Ecuador - Guayaquil to Cuenca

After a mammoth flight from London to Guayaquil in Ecuador, we pretty much crashed out on arriving at our accommodation in Guayaquil. We were up early Sunday morning - yay jetlag -by early I mean 5am early! Sorted out some bits and pieces we hadn't had a chance to before leaving home and then headed through for breakfast. I had managed Warren's expectations but were pleasantly surprised to find that £10pp for accommodation in Ecuador gets you a clean room with towels, breakfast with eggs, a small swimming pool and some pet turtles.

Managed to purchase our bus tickets to Cuenca. We need a lot more Spanish! Luckily Ecuadorians seem very helpful and patient.

A beautiful 3hr bus ride from Guayaquil to Cuenca with our first view of the Andes and through a national park - Cajas - which was like the Scottish highlands with llamas and lakes dotted about.

Cuenca is a pretty colonial town at around 2500m altitude. Crazy when you think we are higher than most ski resorts in the Alps. You notice it climbing stairs!

It's a pretty quiet place on a Sunday although we did manage to find the flower market and have our first bit of street food for lunch -croquette type things - with a crazy DJ playing some tunes and selling cold hamburgers at a flower market. Round the corner was a band playing next to the oddest nativity scene I have ever seen! Roaming amongst the farm animals below baby Jesus was a TIGER!

We also discovered that Cuenca seems to be a popular place for Americans to retire to. One of the only places we found open was an expat American bar with NFL showing and a lot of retired Americans. Seems cost of living, good healthcare and spring like weather make it a popular choice.

Sunday night in Cuenca was even quieter! The only place for dinner we could find open was a German pizzeria. PIZZA for our first Ecuadorian dinner!

Looking forward to exploring more tomorrow when things are open!