‘Must dos’ in Cuenca

parque-cajas-ecuadorA Llama

cuenca-ecuador-flower-marketA Flower Market in Cuenca.

From the breathtaking views of the old town from the riverside to the friendly locals, you just might want to stay.

Where to stay in Cuenca?

Hotel El Barranco: Calle Larga My pick, a clean, eloquent old colonial turned hotel right where you want to be in Cuenca in the old town near the river with rooms starting around $20 per person.

Hostal El Capitolio: hermano Miguel 4-19 A good budget option right in the center of the old town…and cheap… with rooms starting around $8 per person.

What to do in Cuenca?

– Browse the old town around Parque Calderon

– Mix with expats at the Inca Bar or the California Kitchen.

– Visit nearby Parque de las Cajas.

– Buy flowers at the outdoor flower market near Parque Calderon.

– Visit the largest typical Ecuadorian street market at Feria Libre.

– Get a taste of the hip, local nightlife scene along Calle Larga in the Old Town.

– Try the local delicacy, fried Guinea Pig (Cuiy).

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Azogues, worth a visit?

azogues-ecuador
Azogues is like the unappreciated, ugly sister of nearby Cuenca, but if you stick around long enough to notice, it actually has a unique flavor of its own.

Where to stay in Azogues?

Hotel Paraiso: Vascones y Veintimilla My pick, a clean, eloquent business hotel with rooms starting around $24 per person.

What to do in Azogues?

– Buy a Panama Hat at the Saturday market on Rivera.

– Visit arguably the most impressive church in Ecuador, visible from about everywhere in town. They also use church management software which makes them easy to communicate with people for events and donators as well.

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What to do in Riobamba?

Riobamba

Where to stay in Riobamba?

Hotel Tren Dorado: Carabobo 22-35 Near the train station, a simple, clean option with rooms that start around $10 per person.

Hotel Los Shyris: Rocafuerte y 10 de Agosto In the city center with recently renovated rooms that start around $14 per person.

What to do in Riobamba?

– Hike the Chimborazo, the country’s highest peak.  Guides can be found in one of the several travel agencies like Veloz Coronado Expeditions Chile 33-21 y Francia

– Meander the Saturday crafts market near the Parque de la Concepcion.

– Board the famous train ride of El Nariz del Diablo.  $25, leaves 7am every Tuesday thru Sunday, Visit  The Ecuador train schedule for more.

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“Must Sees” in Baños – A Baños Destination Guide

Where to stay in Baños?

Anywhere:in the centro What I mean by this is that literally the entire town of Baños is one big budget hotel, just walk around and pick one, any one is dine, most simple ones start around $10 per person.

 

 

What to do in Baños?

– Do the full day bike descent along the highway to Puyo. Amazing as the Amazon opens up before you little by little.

– Charter a rafting trip at one of the several local agencies. Starts around $30 per person.

– Soak at one of the many hit springs on the north edge of town.

– Get a message at the Spa Garden El Refugio.

– Climb the Tungurahua Volcano.

– Visit the look out point and see the volcano spewing lava (maybe) at night in the distance… amazing!

 

Banos ecuador

Ambato Ecuador

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20 Expensive Lessons Learned Building a Home in Ecuador

building in Ecuador

It’s cool to look at a patch of dirt…

…point at it…

…and start building a home.

A few weeks ago I did just that for the first time in Ecuador as I began my project on the coast building from scratch.

Before starting construction you must have done an home inspection from specialist. As a property financial specialist, there are absolutely numerous significant components or angles that you need to factor in to make the way toward starting or scanning for your fantasy home go faster and simpler. A portion of these elements incorporates your readied spending plan for the property, its area, its size, its number of rooms and on the off chance that it can oblige the present and a potential number of your relatives.

Furthermore, obviously, another significant factor that you ought to consider also when putting resources into your potential new home is the current physical or basic state of the property. Also, a total and exhaustive property or building examination is one of the numerous procedures you can consider putting resources into to ensure that the property you will purchase will without a doubt be a decent one; one that you will love buying.

