Ecuador
Galapagos islands were out of our budget and we almost overlooked the rest of Ecuador because of that. We are overly grateful we didn’t! Ecuador has so much more to offer and although the currency is tied to US dollars, it CAN be done on a backpacker budget.
Nature is a huge part of the make up of Ecuador. Home to 82 Volcanos, Ecuador is littered with hiking trails to panoramic views of the countries rugged beauty. Indigenous families still live in huts at extreme altitudes farming in the rich volcanic soils at the beginning of the Andes mountain range. Many of the fruits grown here are endemic to the region and found nowhere else.
The equator line and a few parlour tricks bemuse the more gullible tourists and indigenous markets full of colourful handicrafts captivate others. The Amazon is right on the doorstep and adventure activities line the canyons.
Galapagos is without a doubt Ecuador’s crown jewel but you cannot let that overshadow the rest of this beautiful and entertaining country. If you plan on travelling from Peru to Colombia or visa-versa then save some time for Ecuador, Galapagos or not you will love it.
*This blog was written in 2016, please note some things may have changed*
Transport
Ipiales, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador
Crossing the Colombia/Ecuador border was once a very difficult task, not anymore. We took a 10 minute collectivo ride from Ipiales bus station to the border.
There are no exit fees out of Colombia, nor entrance fees into Ecuador. Once you receive your exit stamp you will need to cross the bridge on foot to the Ecuador immigration building for your entry stamp.
This process does not take very long unless you are met with a line.
Take another collectivo from the border to the Tulcan bus terminal. Here you can catch a bus direct to Quito that takes approx 5 hours.
Quito to Baños
You can catch the C4 bus from the centre of town to Quitumbe (south) bus station. This will take around 40 minutes. Once you arrive at the bus station, buy your tickets at the Baños kiosk. The direct bus will take approximately 4 hours.
Baños to Cuenca
The bus to Cuenca includes one bus change.
From the Baños bus station (only one in town) buy a ticket to Riobamba, this bus leaves every hour from 8am – 6pm. It takes 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Once you get off at Riobamba station, catch a bus directly to Cuenca The total journey from Baños to Cuenca takes around 8 hours.
Be prepared with lots of reading material and some snacks!
Cuenca, Ecuador to Mancora, Peru
We decided to take a night bus as we hate wasting our days on buses. It is safe to cross the border from Ecuador into Peru at night.
There is around 3 bus companies that go by night into Ecuador, we shopped around and bought tickets with Super Semeria one day in advance. To us, they seemed like the best company – toilet on board, semi cami seats and the air con wasn’t cracked up to -1000, they even passed out a small treat of Oreo’s and a juice.
The bus left at 10pm, around 2am you arrive at immigration. Surprisingly, it was super fast and very easy. The only form required is the entry form into Peru. Get your exit stamps, and then at the very next counter, get your entry stamp into Peru. The process took 10 minutes and there were no hastles.
*Note there are no exit fees leaving Ecuador nor there are no Entry fees into Peru.
Accommodation
Quito
Hump Day Hostel – This has to be one of our favourite hostels in Central/South America. Hump day hostel was only opened for a month before we got there, so everything is very clean and new (a change to what we normally stay in). The hostel has a really nice boutique feel to the interior. They offer both dorm beds and private rooms.
The private bedroom surpassed the standard of some hotels. The room was homely and quaint with large a cupboard to unpack into and extremely soft comfortable bedding. What we liked about the dorm beds is that each bed came with it’s own power socket, light and a pouch to hold your small belongings. Breakfast is included, basic but delicious – 2 slices of bread, eggs and some chopped fruit. Coffee and tea is available for free all day. The staff are very friendly and all were helpful, any questions we had (I always have a few) were cheerfully answered.
The tours available at the hostel are very good, so make sure you sign up with them (check out our must do’s for more information). We would recommend this place to our family and friends, so if you’re in Quito make sure you stay at Hump day hostel.
Baños
Great Hostels – was recommended to us during our stay at Hump day hostel. When we arrived we were welcomed with a free dinner of risotto! On Mondays through Wednesdays the hostel offers free dinner to those who like their facebook page and attend the online dinner event (note this must be done before 7pm to qualify for the free dinner).
We loved this idea, it brings everyone together and creates a social happy atmosphere.
On Saturdays they offer free cocktails! Why would you not stay at this awesome place.
A breakfast of oats with jam, fresh croissants, juice and coffee is included. Located 5 minutes walk from the town (Baños is quite small and quite safe to walk around at night) Perhaps our favourite thing about Great Hostel is the large dorm beds. We had a double bed each! It is a bit more expensive than other places in Baños though it has a good vibe and the gratis meals makes it actually quite cheap. Great hostel really was great.
Cuenca
Mi Casa Hostel – We found this hostel on hostelworld, they had really good reviews and photos so we thought we would give it a go. Mi Casa hostel was lovely; it really felt like a home, which is always so nice. The private room was basic and the hostel has large outdoor and living room areas. The kitchen was really good but lacked utensils. 10 minutes walking distance from the city centre and safe to walk during the night. This hostel did not have breakfast included but it was a really relaxing place to stay.
Food
- Caldo De Patas – this is a popular/typical soup of Ecuador, soup of cow feet. Be careful you will need to go to a good restaurant that specialise in this because this dish can go wrong easily.
- Seco de Chivo – Goat cooked in jungle fruit served with rice and salad. You can also Seco de Pollo, which is my favourite.
- Ceviche de chocho – In Quito Ceviche is expensive as they are not close to the ocean. They replace the fish with the super food chochos, (luping bean). You can eat chochos also by themselves as a healthy snack from the supermarket for $1.
