Once we were on the plane we mapped out a little bit of our trip. Well, “mapped out” may be a bit optimistic. We really just flipped through our travel guide and agreed upon a few “must see” places. We also decided that we couldn’t afford to go to the Galapagos this trip, after all, and that we’d take another trip just to the Galapagos when we are richer. We knew it was expensive to go to the Galapagos, but because we really didn’t do any research until we were on the plane, we didn’t know just how expensive. It turns out that flying to the Galapagos from the mainland (which is necessary) is US $400, gaining entrance to the Islands is $100, the boat trip around the islands is $1000 (if you’re very lucky to get a good deal), and diving is even more still (about $200 per dive). That’s in addition to what we already paid for our flight to Ecuador and the cost of the other 2.5 weeks of our travels. So, Galapagos will have to wait. I was not in the least bit disappointed by this decision because there is so much other amazing stuff to do in Ecuador, plus we can go to Galapagos another time during low season and not have to deal with as many other tourists (I was kind of dreading how touristy it was going to be). Dave was a bit disappointed, but he’s over it already.
We also discovered that Guayaquil, the city in which we were about to land, isn’t a great city (nothing much to see except one kind of overdone touristy area, plus it’s kind of dangerous there). We didn’t want to waste any time there, so we decided that we’d head straight from the airport to the bus station and head south to a city called Cuenca (pronounced Kwen-ka).
We slept for about 3 hours of the 6 hour flight and arrived in Guayaquil just before 6 am feeling tired & grumpy. It was rainy and humid as hell. Much to our immense relief, our backpacks were locked safely in a room in the airport. Once outside the airport, we found a taxi. We had inquired inside the airport about the cost of the taxi to the bus station, so we knew that the driver was trying to rip us off when he quoted us the price. We only had to argue for about 3 minutes to get the driver to agree to the correct price – $3 – and we patted ourselves on the back for how adept at not getting ripped off we’ve become over the years. I also patted myself on the back for miraculously remembering some of the Spanish that I learned this time last year in Cuba/Costa Rica/Nicaragua.
Once at the bus station, we figured out how to buy a ticket to where we wanted to go without too much trouble at all. No one spoke a word of English, so I was impressed at how easily we found the right window (there were dozens of them), bought the tickets ($8 each for a 5 hour trip), and figured out how where we needed to be and when the bus arrived. We even laughed smugly about what seasoned travellers we were, because we were barely blinking an eye at the chaos and odd sights around us and we were figuring everything out so quickly in a place with no English signs or English speakers. Then, at 7:45 a.m., we approached the turnstile to wait for our 8:00 a.m. bus. The woman guarding the turnstile wouldn’t let us through. It was apparent that we had to pay to go through, but she wouldn’t take any of our money! Finally, with the help of an English-speaking stranger, we realized that even though the official currency of Ecuador is the US dollar, that is only true for bills…they have their own Ecuadorian coins, and we didn’t have any. The cost to go through the turnstile was 10 cents each, and we needed exact change – she wouldn’t take the dollar we were trying to give her, nor would she accept our US coins. No one – strangers or bus ticket sellers - would give us any change for a dollar, so we had to run quite a ways through the terminal to a money changing booth. When we got back to the turnstile, it was about 7 minutes before 8 a.m. and our bus was already gone. Ok, so we aren’t so smart after all it turns out…but this kind of thing is part of the fun of backpacking, I think. Anyway, it was no big deal, we just had to stand there for an extra half hour.
Once the bus came, Dave dealt with putting our bags under the bus while I secured a seat for us. I got in a shouting match (in Spanish!) with an old man who was insisting on sitting in the seat next to me that I had saved for Dave (despite the fact that there were several other seats available), but I won and he moved. I don’t know if he even knew what I was trying to say (not sure if I even knew), but he probably detected the “I stayed up for almost 3 straight days grading papers, then spent 24 hours in Newark with no toiletries of any kind, flew on a red-eye flight in a non-reclining seat, argued with a dishonest taxi driver, missed my damn bus, and now I’m in no mood for you to fuck with me, old man!!!” look in my eye. He probably thought I was an obnoxious American, which would normally really bother me, but at that point I didn’t care! We slept for pretty much the entire bus ride (very comfortably, thanks to the airplane pillows we “borrowed” from Continental…it’s the least they could do, really), only waking up to catch glimpses of some of the most beautiful scenery we’d ever seen. Lush green mountains, jagged cliffs, beautiful rivers, and small villages – I suddenly felt extremely excited about the next 3.5 weeks in Ecuador!
We arrived in a city called Cuenca at around 1:30 pm, immediately found a taxi (with a friendly and honest driver who didn’t try to overcharge us!), and got dropped off at a hotel (more like a pension) that sounded ok from what we read in the travel guide. It was great indeed - $9 a night per person for a small but clean room with outlets for our laptops, creaky old hardwood floors, interesting peach-coloured walls, a little balcony with a great view of the town’s market, and best of all, our own bathroom with hot water! $18 per night for a room is quite expensive here, but we decided to splurge since we decided to do nothing but work for the next two days (damn final grading!!!) and we wanted to be comfortable in our room. Plus, the $9 each also included breakfast, so we were happy.
