas2@yahoo.com 07-229-0737 or 09-996-8297 or 07-229-0742

Sun 10-10 Principal
Up at 6:30 and we all went across the street to the house of delightful cuisine. Waiting for breakfast Linda and I taught everyone toe weaving. The lady of the house served us a thick veggie omelet and fresh tomato juice. Outside in the street were waiting the first of our horses for our group of six who wanted to ride for the day. Three of the girls elected to hike to the Tres Lagos and Tim and Tad opted to walk around the village on their own. We were supposed to have the horses at 8am but it was 9:30 before we mounted. They had trouble gathering enough horses from around the village and it turned out to be a bad idea. The horses were workhorses, not used to being ridden and they weren’t used to each other. Whenever they got too close together they started kicking, making for a wild ride. And the saddles were interesting, of wood (actually not as uncomfortable as they looked), the stirrups of metal, hung on ropes, and the bridles rope with no bit in the mouth so it was hard to make a point with the horse. One of the men delivering one of the horses saw how much trouble we were having and volunteered to come along as an extra guide, most of the time leading one of our horses.
Linda’s steed was especially unruly, spooked and bucked several times at inopportune moments like on a narrow steep trail. At one point Linda finally had to get off and walk, Guido leading her horse. Susie and daughter Kate rode together on one horse and that was fine until the horse took off running across a meadow and the two of them slid off, fortunately onto soft turf. Kate was a real trouper about getting right back on.
In spite of the rough ride, it was a great day of incredible views of mountains, valleys, rivers and vegetation. Guido was always stopping to point out some plant that was used for herbs, medicine or food; picking us wild strawberries and other fruits to eat and leaves to taste. Mid-day we came to Las Dos Encuentras, the merging of two rivers where we parked the horses and climbed to a meadow of grass and wildflowers overlooking the river valley. The view behind was of the top of a dormant volcano, one side of the top caved in. Here we had our lunch, supplied by our lady from across the street – fired chicken, a pancake thing of veggies, bananas and apples. It felt like we were on top of the world. And just when you thought you were a million miles from civilization, you see a woman in a bright red skirt with a purple cape and felt hat leading a couple of cows across the next hill.
Hiked back to the horses and we continued over hill and dale, much of the time on a narrow, rocky, slippery, muddy and precipitous trail, the trail so narrow at times that our feet were knocked out of the stirrups. Sometimes the trail was so deep you couldn’t see over the top. We were glad for the rubber boots we rented for 60 cents. Many times the horses slid and tripped on the wet rocks. Donkeys might have been better for this ancient trail, the path the Cañari people used before the Incas. We finally got back to the edge of the village at 3:30, coming down past the water gathering tank where they make electricity for the town and add chlorine to the water. We passed by orchards of fruit trees (peach and apple) in bloom and by gardens of oversized vegetables and beautiful flowers. We dismounted at the hostel where we were sure glad to be back on the ground with no serious injuries. The town was nice to accommodate our wish to go horseback riding but we wouldn’t recommend it again for a large group since there is a shortage in the town of good riding horses. In the beginning we weren’t sure how much this was going to cost but in the end we each paid $8.50 for the horse, and $2.50 for the guides. Both guides worked very hard, controlling the horses and hiking the whole way. The second guide had only been back to the Andes for five months from living in the States and he admitted he wasn’t fully acclimated to the altitude.
Lilly, Stephanie and the family left for Cuenca before the hiking girls returned and Linda and I had time to take showers. When Dedra, Elizabeth and Keara returned they were weary girls with sore muscles and blisters. Their trip to the lakes was very beautiful but turned out to be more of a mountain climb than a hike. After Linda and I helped the last three girls to hurry to catch the last bus out of town things seemed very quiet. We went to dinner across the street, broccoli soup and popcorn, baked apple, tangerine and tea, watching Jurrasic Park on the TV, in Spanish. We said goodbye to the lady as we thanked and complimented her for all the great meals.
This sure turned out to be a great place; the accommodations nice, clean and cheap ($6 per person per nite) in a quiet little town, the hikes beautiful, and the homecooked food fantastic (we were never charged more than $2 per meal).
