Brief Review - 3 wks in Ecuador
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Oct 14, 2012 8:22 PM Last Post By: stella08
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Brief Review - 3 wks in Ecuador
Just back, and loved it. People were lovely, and the country had a lot of varied things to see. Landed in Quito - altitude and hilly nature of the city made things a bit difficult for a couple of days. Beautiful old part of the city - glad we stayed in Old Town, and not La Marischal (known as gringolandia). Day trips to Mindo (ziplining, butterfly park) and the Equator. Bus to Puerto Misuahalli to see the monkeys running about the square. Day trip on motorized canoe to Animal Rescue Centre. Bus to Banos - absolutely loved it there. Lovely little town, great place to walk around, shop, lots of different tour options. Bus to Cuenca (over some horrendously high mountains - couldn't look over the side) - which was our favourite. City is just filled with beautiful old buildings, we walked & walked there. Panama Hat museum/shop well worth a visit, as was the main museum. From there bus to Guayacill, over some more high mountains. Surprised by this city, it was a lot nicer than we expected. The Malecon river walk is great, as is the walk up Las Penas (the coloured houses). Beware though - express kidnappings by taxi drivers is a risk here and appears to be a greater problem than anyone will admit there. All in all, a great holiday - well worth the 28 hours it took from leaving the house to landing !! Feel free to ask if any questions, I'd love to help.1
A lot of the attraction for us in Cuenca was the beautiful old buildings & churches. Maybe with a 15 year old Quito might have a bit more to offer. The Telefonica (cable car thingie) was pretty good, they'd probably also enjoy going to the Equator, maybe ziplining in Mindo. Also great was bus up to Otavalo if you can manage a Saturday or Sunday to see the great market. Quite a few things to do around Otavalo.2
Depends on what your 15 yo is interested in but if she's a typical teenager I think things to do around Quito might be more to her liking. I found Cuenca a bit boring after a few days and i am an adult who likes old buildings but there are only so many you can see.3
Thanks for the review. Did you get to any beaches? We are going for 3-4 weeks in June. I'm thinking to fly into Cuenca and adjust to the altitude as we get to Quito. What do you think? Thanks!4
Helpful post. Could you give an idea of bus times : approx how long between Quito and Banos and Banos and Cuenca?We're planning to travel to Cuenca and the Southern Highlands from Quito over 2 to 3 weeks and hope to make use of trains where possible, tho we know it'll be buses mostly.
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We didn't go to any beaches so can't comment on that sorry. It may help if you go to Cuenca first, as it's still high (ish) but not as high as Quito. I took Diamox before I left home, and that seems to help a little.Buses - we didn't go direct from Quito to Banos so can't comment on that. Banos to Cuenca involves a stopover, and sometimes bus change in Tena or Ambato. Altogether the trip takes about 5-6 hours over horrendously high mountain roads. Spectacular scenery though. We had one stop half way through the mountains for the driver to grab something for lunch, so it's a chance to take advantage of a toilet stop, and also get something to eat.