- Ornardo – is a crispy whole pig. You can buy a portion of pork, mashed potatoes and salad with avocado very cheap around Ecuador. We had it at Santa Clara market in Quito and it was very yummy.
- Granadilla – is a fruit that can be bought at the markets. It is the same family a passion fruit but white with yellow seeds. Very tasty!
- Helado de Paila – is a traditional ice cream. Before electricity, Ecuadorians would run up the mountains and collect ice from the glaciers to make ice cream. Nowadays, lucky for the glacier this process no longer happens. However they still make ice cream and it is delicious.
- Colado morada – A purple drink, made from black corn flour, purple fruits and herbal tea. This can be served hot or cold.
- Pilsener beer – after a long day of exciting activities the Pilsener beer is exactly the refreshing drink you’ll need.
Recommended Restaurants
Quito
- Santa Clara market. This is a great food market with regulated hygiene rules. It is safe for travellers to eat anything here. They offer delicious traditional Ecuadorian food and at very cheap prices. We recommend getting the Ornardo with a Colado Morado drink.
Cuenca
- Raymipampa restaurant. An award winning restaurant and popular amongst the gringos. They serve mouth watering Ecuadorian food, although more expensive than usual.
- Tutto Freddo. After dinner at Raymipampa, go next door and choose a delicious sweet treat – from cakes to ice cream, brownies to milkshakes, they have everyone’s favourite here.
Must see & do
Quito
- There are lots of day trips from Quito. We Saturday Otavalo Market and the other to Quilotoa Crater Lake. Both were organised through Ecuatraveling (The same people who own Hump Day Hostel). Both tours were very informative and our guide Omar, who was hilarious, took really good care of us. We totally recommended doing your tours through this company.
- Otavalo Market day tour – A good way to see the largest indigenous market in South America. The tour is jammed packed with other activities, you will get to see the Equator line, have a small meal at a bizcochos restaurant, explore the Otavalo market and visit Cuicocha crater lake all in one day. Note – make sure you bring cash, as there are so many beautiful handicrafts to buy.
- Quilotoa Lake Day Tour – One of the most beautiful lagoons in South America with water that can change colour from light blues to greens, purple and even yellows! Before arriving to the lake you visit a local fruit and vegetable market in Pujili. Buy all kinds of fruit endemic to Ecuador and the guide will show you how to eat them. Next stop is the spectacular Crater Lake. Hike down to the bottom and if you are adventurous go for a swim. Mules at the bottom will take you back to the top. The 4000m altitude makes the exercise very tough. The last stop is to visit the house of an indigenous family living in the highlands. With no electricity and no Internet it is amazing to see how they live and survive off the land. We thoroughly enjoyed both of these full on adventure days and were knackered after both of them.
- Cotopaxi day tour – We did not go on this tour. However this is very popular among tourists. Hike to the highest active volcano in the world.
- La Roja – A street located in the historic district, here you can find a lot of restaurants and souvenir shops. Lively on Friday and Saturday nights, with traditional dancing and bands in the street, which is really cool to see.
- Free walking tour – as you may know free walking tours are my favourite. Walk around the city and learn about the cities heritage, buildings and monuments. Feast on the local knowledge you will pick up.
Baños
- Baños is known as the adventure capital. With so many different companies vying for your business the activities are very cheap. Rafting, canyoning, ziplining and puenting (similar to bungy).
- ‘Tree house’ swing off the edge of the world. This is very popular as it is such a picturesque swing! Bus for 45 minutes up to the tree house, this leaves from town every two hours.
- Hire bikes for $5 a day, they will show you the bike route to see a number of waterfalls. The entry fee is $1.50. Be warned: you could get really soaked. It is a beautiful 22km ride through a gorge, and mainly down hill. On your return we suggest taking the bike trucks back for $2. Save yourself from the long bike ride back up the hill to town.
- Visit the Hot Springs – a great way to finish a day full of hiking. There are different temperature pools to soak in and relax those tired muscles.
- Try Melcocha – you can’t walk through Baños without noticing the men in doorways pulling down and lengthening a long piece of candy. They are making Melcocha, a sweet sugar cane candy. Once it is the right texture they will cut it in lengths, wrap it in plastic and sell them to those with a sweet tooth.
Cuenca
We did not spend a lot of time here, as it was mainly a stopover to get to Peru. To our surprise it was a beautiful town, with many beautiful looking buildings and churches. Cuenca is a very photogenic place.
- Visit the award winning Ecuadorian restaurant, Raymipampa. Truly a delicious place to eat – check out the food section for more details.
Tips & Advice
- Currency is US dollars
- Do not drink the tap water; refill your water in hostels to save plastic.
- High season is during June to September; expect sunnier days in the highlands. Galapagos high season is January to May.
- Low season is December to May, it is a lot colder and rainy but prices are generally lower during this season.
- If you head out at La Roja in Quito, make sure you go out on a Friday or Saturday night so all the shops/restaurants are open
- When travelling to Baños note there are ATM’s there to get cash out
- Galapagos tip – don’t organise/book your trip, fly out to the islands and once you are there it is much cheaper to book tours and accommodation.
- Don’t walk up the virgin monument in Quito, take the bus or a taxi as it is a dangerous part of town. People are known to get mugged on route to the monument.
- Pack a raincoat, while on treks/walks you never know when it will rain due to the unpredictable weather at altitude on the equator.
- When going to Otavlao market, there are so many beautiful crafts it will be hard not to buy everything. If you do spend all your money don’t worry there is a few ATM machines there to get some more out 😉
- When going to visit the indigenous people in the highlands bring some sweets or chocolates for the children instead of money. It is a treat just for them and something they will appreciate more than money.
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