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My return to Ecuador, this time i went alone, and for 3month, to learn spanish. now it is like my second home, and i know i will return! (text is in swiss-german...sorry guys..but i don't wanna translate...but there are also a lot of pictures)

My daypack has been stolen. It contained 300 quids worth of gear and it´s all gone. My Ipod, fleece, sunglasses, swiss army knife, first aid kit,  even my Lonely Planet Guidebook, the lot. Four of us were sat in a cafe having lunch, the bag was on my right but slightly behind me. I even thought about dragging it forward and wrapping a strap around my leg but decided that it wasn´t necessary. But clearly it was - someone who had been eating in the cafe obviously just pulled th...

After our disappointing day in Alausi, the Germans and I continued on to Cuenca together with hopes of green pastures.  The light drizzle could not the hide the beauty of this Spanish feeling colonial town as we walked the streets in the morning.  The Inca ruins in town were a bit of a joke, the whole area was only about 20 meters by 20 meters and the highlight was nothing more and a part of a stone wall. The morning drizzle turned into an afternoon downpour ...

One of the most amazing little countries. Beautiful place and people. The Amazon and the Andes...what more could you ask for. Stayed in the Amazon. Also took a train from Quito to Cuenca through the Avenue of the Volcanoes.

Cuenca - written up as the 3rd largest and most attractive of Ecuador´s cities.  Unfortunately, it far from lived up to expectations and sadly left a bitter taste at the end of a superb 3 weeks in Ecuador. The journey from Baños had been yet again been filled with great views on a lovely clear day starting with the erupting Volcan Tungurahua near Baños, passing Volcan Chimborazo (providing us with the views we wanted on the day we climbed it), through Alausi and passed where the...

So, hier nun also ein bisschen etwas von dem, was wir in 5 Wochen in Ecuador, Peru und nochmal Ecuador mit der Kamera eingefangen haben! Eindruecke einer nicht immer leichten aber dafuer abenteuerreichen und vorallem schoenen Reise :)

Cuenca seemed to be at the heart of the tourist trail through Ecuador. I suppose that the UNESCO world heritage site designation, agreeable climate, and charming amalgamation of quaint colonial character and upscale modernism are partly to blame. With around 500,000 people Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador, behind Guayaquil and Quito respectively. The city is inundated with churches and museums and appears to have a lot to offer culturally. It is also located about an hour away...

So if you're told to meet at a hotel at 8:20 a.m. and you stand in it's doorway between 8:10 and 8:35 you'd expect to be found wouldn't you ?  Sadly it was not the case for me so I'm not quite sure what went wrong here. The friendly staff at the Inca Real hotel jumped on the phone to my tour company to see if they could figure out what went wrong, however the guide was already out in the National park by that point and had apparently checked the hotel so who knows ??? To their credit Te...

Arriving in Cuenca's historic centre, it wasnt the Ecuador we knew. The colonial style buildings with little balconies were all class, there were trendy little cafes everywhere, lots of clothing and shoe stores, some organisation in the road rules, a beautiful river running through the middle....it was definitely a place that had its act together. A student town with a number of Universities, it had a vibe that was different to what we had so far experienced in Ecuador. Not better o...

A year spent exploring South East Asia, Australasia and my favouriter continent of South America

I got into Guayaquil, Ecuador about 7 P.M. then took a taxi to the bus station and got on a 8 P.M. bus to Cuenca. I arrived in Cuenca at 11:30, found a hostal (El Cafecito, 5 bucks) and went to find some food. I asked around, most people told me there was no luck except snacks, then a security guard told me to go to a light shining in a construction area next to a church. Called out and a lady came to the barred window. Not many options... I had pollo seco (rice, beans, garbanzos, and chicken...

Arrived in Cuenca and have spent a few days here.  It´s nice - many colonial buildings and interesting looking churches in the central area, with a pleasant and safe atmosphere.  They actually make an effort to keep it clean too - I´ve spotted road sweepers which is a first since I´ve been in South America!But a lot of the people here are wealthy and fashionable, and many of the shops sell jewellery and expensive clothing to these normal Ecuadorian folk whereas in other town...

Meinen schoenen 9 1/2 Tage im wundervollen Cuenca!

Oh Cuenca, how beautiful you are. Cuenca was like an oasis after the terrible border crossing we had. So happy to be in Ecuador! Cuenca is the most unique city that we have been to on this Latin America tour 2007 and the only place we could both see ourselves living in for a long period of time. The city is very modern yet has beautiful colonial architecture that they have maintained quite well. It is also a university town which always lends itself to great nightlife and good cheap eateries....

We arrived in Cuenca last night. After trying to pronounce it at the bus station in Banos, and finding out it is actually said ¨Kwenka¨ we finally hit the road for the 8 hour journey! The bus rides aren´t as bad as we had thought, we have gotten used to them now and cranking up the MP3 player always helps (and having a wee snooze of course). Got to our hostel, which is also a cafe so not a lot of privacy. We changed hostels the next day anyway. Have had a good walk around and Cuenca is th...