Suzie’s email: barnessu@Access4Less.net
Keara’s email: Keamatt@msn.com

Mon 10-11 Pricipal to Chordeleg to Cuenca
Up at 7:30, packed leaving behind pens and candy for the daughter as we caught the 8:30 bus to Chordeleg. The ride out of the valley was beautiful, every turn a new view down into the river gorge. We passed small settlements of houses between the road and the dropoff to the valley floor, with women on the porches, always with their bundles of straw weaving Panama hats. We arrived in Chordeleg and decided to survey the town a bit. Found a panadería for a breakfast of yogurt and pan dulce, then walked the shops boardering the plaza. The first shop was a gold jewerly store where we met the very nice owner Carlos who explained that his town has a long history of jewelry craftsmen, especially in gold because of the gold found in these mountains. We didn’t get much further around the plaza before we ran into a free museum, small but interesting with photos and artifacts of the old crafts of the region. What first drew us in was a giant silver earring of intricate fillagree work hanging on a pedistal, the real antique earrings in a case in the museum along with other antique silver jewelry. In the museum we learned that there were ruins of a Cañari settlement, a mile from the plaza on the edge of town. So we went back to our friendly jeweler, left our bags in his store and headed up the street in search of Las Ruinas Llaber. Having to ask directions several times along the way we found the hill, up a narrow path between fields and gardens, passing a pig pen on stilts with three friendly pigs. One lady tending her field waved at us and wanted to know where we had come from. She proudly displayed her knowledge of English and of California. Most Ecuadorians know where Florida is, but not California.
We really enjoyed walking what was probably a Cañari trail from that ancient civilization of the 1300’s. It led us to the Ruinas LLaber which at first looked like just another hill, but then we recognized rock walls overgown with grass and wildflowers. Walking around on top of the hill, with a good view of the city of Chordeleg and of another town in the distance, we found mounds of smooth rocks, and some oblong holes lined with stones. Digging around in one of the holes we thought we found a treasure, some ancient cloth, but after pulling on it, it turned out to be a part of a skirt and part of a pair of trousers with a label, made in Indonesia – clearly not a Cañari artifact from the 1300’s. Linda recorded all this on video. Coming down from the hill and rounding to the other side we were just remarking on how interesting it was to be at an unprotected archeological site (how else would we be digging around in the ruins) when we saw a house at the base of the hill built on the foundation of some more ruins. I guess what was good enough for walls in the 1300’s is good enough to build a house on today.
We walked back to town for an almuerzo lunch, came across a yarn shop where we bought more yarn (we will be making scarfs forever), then went back to the jewerly store to say goodbye to Carlos and retrieve our luggage. At the bus stop we waited the longest time we have had to wait for a bus on this whole trip – 15 minutes. Back to Cuenca where we caught a city bus to the river. Walked a few extra blocks to the hostel since we took a wrong turn. But we eventurally found La Cafecita, the hostel we had “checked-out” a few days ago and opted for the $4 dorm room to stay within our budget. (Had to make up for all that yarn we bought.) We gave the restaurant a try but beers were $1.50 so we went for a walk instead. Found an Internet place on the corner and sent an email to the guys. Had dinner a block away from the hostel on Jaramillo Street at a Hari Krishna vegetarian Pizza parlor. Try and find one of those in your hometown. We had french fries, a small pizza and 2 teas for $3. Back to the room and to the showers. Good thing the restaurant was dark and noisy because to take a shower you had to wind your way through the tables of customers with your towel over your shoulder, carrying your little shower bag. The restaurant was full of student types, candles on the tables, an interesting collection of new age music playing. We liked the music, good thing since we could clearly hear it in our room until 11:00 at night.
