Navigating The City On My Own

We started today with breakfast at the cafe where we are staying. I had scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes and toast with Papaya jam, yummy! Rod had a B.E.L.T. that’s short for bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato. We had fun chatting with our hosts Jenny and Chris and met another Expat by the name of Clark. Clark writes one of the Ecuador blogs that Rod reads and he and his wife have moved to Cuenca just recently. Clark was a teacher in Kentucky and like so many of us was concerned about retiring on his pension and Soc. Sec. in the U.S., so he and his wife and their two dogs picked up after living in Kentucky for 20 years and moved to Cuenca and they love it.

The Cafe Where We Are Staying

Jenny Making My Cappuccino

While we were talking to Clark, one of Marcelo’s helpers brought over the renderings of the house so that we actually had something to look at. We tried to tell her in our non existent Spanish that we needed to add a laundry room and only dos banos’ upstairs. I can count and say bathroom in Spanish, how far do you think that gets me?

Rod Studying The Renderings

I realized early on this morning that we were rapidly running out of clean clothes, so I asked our hosts if they knew of a laundry mat close by? They put two X’s on the map and gave me a garbage bag to put my dirty clothes in. Rod wasn’t feeling well and I was feeling adventures so I set off on foot with map in hand and a big bulging trash bag full of laundry. I literally looked like a bag lady.

Of course I didn’t need a map, I had seen a laundry mat across from one of the restaurants we ate at one morning. I knew I could find it again. Well after walking five city blocks with my bag that felt like 50 pounds, I finally sat down and pulled out the map to get my bearings. Of course once I did that I walked about a half block more and found not the laundry mats on the map, but the one I had remembered. I walked up to the little window and in my best Spanish greeted the lady behind the counter with a Buenos Dias’ and handed her the bag. She put it on the scale and when I asked her what time it would be ready with my excellent sign language I think she said 7:00 pm. I just hope our clothes are actually there when we go to pick them up as I was not given any kind of receipt.

Now I felt energized without that big bag and decided to set off to explore the city. After all I will have to learn my way around. I walked up and down streets trying to be mindful of my home base so as not to get to lost. The streets were bustling with activity, people walking everywhere, vendors selling their goods and of course lots of traffic. As I walked my senses were assaulted by all kinds of smells (not all of them good) and colorful sights.

Flower Market

I walked past bakeries, churches, flower markets, hardware stores, drugstores, feed stores and everything else imaginable. It was fun to look in the windows and see the activities inside. There were dogs laying on the floor of little street cafes, old people exchanging conversation and young women with their children playing in and around the stores. There were street vendors pushing wheelbarrows full of fruit up and down the streets. A hard way to make a living, but this is one of the things we love about Cuenca, everyone works and you hardly ever see anyone begging for a handout. I walked to the river once again and strolled along the side just taking it all in.

Biblical Museum

Structure On The River Bank

Houses On The River

Street Vendors

Bakery

Feed Store Window

Look At All The Bees In This Bake Case
I Would Hate To Be The Clerk That Has
To Get A Doughnut Out Of There!

The Stairs To & From The River Built On Inca Ruins
You See We Will Quickly Be In Shape

After a while I headed home to check on Rod and found he was ready to go view the house again. We gathered our renderings and walked to the house to try and make heads and tales out of the layout. Once in the house, we laid out the drawings and began taking notes. We had a few ideas and wrote them down so that we can pass them by Marcelo. We counted the rooms downstairs and figured out we can do 5 rentals and one house keeper’s quarters. I went up on the roof to take a look and found that just as you step on to the roof there is a little room straight ahead (probably 6’ x 4’) that would make a perfect writing room. It overlooks the Blue Domes and one of the church steeples. I don’t need any more inspiration than that!

At dinner time we called an English speaking cab driver that came recommended by our hosts. What a relief as the last time we were here getting around the city in a cab posed quite a challenge. Angel (the cab driver) first took us to pick up our laundry and yes it was all there, neatly folded and waiting on us. We dropped the laundry back at the hotel before heading off to dinner. We chose an Italian restaurant on the other side of town that had good reviews, but we weren’t all that impressed. The menu was in spanish and we only recognized a few words so it was luck of the draw. Puttanesca is one of my favorite pasta dishes and that is what I ordered, but it wasn’t to my liking and there was shrimp in it which I didn’t care for. Rod ordered Calamari (what was he thinking?) and a pasta dish that had all kinds of seafood in it. We were really living dangerous tonight.

