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[trewth]

So after a lot of research and weighing my options, I have decided that I'm going to travel to Cuenca, Ecuador early next year.

Anybody familiar with the area? I am interested in hearing everything and anything that you think would be helpful to a newbie in South America. I've lived abroad before but this will be my first time in Latin America.

Hopefully some people out there know Cuenca or are even living there, let me know what you think! Gracias...

[MO39]

While waiting for answers to your query, I suggest using the Search function to look for previously-posted entries about Cuenca.

[trewth]

thanks for the suggestion. i've just about read everything under cuenca and ecuador, but it all seems to be a bit outdated, so i was hoping i could get brought up to date.

i'm especially curious about the visa situation, because i've heard and read many different opinions on the issue.

[carmen212]

Hi, I live in Cuenca. I used to teach at CEDEI but now I am at another school with fewer hours. Cuenca: some people have difficulty adjusting to the altitude. I had problems the first few weeks and then everything was fine. I really like the climate here but others don't. It is actually a pretty cool climate--coldish at night and in the morning, warming up to 70-75 usually and then cooling down. Lots of clouds which feels gray and dreary to some but if you like Pacific NW climate, Cuenca will be fine. Daylight is at 5:30 and sundown is at 6:30. Never changes.

Cuenca is actually one of the most expensive cities in EC, maybe even more expensive than Quito. Housing is the biggest obstacle. If you live in the historic center you can find a dingy dirty noisy flat for less than $150. Sometimes it has furniture but I wouldn't sleep on the mattress. The air is awful as the buses spew out black gunk. I have moved 5 times since I arrived in the summer and now finally I have an apt I really like a lot, near the river, in a newer small apt building with quiet neighbors and a ban on dogs in the building for noise reasons. It is very common for people to move several times until they find the right place.

There's a big supermarket (2 stores) called Super Maxi and the veggies are fresh. There's a product here where you pour half a capful of it into a large bowl and run water and it foams, the stuff is supposed to detoxify the food. I eat well (vegetarian) on about $125 a month. The bus is 25 cents, a taxi ride within the main part of the city is $1.50. I have not gotten sick and I never eat street food. There are some good restaurants and a meal is usually less than $2. You can spend more of course.

Getting books is difficult. Only one Engl lang bookstore and books are $8-12 which is a lot if you read 2-3 books a week. You get $2 in trade.

If you are traveling and not planning to stay forever, there are some good hostals in the center. You can get a monthly rate of about $10-12 a day. There are cheaper places as well but I haven't seen any first hand.

Cuenca is a colonial city and a world heritage Unesco city. Now the city is being lit for Navidad. In the Parque Calderon in the center there are concerts and marching bands and stuff going on. Some of the larger churches have free concerts on Fri and Sat nights--a real hodgepodge of classical music.....Brahms, Talafero, Dvorak. And there are salsa clubs for those so inclined.

I like it here and have a visa that won't expire until November 2008. I am studying with a private teacher 6-8 hours a week and making the effort to use Spanish whenever possible.

[trewth]

Wow - that was a great post.

Thank you very much for the quality information, I may PM you in the future if it's alright, because there may be a couple things I'd need to resolve before going to Cuenca. Thanks again.