Joyeria El Brillante in Chordeleg Carlos Lopez - specializes in gold jewelry. Carlos very friendly and speaks good English address: Juan Bautista Cobos y 24 de Mayo, corner of Parque Central
El Cafecito Hostal – Café www.cafecito.net Honorato Vazquez 7-36 y Luis Cordero email: cuenca@cafecito.net

Tue 10-12 Cuenca
Up at 7:30 and we walked to the tienda for yogurt. After breakfast in our room we ventured out about 8:45 and walked Av Fray Vicente Solano, a wide tree lines boulevard. After a couple of miles we came to the base of the steps leading up to Vista Turi – 450 of them. At the top was a plaza with a grand lookout over the city, a cafeteria and a tourista shop. Huffing and puffing we got there about the same time a bus arrived and wondered why we hadn’t taken the bus. But now that we were into walking we went back down the steps (in half the time) and walked back to Calle Larga, crossing over the picturesque Rio Tomebamba. Good thing Linda was wearing her new knee brace, which worked well. By this time we had worked up an appetite so stopped for a $1.25 almuerzo lunch. The usually good Ecuadorian soup was more like menudo so we didn’t eat much of that but the french fries and rice with tuna and vegetables plate was good. We had gotten to the small restaurant just in time. Just after we got our food the place filled with students and business people, the waiter running from table to table to get everyone served. We can see why they do this almuerzo lunch, no need for a menu and taking individual orders.
We escaped the noisy restaurant and walked a block to the Banco Central Archeological Museo. Here we spent 3 ½ hours touring the many rooms on the three floors of this beautiful museum. I think we were the only customers so we felt guilty asking for the senior discount, only paying $1.50 each to have the whole place to ourselves. The first floor was archeological artifacts and an art gallery of photos and paintings of the history of Ecuador. The second floor held a most interesting walk through all the different regions of Ecuador and the history of the culture of each; the northern coast with its black heritage, the dryer southern coast where the Incas reigned, the plains of the cowboys, the Andes with the Cañari and Inca civilizations and the Amazon region with the Indians of the jungle. One of the most interesting parts of the tour was the display and graphic explanation of shrunken heads. The third floor was a library and a large display of the coins of Ecuador that we quickly breezed through since we were museumed out. And outside, behind the museum were Inca ruins to walk around and a bird aviary containing many different kinds of parrots, some toucans and CariCaris.
We dragged ourselves back to the hotel but found a Colombian restaurant along the way that inspired us to have an early dinner. We had an arepa and papa rellena, coffee and tea for a total of $4.50. Arepas Mixto is a thick corn and egg tortilla topped with beans, chicken, beef, cheese and veggies. The Papa Rellena was a large baked potato skin filled with a hash of ground beef and potato, coated with a cheese crust. Have no idea how they made it but it was to die for.
Back to the hotel for showers and we checked out to leave in the morning. It had been a day of many miles and a bargain day at only $9.50 apiece.
Moliendo Café (Colombian food) on Honorato Vazquez 6-24 y Hno Miguel

Wed 10-13 Cuenca to Guayaquil via Cajas National Park
Up at 7am and had breakfast in our room. Packed and walked up the street to catch the city bus marked “Terminal” to the bus terminal. We got tickets on the Alianza bus line to Guayaquil via the Cajas National Park. This ticket was more expensive than the normal $1-a-mile long-distance bus rate, maybe because of the National Park. The bus was $8 and left at 9am. The ride was well worth it, of different scenery than we have seen in Ecuador. The Cajas is a high barren plane with many little silver lakes that have been formed by glaciers. At 11,000 feet the cloud covered views were mysterious and dramatic; of plunging dropoffs, rivers in gorges far below and waterfalls in the steep hillsides. All too soon we started coming down the mountains into the rain forest, the jungle and then into the flat lands of the plantations of banana, cacao, mango and papaya. We arrived in Guayaquil about 1pm at the bus terminal. Caught the city bus to within four blocks of Pacific Hosteling and walked the rest of the way. Got a room on the front side of the building this time, with a TV that worked (only in Spanish). Went for a walk toward the downtown and got some lunch at Bongo Burger on AV nueve de Octubre. We had hamburgers, french fries and a coke at this old-fashioned soda fountain type place. Talked to the owner who spoke English, California his favorite vacation spot, hence the California look to the restaurant. Walked to the Naval Museo but it was closed. Found the Bank of Pichincha and got more cash to spend at the 1-2-3 store. Went to the 1-2-3 store a few blocks from the hostel on Escobedo and came out in the dark. Walked back to the hostel, stopping to get some yogurt for tomorrow’s breakfast and ice-cream bars.