All Our Laundry Washed & Folded For $7.06
8 prs. of pants, 4 prs. socks, 6 shirts and more.

Angel picked us up after dinner and drove us to the main plaza where we topped off a bad meal with some good Gelato. Rod had a banana split made with Gelato (how decadent) and I just had a scoop of Limone Gelato, very refreshing after a heavy meal. We walked back to the hotel and Rod studied the house drawings once again.

Tomorrow we meet with the lawyer in the morning and again with Marcelo in the afternoon. It has been a long day and I’m ready to call it a day. We will see what tomorrow brings.

A Long Night Indeed

Rod’s shoulder was bothering him so much last night that neither one of us got much sleep and are only functioning on half a tank today. This afternoon we will meet with Marcelo and his staff again to go over the plans. Rod and I decided to try a new American restaurant for breakfast that we had been reading about. It is called California Kitchen and offers a more typical American fare. Rod ordered a waffle with eggs and bacon, while I chose granola, fruit and yogurt. We both ordered the fresh squeezed blackberry juice that has now become our favorite juice when we come over here.

Fresh Blackberry Juice, Nectar of the Gods

We met with one of  the owners and his daughter who was our server. The family of four had moved here from Arizona for the same reasons a lot of Americans are moving...to offer a better quality of life at a more affordable price. The restaurant was really nice, fresh flowers on all the tables, linen cloths and of course great hospitality. They serve breakfast and lunch and then dinner on certain nights. It was a bit of a walk from where we are staying, but well worth it.

The California Kitchen

After breakfast we decided to go look at the property, just the two of us and start to plan out in our heads what would go where. At this point it looks like the best option will be to have our living quarters upstairs and rental rooms downstairs. We do have a retail space up front that we would like to build out for some sort of restaurant and then lease it out. No more restaurant business for us. The plan is to have maybe 5 or 6 rental rooms to generate some income and then of course the restaurant for our guests convenience and also to produce income. We decided it best to have the rentals downstairs in order to keep the upstairs private.

After going through the house a couple of times, we locked it up and peered into the house next door (the one that looks very similar to ours). You could see from the front gate into the first courtyard and part of the balcony that surrounds it. The layout is very much the same as ours, but much more ornate on the front as well as the inside. The facade is in really rough shape where as ours is not. When I was taking pictures of the courtyard my eye caught a cat snoozing on the balcony railing, what a balancing act.

Courtyard Of The House Next To Us

Careful Kitty

We decided to return to our room for some much needed R&R and as Rod snores I write this blog. We obviously have two totally different ideas of R&R.

This afternoon Marcelo, his helpers and Maca met us at our hotel to go over the renderings with us and find out what our ideas were. We spent a good deal of time deciding on how the guest rooms would be set up and all agreed it would be best to have our living quarters upstairs and our gust rooms down. This would afford us the privacy we needed and at the same time allow our guests to have the first floor to themselves and come and go as they please.

We are thinking that we want to put a small cafe in the front retail space that serves only breakfast and lunch. That way our guests will have a place to eat when they stay with us. It looks like we will probably have five to six guest rooms (plenty for family to come visit) and then a common area in the front courtyard with tables and chairs where people can sit and meet or just relax.

Upstairs will be our space where Mom and Bob will share one side of the house and we will share the other side. We will each have a large bedroom, bathroom and sitting area. Bob want’s his own project room and Mom and I will share our project room. Of course the whole house will be Rod’s project room (teehee).

We will share a huge common living area, laundry room and kitchen and maybe a butler’s pantry. We have decided to put a deck off the back of the kitchen that overlooks the back courtyard/garden and that will be our outdoor space. We will have stairs that lead up to the roof and down to the garden. There is also a second common area with a balcony that we will share that is off of the kitchen. Plans are subject to change, but we have to get these as perfect as possible the first time, otherwise we have to start over and it will be another 9 months to get them approved again.

After our meeting with Marcelo, Rod and I took off and walked to the square to grab a bite of dinner. It was a beautiful walk and we took pictures along the way. We went to a restaurant that we had been to on our first trip and I ordered cream of tomato soup and an avocado stuffed with a grilled chicken salad. My soup came out in a huge bowl and I couldn’t even finish my meal, but it was delicious. Rod was disappointed in his dinner. He thought he was ordering pan fried shrimp and potatoes, instead he got boiled shrimp and rice. We better learn the language quick!