The process of getting the room made me realize that my Spanish – although definitely sufficient to communicate at a very basic level – leaves a lot to be desired. That was confirmed when Dave and I grabbed a quick lunch in the café that is part of our hotel – I ordered a “tortilla con pollo” thinking that I was getting a tortilla with chicken in it. I forgot that tortilla actually means omelette, but thankfully it was as good as a chicken omelette can be (especially for $1.50). Plus, it was served with a plate of cold, plain, somewhat stale popcorn – what more can a person ask for? We also ordered coffee, which came as a full cup of scalded milk (evaporated milk at that!) with a jar of instant coffee that we were to add to the milk. Both components on their own are bad enough, and the combination of the two was really bad. I decided to be high maintenance and insisted that we go on a search for a good cup of coffee.
Here are three pictures taken from our balcony. We really lucked out on the view!
We walked around town and finally found a place that made the most delicious cappuccino I’ve ever had (actually more like a latte), complete with cinnamon sprinkled on top. It was so good (and we were so tired) that we had two cappuccinos each – they were pretty small and only 75 cents a cup! We then decided that if we were going to work in our room all night, we’d at least need some wine. I put my Spanish to the test asking strangers for directions to a supermarket where we could buy wine, which turned out to be pretty easy. We grabbed a few bottles and headed back to the room to change out of the clothes that we’d been wearing since Monday (eww) and get to work. We liked Cuenca so much on our brief jaunt around town that we have decided to stay here until Christmas. Cuenca is a city of about 420,000 people (feels smaller) that feels slightly more modern than many Latin American cities we’ve been to (e.g., in Central America), but is nonetheless very quaint and beautiful. It is a colonial city with narrow cobblestone streets, whitewashed buildings, 
amazingly beautiful domed churches, and nice little marketplaces scattered around. The city centre, where we are staying, is a UNESCO world heritage site. The city is very clean and the people are friendly and approachable. And short…very, very short. Dave keeps looking around and saying, “Man, I’m so tall. God, I am a giant!” Remarkably, these statements are accurate in this city! ;o)Apparently Cuenca is a popular tourist destination, but there do not seem to be many tourists here right now. When we walked around the city (admittedly only for an hour or two), we only saw two other white couples and our bus to Cuenca only had one other backpacker on board.
Even in the café that’s part of our hotel, we were the only tourists – everyone else was local. Plus, no one here speaks any English, which to me means that it can’t be that touristy. So, we’re happy.
One other note about Cuenca, before I stop procrastinating and finish grading my papers! Most of the locals here are just your average citizens, wearing clothes much like anyone in North American would wear. These people seem to be fairly affluent – definitely middle class or upper middle class people who are well-dressed and seem to drive nice cars. Then there are the indigenous women who walk around dressed in tribal costumes. These indigenous women are
very distinctive looking. I would say that they comprise about ¼ of the total population in the streets, and they are uniformly very short (I’d guess 5’ would be the upper height limit and that most are around 4´7´´) and very stout/strong/stocky. They wear very interesting outfits – thick leggings, colourful dresses or skirts and blouses, aprons over their dresses, some wear shawls or ponchos, but all wear Panama hats! (Actually, Panama hats originated in and are still made in Ecuador, and Cuenca is the Panama hat centre of Ecuador. Little-known fact!) Anyway, many of these women carry HUGE loads of stuff on their backs (using a blanket as a makeshift backpack) – not sure if these are personal effects or if they are going to sell things at one of the markets. Either way, these women are very interesting and I am going to learn more about them. Ok, back to work for now!
Here’s a photo from our night walk.
Monday, Dec 18/Tuesday, Dec 19 - Goodbye New York, hello…..Newark, New Jersey?!?
After packing in about 20 minutes (literally) and making a mad dash to the airport, I met Dave at our gate at about 10 pm. When our flight began boarding at around 11 pm, we noticed that we didn’t have any seat numbers written on our boarding passes. We spoke to the woman at the desk, who assured us that we’d get seats shortly, as soon as they figured out some kind of weight issue with the baggage. I’ll spare you the frustrating details of the next few hours, but it was 3:30 a.m. before we arrived at the Howard Johnson at the Newark airport…without our bags. Despite the fact that we got to spend one extra day in Newark, our backpacks had the privilege of travelling to Ecuador on the initial flight. Of course, because I packed in record time,I didn’t do that whole “pack toiletries and essential items in your carry-on” thing (nor did Dave), so all we had was our work and the clothes on our back. I do always keep a little deodorant, toothbrush, & toothpaste in my purse, but because I didn’t have it packed in a @#%! 1-quart Ziploc bag, of course it was confiscated when I went through security. Anyway, Continental put us up at the Ho-jo, gave us each $26 worth of food vouchers, and gave us the choice between a $700 Continental travel voucher (each) or a $400 cheque (each) for the trouble. We took the cheques – an extra $400 each on the night before a vacation is sweet! This delay was actually a blessing in disguise because both Dave and I were SOOOO sleep deprived and we both had a ton of work to do, not to mention that neither of us had ever read a thing about where we were heading or what we were getting ourselves into. So, the extra 24 hrs in Newark gave us a chance to sleep in a little, do some work, and crack open our travel guide to figure out where we were about to go. We also had the joyous opportunity to interact with so many of the lovely and pleasant people of Newark…I think the Newark airport (along with the airport hotel and bus system) is some kind of Mecca for incompetent assholes who can only speak in grunts, are physically incapable of smiling, and couldn’t act professional if their lives depended on it. Yes, I’m a little bitter. Anyway, we survived our 24 hours within the confines of the airport and got on our flight Tuesday night at midnight with no problems.
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