Bongo Burgers on Av nueve de Octubre and AV Chimborazo

Thur 10-14 Guayaquil
Slept in later than usual, until 7:30. After a yogurt breakfast in the room we walked to the Naval Museo across the street from the malecón. We were the only customers for this free museum of four rooms. Walked to the Catedral Metropolitana where Linda tried to find a home for her hiking shoes that don’t quite fit but couldn’t find anyone around that looked worthy. Went across the street to Parque Bolivar, a small park full of walks and benches, statues, green lawn and iguanas – tons of iguanas of all sizes wandering around but they didn’t need shoes. On the way to find a restaurant Linda spotted a little old lady on the sidewalk begging and gave her the shoes and got blessed. After a lunch of Chinese we walked through the “black market”, the rows and rows of little booths selling electronics, CDs and T-shirts and stuff. At the end we noticed two cops were quietly following us on motorbikes. We wondered why the vendors had quit hassling us. So we quickly left the “black market” and walked to the Crystal Palace at the end of the malecón. Interesting building but there were no exhibits happening. We wandered through the small group of artisan shops, then to the underground mall of the malecón. Stopped at a cofffee shop to revive Linda with a good cup of coffee. I asked for root beer but of course they didn’t have any. There is no root beer south of the US. So I told the proprietor he should be serving root beer floats and explained root beer and drew him pictures of a frosty mug. Watch, by next year he will be a millionaire with my idea. Across the walkway was a hairpiece shop so Linda went in and tried on a “fall” that was a perfect match for her hair, but it felt too heavy on her head. On the way out of the mall we passed the bead shop from our previous visit and we of course went in and came out with a few purchases. We found an Internet Café on Av. Nueve de Octubre and Moreno and sent an email to John saying we would finally return to Bahia tomorrow. We bet the guys are beginning to wonder. Walked back to the malecón to find a bus to Mall del Sol. A nice tall policeman told us to catch number 2. The passengers on the bus told us where to get off; turned out was in front of the airport. The mall was a couple blocks away and across a busy street so a policeman stopped the traffic for us to be able to cross safely. The movies weren’t starting for an hour and a half so we walked the mall, shopping at SuKasa for kitchen stuff. Linda bought a paella pan made in Spain for $20. Found a 99 cent store and bought snack food for the movie. We chose KFC in the food court and had Twisters waiting for showtime. The movie was “Raising Helen” with Kate Hudson and John Corbett, playing a subtle sexy minister. Good movie. A lady we met in line at the 99-cent store advised us to take a taxi back to the hotel instead of the bus so we did.

Fri 10-15 Guayaquil back to Bahia
Got up early, packed our suitcases but left them in the room and walked downtown. Came across a good restaurant for breakfast, “Tipo Don Rico’s” on Escobado and AV. Nueve de Octubre. Went to the Internet Café to let John know we would try and catch the 9:30 bus for Bahia. There was an email from John letting us know Sunday is voting day, making it a crowded weekend for traveling. So we hightailed it back to the room for our luggage and caught the city bus #111 on Solano, two blocks from the Hostel. Got to the bus terminal at 9:20 to find a long line at the Reina del Camino ticket window. After an hour we got two of the last 8 seats on the 11:30 bus to Bahia. Our next option would have been “the slow bus to China”, the bus that stops at every little town between Guayaquil and Bahia, our favorite being Jipijapa (pronounced ippi-appa). But we sped right though those towns on our direct bus, happy to endure the usual playing of the shoot-em-up movie on the TV. This time it was about a sharp shooter cowboy who was blind no-less, running around the wild west delivering a baby to some lady. We didn’t even need to hear the dialog to follow that movie – good thing since we were in the very back of the bus, a long way from the TV screen. Arrived in Bahia at 4:30 ish.
The guys retrieved us from the dinghy dock and later we all went out for a pizza dinner.