An Interesting Building We Saw On Our Walk

The Square and The Blue Domes

The View From Our Restaurant Window

After dinner we walked downstairs and discovered a lovely little cafe that served Gelato and Espresso drinks and baked goods. All of the Gelatos were labeled in Spanish and I was feeling a bit adventurous so I ordered a flavor that I had no idea what it was. Turned out to be some sort of caramel with a crunch to it, absolutely delicious! Rod got chocolate chip and we sat and enjoyed our surroundings for a while.

The Gelato Cafe Inside

The Gelato Cafe Front

A Church On the Way Back

While staying at our hotel I had met our downstairs neighbors, Jim and Kay. It’s a small world as I learned that they are from Denton Texas. They wanted to hear all about our house buying adventures in Ecuador and I told them we would try to get together before they leave. On our way home from the restaurant I thought I spied Jim and Kay and as we passed on the street and I shouted out a big “HELLO.” The lady looked at me like I was crazy and about to mug her and her husband. I told Rod they must not have recognized me.

When we returned to the hotel about two minutes later, there were Jim and Kay getting ready to leave. Ooops, there is some lady out there that’s going to tell all her friends while in Ecuador there was a lady walking down the street yelling Hello to perfect strangers. Oh well.

Decisions Decisions Decisions

We met Maca, Lucia, Marcelo (the architect) and his two assistants this afternoon at the house. Maca was there to interpret for us and Lucia was there to give us a history of the house. The house was pretty much as I had remembered it, but since Rod had not paid much attention the first time we saw it he was now curled up in the fetal position with his thumb in his mouth.

The house does need a lot of work, but we feel good about the architect we have chosen and we all agree that once restored the house will be a real show stopper. Marcelo and his assistants had done a lot of work on taking the specs of the house and had all of the rooms, walls, ceiling, doors, windows, etc. detailed out for us to see. In Cuenca when you are dealing with a historical property you must  be very concise in every detail in order for the historic commission to review your plans and tell you what you can and can not do.

Our biggest hurdle that we see will be the fact that we can’t always be there to over see the project and we will have to rely on Marcelo and his staff to keep us well informed on a daily basis with photos and whatever means is necessary. Marcelo informed us that this will not be a problem as his reputation is on the line and of course he hopes to get more jobs from us if he does a good job.

After Marcelo and his assistants left, Lucia showed us around the house and gave us a bit of history. The house was actually older than we thought, well at least the bottom half was. The downstairs was built first and the upstairs was added later. Lucia told us that the original part of the house was approximately 200 years old, of course it’s the part that needs the most work. The upstairs was added in the 1930’s and is in much better shape.

The house belonged to Lucia’s Father’s Uncle and once he passed on, Lucia’s Father and his family lived in the house. the Uncle was not an Arch Bishop as we had thought, but rather a priest. We did get his name so I can do some research on him. The house was built on a piece of property that was divided into two sections and another almost identical house was built next to ours. Apparently the original owner and his brother had the two houses built at the same time. Lucia told us that the house next to ours was not in as good a state as ours, but it had more of the original elements in it. We were hoping to see it before we leave in order to determine how our house used to look.

We also learned that Lucia and her 4 siblings grew up in the house. They lived there with their parents and five maids who took care of all of the housework, cooking and watching the children.

After looking at the house Rod and I decided we needed a drink, so we went to Tiesto’s and ordered a wonderful meal. The chef came to our table and he even remembered what we had ordered when we were there in February, which is good because we couldn’t read the menu and we had no idea. Rod had the shrimp and Chef even came out and cut the head off of one and gave it to Rod to eat, he said that was the best part. I told the chef that Rod was Cajun and he knew all about eating shrimp heads.

Look At All This Food

Rod Is Giving It A Good Try

Tomorrow afternoon we will be meeting with Marcelo and hiss staff again to go over some ideas so that they can get started drawing up the plans as it takes nine months to get them approved by the council. Then the real fun begins.

 

Our First Day In Cuenca

This morning we decided to try out a breakfast place that our hosts suggested and Rod has been reading about on the blogs. As soon as we stepped out the door of our hotel we were greeted by a street vendor selling fresh fruit, there were actually several of them up and down the street and the smell of fresh cut pineapple filled the air with a sweet wonderful smell. You can buy watermelon and pineapple on a stick just like a popsicle. I will have to try this while I am here.

