A rest from all those buses for a few days
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2010
1
49
366
Trip End
Jul 13, 2012
Where I stayed
Cuenca, Ecuador
Sunday, February 20, 2011
At 10.45am we caught a taxi back to the bus station to catch our 11.30 bus to Cuenca. The bus was still a local bus but was a bit bigger than the last but the windows didn't open and they overfilled it with people standing in the aisle. Luckly it was only a 4 to 5 hour journey and we arrived into Cuenca around 4pm. We then caught a taxi to hostel El Cafecito where we had a nice room that overlooked the garden. After checking in to the room, we went for a wander and walked down to the river and back, we met Simon again at our hostel, he was staying somewhere much cheaper and we all had dinner (chilli with nachos) in the hostel's cafe. After that we wandered round to his hostel to check it out while he went to the internet cafe, and we also looked at a few more as ours didn't have a kitchen to use and in comparison was a little expensive. We then went back to our room for a shower and some more Desperate Housewives and then off to bed.
21st Feb.
Got up at 8.30am and walked into town to buy some things for breakfast. After breakfast we dropped our laundry off and then sat in the cafe and caught up on emails and internet until 12pm when we had to check out. Once checked out we walked round the corner to a hostel called La Casa Cuencana and checked in there. Here it is nearly half the price and has a kitched to use. The internet is a little slow though as it is from a wi-fi hot spot down the road and you can only get connected upstairs on the terrace which is not covered. Once we'd settled in we went to the bus station to book our bus ticket to Guayaquil and stopped for a bit to eat on the way. We found that there is a bus every 40mins to Guayaquil and there was no need to book so we walked back via Parque San Blas and church. On our way back we stopped at a bureau de change to swap our last sols for dollars and at a butchers to buy some chicken and at the market for veggies for tonights dinner. We then headed back to the hostel where we chilled out for a while and then made dinner. After dinner we got chatting to a couple of girls (one English and one Russian but studying in the US) about our travels and swapping tips. Later we watched a bit more Desperate Housewives (there's no TV here) and then got some sleep.
22nd Feb.
Had a nice lie-in this morning 'till 9am then got up for breakfast on the terrace. We couldn't believe how slow the internet was and was unable to check our email as yahoo wouldn't load so gave up. At 11.30am we walked to the laundrette to collect our laundry, but when we got back we discovered that I was one sock missing and Cat had a whole pair missing plus a pair of earplugs she'd put in her zipped trouser pocket to clean. So we walked back and got them to search for the missing items. We did find them eventually in a tumble dryer so all was well. We then went into town to check out the sights first at the main plaza which has a huge cathedral next to it and then had lunch sat outside Santa Domingo church. Afterwards we walked down to San Francisco church and then over the river to the Colegio Benigno Malo building which is quite impressive. After that we walked to the Parque de la Madre and swung on the swings. From there it was just a short walk to the Supermaxi supermarket which is so much bigger than anything we'd found in town. We bought fish and chips for dinner and a pithaya fruit (which we first found in Sao Paulo, Brazil) for dessert. We then headed back to the hostel making it back in time to miss a heavy down pour. Once it had stopped, (and we were so fed up with the really bad internet) we decided to walk round the corner to where we stayed the first night and “borrow” their wi-fi. We found a seat on the step of the church opposite and sent a few emails then returned back to the hostel to cook dinner. However, this time we had to use the sister hostel's kitchen (across the road) as it had a much better kitchen with an oven. We then showered and chilled out for the rest of the evening until bed time watching, you guessed it more Desperate Housewives.
23rd Feb.
Had another bus to catch today this time to Guayaquil. So after some breakfast we went round the corner to "borrow" some free internet to check emails and then went back to check out. Once checked out we caught a taxi to the bus station to get on the 10.50am to Guayaquil and to our delight it wasn´t a local bus! We relaxed in our semi-cama seats and with only 6 of us on board we headed out of the city enjoying the air-con as we breezed along
