Cuenca to Quito... a very cool view!

Mike and Louise got up with us at 6:15am yesterday morning and Mike took us to the airport. It was only a fifteen minute drive from their place. Thanks again for having us, and you know you're welcome to visit us in Valle de Bravo any time!

The Cuenca airport is very small, and we were soon through security and waiting in the departure lounge for our 7:45am flight.

Thanks for your concern

We had quite a few messages from people worried about all the news events in Mexico on Sunday. Fortunately, Mexico City wasn't affected, and there was only a couple of blocked roads and vehicle fires 20 kms from our town of Valle de Bravo.

In fact, the local government put out a notice on Sunday and another on Monday saying that you might notice more security vehicles around town, but that otherwise things were operating normally.

Hybrid travelers!

We had made plans to meet up for lunch with Warren and Julie. This is the couple who operate a popular youtube channel for expats at Warren & Julie Travel - Slow Travel Nomad Expats.

But before we went for lunch, we recorded a video with them that should be available at some point over the next week or two.

That was a tough hike, but with great views overlooking Cuenca!

There are a lot of hiking opportunities around Cuenca, but we wanted one that gave us a view of the city. So Ruth found a trailhead that began about 7 kms away and we took a taxi there. Taxis are cheap in Cuenca and it cost $3.50 USD ($4.80 CAD).

We may have bitten off more than we chew.

Well that was a busy day!

And we have the photos to prove it! 

So, lots of photos in today's post. Louise took us downtown again, and we visited the central market, the hat museum, went to the cathedral, went for lunch, then the Pumapungo Inca Museum.

Cuenca downtown

Cuenca is popular with the expat population, and we can definitely understand the attraction to the Cuenca area. 

The city center is nice to wander around and very walkable. The surrounding area is scenic with a lot of outdoor activities. The cost of living is relatively low. And it's a fairly safe area, compared to the other parts of Ecuador.

Wandering around Cuenca

No, we haven't made it to "el centro" yet. Yesterday was the last day of Carnival, and you could tell that there weren't as many people playing with the water and foam, although I did get sprayed with a shot of  foam that came from a passing car while we were walking on the sidewalk.

So we walked directly from the house to the Cuenca Botanical Gardens, and then to an art display at the old train station.

Out exploring - Sigsig and Chordeleg

Yesterday's blog was posted late, so if you missed it you can read it here...

https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2026/02/change-of-plans.html

Michel and Louise have been living here about three years now, so it's hard to find something new for them that they haven't done already! Anyhow, they took us for a drive east of Cuenca to the towns of Sigsig and Chordeleg.

Change of plans...

On Sunday, we did a day trip to the Giron Waterfall.

Again, this is Carnival in Ecuador, and so we're avoiding the central area of Cuenca. We're quickly learning that people here go a little crazy with the water and spray foam during this holiday long weekend that lasts until Wednesday. 

Arrived in Cuenca

We took the free hotel shuttle from central Guayaquil to the airport. We weren't flying anywhere, but the big Guayaquil bus station is only a fifteen minute walk from the airport.

As we were walking between the two, there was a coach bus loading outside of a tourist office and they were calling out "Cuenca!".

Guayaquil was better than expected

Despite being a "rough" city, if you stay in the main central area, Guayaquil actually has some interesting things to see. We still don't think it's worth much more than a day or two to visit, and we certainly don't see the attraction of living here. But we're glad we came to see it for ourselves.

We set out around 10:00am to do some exploring...

Guayaquil is a bit of a sketchy city

Nice to have the included breakfast at our hotel in Manta. We went out after breakfast and bought a few snacks for the bus ride to Guayaquil, then took an Uber taxi from the hotel to the Manta bus terminal.

The ride was about 7 kms (4.5 miles) and cost $3.13 USD ($4.25 CAD). 

First impressions of Ecuador - not the best

Keeping in mind that this quick Ecuador trip is mainly to reset our Mexican tourist visa, the only reason we arrived in Manta is because the flights were relatively cheap. I had done the research in advance and knew that Manta was not a place we would have planned to visit otherwise.

Welcome to Ecuador... country #74

Writing this from our hotel room in Manta, Ecuador.

So lets get you caught up on the last couple of days! We were busy with Lindsey and family on Monday, and then a travel day to Ecuador on Tuesday.

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