Map in hand we headed towards the restaurant. We completely passed it up the first time as it was so small, maybe 5 tables in the whole place, but once we found it we were completely surprised. What a hidden gem this is. The menu is in English as well as Spanish and offers just enough fare to please almost anyone. Anything from omelets to the standard egg, bacon and toast to porridge as well as yogurt with fresh fruit. The wait staff does not speak English so Rod and I gave it our best shot. I think we did pretty good. Rod ordered a ham and cheese omelette and I ordered the Porridge with fresh bananas.

One Of The Locals Wondering “What’s For Breakfast”

Before we even got our food the staff brought out all sorts of condiments, we weren’t  sure what we were getting, but when our dishes arrived they were very good. I have to say my Porridge was the best I have ever had, it was like eating rice pudding right off the stove...creamy, rich and thick. I thought of Dad while I was eating and knew he would have enjoyed it immensely. The wait staff had brought me a whole banana so I sliced it on top of my cereal and then sprinkled it all with some raw sugar. What a treat. Half way through I decided to add some milk and maple syrup I was now officially in Heaven.

All Of Our Condiments

My Porridge All The Way

Can You Believe Our Final Bill For Such A Wonderful Meal?

While we were at the cafe we met a nice Gentleman who has been living in Cuenca for two years now and has apparently lived many places around the world. He professed that Cuenca was by far his favorite. He seemed to be well known at the cafe and was trying to teach one of the servers some English. After we bid our goodbyes, we set off on foot once again to do some sightseeing.

We were very close to the river so I wanted to take a look at it and get some photos. I climbed down a very long flight of stairs to get a view of the river while Rod waited for me at the top. The river was raging and you could hear it from a long way off. When I started back up the stairs I told Rod I could really feel it in my thighs and calves. I can see Buster and I will be in excellent shape once we live here and we climb those stairs everyday on our walks. Rod says I’ll probably have to carry Buster up the stairs and I think he is right.

The River Is Only A Block From Our House

We looked at some of the architecture on the way and poked our heads into some buildings to see what they had done to the inside and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. This afternoon we will be meeting with the architect, our friend Maca and Lucia (one of the previous owners of the house).

A Street Leading To The River

One Of The Cliff Houses

Our First Night In Cuenca

After we settled in yesterday afternoon, we spent some time talking to Jenny and Chris, the gracious owners and hosts of the cafe and rental that we are staying in. It was interesting to to hear of their remodeling adventures and how they have adjusted to Cuenca life. We learned a lot in the short time that we talked to them and I am sure we will have remodeling war stories to share with them as well.

For instance we learned that a lot of the building materials over here are not of the same quality we see in the States, therefore repairs are an ongoing thing. Some of the more common materials such as teak and granite are a fraction of what it would cost you in the States.

Apparently when you hire laborers they do not come with their own tools, you are expected to provide everything from saws and drills to paint brushes and drop cloths. Also the laborers are not always familiar with the tools that we are accustomed to and therefore resulting in a lot of tool repairs.

Rod did ask  Jenny and Chris what they thought about the price that was paid for our property and they were quite quick to tell us we had gotten a good deal. I know this was always a question in the back of our minds as Ecuador doesn’t have any comparisons like we do in the U.S. People just pretty much put whatever price they want on their property. This will be a learning adventure for sure and I am quite confident that the information Chris and Jenny provided will be invaluable.

After a nice chat, we decided to go look at the property. We didn’t have keys yet, but we wanted to look at the outside and get our bearings as to where things were located in relation to the house. The first thing we discovered when viewing the outside of the house is that there was at least one exterior wall that did not need repair (Yippee! ) The next thing we discovered is that our favorite restaurant, Tiesto’s is on the same street as our house and only a block and a half away. This could be trouble.

We also walked to the local market which is only half a block away and did a quick walk through. Like the market we visited in February, this market is much the same with fruits and vegetables and grains stacked high. It will be a job just to learn all of the different types of produce that we don’t even recognize. There was also the typical meat and fish stalls, but since there is no refrigeration I don’t think I will be buying meat at this market.