On the off chance that you don’t have an observing eye with regards to investigating and examining a specific structure, house or condo, and its territories or segments, you have to contract the administrations of an expert structure monitor. EWP Inspection Services offer various rates for the administrations they offer. The following are the normal factors that decide or influence the rate or cost of a structure review administration that you should pay for to have a property you are intrigued to put resources into expertly examined or assessed:

What the assessment bundle or administrations incorporate. A structure assessment administration from https://richtek.com.au/ covers the typical checks: an investigation or close examination of the property’s inside and outside façade, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical framework, to give some examples. The fixtures for these aspects is usually carried out by companies such as this 5 Star HVAC Company Knoxville – Hero Services. However, you might need to have the property checked for the nearness of any bugs too. Furthermore, this extra assistance will generally put on your tab except if you decide on building and bug investigation bundle that numerous organizations additionally give.

And here are 20 of the most important (and costly!) lessons I learned the hard way so you don’t have to:

1. If you can’t be present, pay someone one price for the whole project.  If you can be present and have the time find a few local workers and pay by the week..

2. It’ll always not only cost more but take longer than you think it will.

3. Bricks look nice but are very labor-intensive and eat up a lot of time when building with them.

4. After the first few weeks of the project most of the heavy lifting is done and to save money you can go with just the specialized lead builders (maestros) and lay off the helpers and assistants (oficiales). You can also save cost by using a blaux portable ac for just your bedroom, instead of a regular and big cooling/heating unit.

5. Yes, Bamboo is cheap but building with it eats up even more time than brick lying does if you want it to look nice.

6. Buy the larger ceramic tiles to speed up construction time, plus they look more elegant.

7. Only have your builders lay ceramic on the shower walls and the bathroom floor.  No need to tile the whole bathroom, you can save costs and time.

You could call Superior Shower Door to get the best frameless glass doors for your bathroom and give it a touch of elegance.

8. Install the doors and windows at the very end of the project so they don’t get scratched and botched up. Also, if adding an air conditioning unit have them install it at the same time as the doors and windows.

9. Pay for the materials in cash, in Ecuador most stores will charge an extra 4-12% when paying with a credit OR debit card.

10. Plan a few days ahead so your builders never have to pause with their arms crossed during the construction process because you went to buy materials at the last minute and the local stores were out of stock (common!).

11. For simple constructions, blueprints drawn up by an architect aren’t really necessary but they will help to get a building approval in the local Municipal.

12. To save money if building on the coast buy most of your building materials in the nearest FERRISARIATO big box store, on the southern coast the only ones are in La Libertad near Salinas or in Guayaquil.

13. Get at least a couple quotes for things like doors and windows, turned out I overpaid I discovered asking around after the fact.

14. After the doors and windows are installed check to be sure they close and lock correctly, mine didn’t cause the guys were rushing. Commercial brisbane based stronghold Locksmith are the experts to address if your locks are insecure.

15. Don’t start the construction project the same week as an Ecuadorian national holiday, you will have to pay the same weekly stipend but you will actually lose almost 2 days of work because many of your workers will skip out early the day before a long weekend or work half-a$$. Kitchen remodeling should become the first step.

16. If feasible buy all your materials one time at the start of the project to avoid having to make frequent runs to the hardware stores and pay hefty transport fees.

17. Buy pre-fabricated if possible and save yourself the hassle of building (unless you like it)!

18. Understand the standard Ecuadorian construction work-week, Monday through Friday 8a-4p plus Saturday 8a-12p.  Laborers will try to negotiate to work only Monday through Friday but that is not the norm here for construction projects.

19. Buy your laborers lunch and for the extra $2 it cost you you can get them to stay and work an extra hour at the end of their shift.

20. Cash, Cash, Cash!  Getting cash is a big problem when building in the small towns on the coast of Ecuador.  All your workers will expect cash payments and there is NO WHERE to take out cash.  Plus the few ATM machines that do exist usually have daily limits of $300 you can take out of any one card.  Have a plan or even better a local bank account you can withdraw from on a weekly basis, especially at the end of the week.

But first you need to find the land, and to learn how I find it… cheap.. just check the New Home Floor Plans | Savannah, Pooler GA | Bluffton SC | Landmark 24

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