Travel

By Anne Z. Cooke A pint-sized dish of cevichocho, served on the street in Otavalo, sparked an aha! moment that caught me unawares. By the time the three of us parked near the town’s famous craft market, lunch time had come and gone. Heading down the block we passed a group of teenagers in school...
Editor’s note: To support a proposal that the Inca Trail be granted UNESCO World Heritage status, members of Cuenca’s city government walked 20 kilometers of the 600-year-old road network on Saturday morning. The trail, called Qhapac Nan by the Incas, is also known at Camino Inca. Cuenca’s support for the special designation of Qhapac Nan...
The U.S.  remains the favorite travel destination for Ecuadorians. According to a study by the National Institute of Statistics and Census, 34% of international plane trips out of Ecuador were to the U.S. Peru was second at 17%. One travel agent says price is a big consideration. A round-trip ticket to Miami is around $500...
A blast from the steam whistle on a cherry-red locomotive sends a gathering of locals on a platform scuttling with delight in the town of Durán, just west of Guayaquil. It’s a sound many in this town on the tropical Pacific plain haven’t heard in years. Some never have. A restored, century-old steam locomotive grinds...
A hotel building boom is underway in Cuenca and current hotel and hostal owners are questioning the need for more rooms. Two mid-rise hotels are currently under construction in El Ejido, between the football stadium and Av. Solano, and a larger one, in the design stage, is planned near Mall del Rio. Daniel Hernández, president...
The investment group Pronobis will begin construction in January on a $17 million, 160,000-meter, 140-room hotel adjacent to the new Quito airport. To be called the Wyndham Grand Hotel Condor, the hotel will include conference space, classrooms, offices and small meeting rooms and hopes to attract corporate and government business that is currently conducted in...
Ecuador’s new Minister of Tourism Vinicio Alvarado says he wants to turn the country into a “tourism powerhouse,” announcing that the government will invest $600 million in tourism advertising and development over the next four years. In addition to getting the word out to world tourists, Alvarado says the goal is to provide more security...
By Deke Castleman Among the first sights noticed by newcomers to Cuenca, along with the billowing white clouds, the rolling green hills, and the red-tile roofs, are the big blue and red buses that spew black fumes into the otherwise colorless alpine air. Hundreds of them bomb around town, from roughly 5:45 a.m. till 10...
Canadian Janet Greidanus and her husband have been coming to Cuenca for 14 years to provide medical care for poor Ecuadorians. In an article for a Canadian website she describes the joys of exploring the Amazon jungle after one the couple’s recent trips. By Janet Greidanus The guide hushed us as we walked through the...
Tucked away in the deep south of the Ecuadorian Andes, Vilcabamba is a place steeped in legend. It is also a place steeped in copious quantities of misinformation and general weirdness. It has been called the “Valley of Longevity” for claims of its large population of elderly residents. Locals, and some scientists, say that it possesses...
By Sandy Keenan Most people aren’t willing to drive more than a few hours to get to a second home in the country. But Judy Blankenship and Michael Jenkins leave their house in Portland, Oregon, and travel 4,300 miles — a two-day trip that usually involves three flights and one miserable bus ride that takes...
Editor's note:  In the times of the Spanish Empire, the mines of Zaruma,  80 miles southwest of Cuenca, were one of the crown's major producers of gold and silver. The production, over a 250 year period, came at the cost of an estimated 10,000 lives, many of them enslaved Cañari people from the Cuenca area....

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The Cuenca Dispatch

Week of March 24

“They are pressuring me to resign so they can remove me from office,” denounced Verónica Abad, Vice President of the Republic.

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Ecuador Navigates Economic Challenges with IMF Agreement Looming.

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“Since when does thinking differently mean being a traitor?” Pierina Correa questions in reference to the Tourism Law.

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