We decided to grab a quick dinner as Tiestos was closed and we were famished. We visited a cafe that we had been to on the first trip and ordered our food. Rod ordered a cheese sandwich with fries and I ordered a salmon dish. The menu was not in English, so we spun the wheel and took a chance. Rod’s sandwich came out first with chips. He was disappointed, but to tired to ask for his french fries. Then my plate came out with two slices of french bread toasted and some sort of salsa. I didn’t see any salmon so I pointed to the dish and asked the waiter salmon? He shook his head yes and we left it at that. I was thinking I would have to order something else as this was not going to fill me up.

About 5 minutes later the waiter came back with a plate of beautiful salmon and a heaping bowl of french fries. That’s more like it. Apparently timing is not of the upmost importance when serving food like it is in the U.S. The salmon was absolutely delicious, it had some sort of pineapple salsa on it and some steamed veggies on the side. Rod’s sandwich was...well a cheese sandwich. While we were at the cafe we met an exchange student who noticed our non existent Spanish and introduced herself.

She was from the States as well and was staying with a family in Cuenca until August. We each shared our stories of Cuenca with each other and enjoyed conversation for a short while as she was waiting on her ride. A nice ending to a wonderful day, but we are both exhausted and look forward to a good nights sleep.

I wasn’t Going To Blog, But...

I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t have time to blog this trip, since we only had  8 days in Cuenca, a relatively short time considering all that we needed to accomplish. Now that I am here I can’t help myself, there is so much to see and do, so much culture to take in that it just inspires me to write. Blogging is like my own personal journal that I can put my feelings and experiences into in a way that I could never express in spoken words.

This morning Rod and I woke up groggy eyed from our trip the day before and made our way down to the Hotel Mezzanine for breakfast. Our table was next to some very large windows and we were able to people watch as we ate. As I was watching out the window I noticed two hotel employees pushing a compact vehicle away from the hotel entrance. It had been paralleled park and I just assumed it wouldn’t start and they were pushing it out of the way. Well then I noticed them pushing a second car, it seems that people had parked their cars in front of the hotel lobby and the employees were just pushing the cars out of the way so as not to block the entrance. I wish I had my camera on me as this was quite a sight. Never block the hotel entrance in Ecuador as you may not find your car when you come out.

After breakfast we returned to our room to gather our things and went downstairs to wait on Carlos. He showed up right on time and it was so good to see his smiling face again. We knew we were in good hands now. This time instead of driving from Quito to Cuenca we were driving from Guayaquil (about a four hour drive). Just as the drive from Quito was absolutely breathtaking, so was the drive from Guayaquil. We started out on flat land with banana and sugar cane farms lining the sides of the road as far as the eye could see. This part of the country gets a lot of rain, so all of the houses were on stilts.

As we made our way up through the mountains we drove through the cloud forest. I can’t even begin to describe the beauty of it. We drove up through the clouds until at the highest point we were above them. When you looked down over the side of the mountain all you could see was a field of clouds that looked more like hills covered in snow. The sky was the bluest I have ever seen. Carlos told us when the day is clear you can see all the way to the coastline.

There was a lot of road construction going on, but all in all the roads are excellent. There were a couple of times we had to stop and wait for oncoming traffic to pass, but never to terribly long, besides it gave us a chance to enjoy the scenery. Along the way we saw many houses perched on the cliffs, actually they were nothing more than a structure made out of mud and straw, but they had the million dollar view you could never afford in the states.

On one of our stops we noticed a tire that was going flat on Carlos’ SUV, so while we were waiting for the road workers to give us the go ahead Carlos had to change his tire. Apparently he had a flat tire on the way to pick us up and had stopped to have it repaired. Obviously they didn’t do a very good job.

Rod Supervises

At our highest point we were approximately 13,800 feet up. You could definitely feel the altitude. We crossed the Continental Divide and started making our way back down. We had to stop one more time to let traffic pass and Carlos pointed out a trail that he said leads to a village in the mountains. It takes five hours by foot one way to get up or down the trail. There were villagers on the trail with their horses and mules packed down with all the goods that the villagers bring to town to peddle. Carlos explained that they must make this trek several times a week. As we drove by I was really wishing we could have stopped for a photo as I saw a horse loaded with all kinds of packages and on the very top of the pile was a brand new toilet strapped to the horses back (too funny).

 Five Hour Trail

As we made our way into Cuenca we drove through the National Forest, absolutely breathtaking. There are 235 lakes in the National Park and every where you look there are waterfalls running off of the mountains. Carlos explained to us that the lakes are glacier made and when the glaciers moved over the mountains, the volcanic rock was so hard that the glaciers went over the tops instead of cutting through the mountains. The formations were absolutely beautiful.

We finally made it to Cuenca and the first order of business was to find a pharmacy and get Rod some antibiotics for his sinus infection. He was anxious to try the theory that you can walk into any pharmacy and get a prescription of antitbiotics without ever seeing a doctor. Well I’m happy to report it is true. I walked out with the same antibiotics Rod gets in the states minus the doctor visit. Of course this is bad news when we live here as Rod will never go to the doctor and will be making his own diagnosis all the time.

It is funny though that you can not buy cold medicine in Ecuador without a doctor’s prescription. We have decided that we will have to stock up on cold medicine in the States and bring it with us to Ecuador.

We arrived at our accommodations and were pleasantly surprised. We have a very nice room, almost more of an apartment. Extremely well kept, hot water (very important in Ecuador), Toilets that you can actually flush the toilet paper down, a kitchenette complete with microwave, tea kettle, herbal teas and a mini fridge. The room is very minimalist, but the owners thought of every detail. The hostel is owned by a lovely Australian couple that also have a coffee cafe downstairs. They have two rooms for rent, one up and one down. We are conveniently located to everything including the property. This may be our new favorite accommodation in Cuenca.

Our Kitchenette

View From Our Patio

 Courtyard Views

Bedroom

Bathroom

So here we are in this lovely city once again and I am in love with it all over again. There was some concern on my part that maybe I wouldn’t feel the same way about it on the second trip, as we all had our heads in the clouds the first time around. Everything was new and different and exciting and it still is, but somehow there is a familiarity now and a comfortable feeling that says we belong here.

We Jumped Off The Cliff

Well it has been a while since I last blogged and if you were following us through Ecuador in February you may remember that on our last day there we found a property to purchase. After much deliberation a long negotiation and months of emails back and forth between the owners, us and the lawyer we finally closed on the property and the four of us are now the proud owners of a huge remodeling project in Ecuador.

My Mother has put her house on the market in Santa Fe hoping to get a sale and begin her transition to Cuenca while Bob has been busy tidying up his ranch and getting it ready to list as well. Mom and Bob were not able to return to Ecuador this trip, so Rod and I volunteered to go in June to meet with the architect and go over the ideas we have for the property and discuss the plans.

First we drove to Houston and visited with Rod’s Mom and Dad and his sister who came in from the U.K. After staying a day in Houston and trying to revive after a thirteen hour drive, we were off to the airport to catch our flight. Although we arrived at the airport in plenty of time, apparently we forgot about June being one of the busiest travel moths of the year. The lines to check in and go through security were as far as the eye could see. It was becoming very apparent that we weren’t going to make our flight in time.

Just when we thought it was all over an airline agent stepped up and asked if anyone was trying to catch a 9:00 am flight, we immediately raised our hands and were sent to another terminal to check in. When we arrived at the kiosk in the next terminal nothing went right. Our passports weren’t in the system, our luggage was seven pounds over the weight limit costing us an extra $50.00 and the agent had to keep coming over and entering codes to get us through the system. Isn’t traveling a joy? We finally caught our flight with minutes to spare and headed to our first stop in Panama City Panama where we would have a seven hour lay over (Yikes!) before catching our connecting flight to Guayaquil.

The Panama airport wasn’t at all what I had imagined. With Panama being such a large cosmopolitan city I thought that the airport would be a lot bigger than it was. There were only thirty seven gates and one restaurant and a Subway sandwich shop. In fact the airport looked more like a mall than an airport. There were small stores everywhere selling everything from hi-end cosmetics to electronics. There were several stores selling nothing but chocolate and there were even designer clothes, shoes and big screen T.V.’s. Rod wondered if people actually bought these T.V.’s and carried them on the plane. We did see someone carrying a smaller one.

After our lay over we boarded another flight to Guayaquil where we would spend the night and in the morning Carlos our driver that we used for our February trip would pick us up the next morning and drive us to Cuenca. The flight to Guayaquil was quite nice and the airport was a breeze to go through, nothing like the airport in Quito where we landed last time. Our hotel sent a shuttle driver to meet us at the airport and he was waiting on us when we landed. We finally arrived at our hotel a little before midnight. Rod was quite disappointed that there were no “Ladies of the Night” to meet us this time......NOT!