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Cuenca - Ecuador

2013/06/21 18:02

Cuenca memories 2013

Cuenca memories

Postal Service in Cuenca

In order to receive regular mail from the U.S., we rent a P.O. Box in the main post office in down town Cuenca. It costs $25.00 per year. To send a letter regular mail from Ecuador to the States it cost about $1.00. It cost about the same to receive regular mail from the U.S.

If you need to mail important documents to other countries from Ecuador, you can send them via registered mail and it costs about $15.00 and the documents usually arrive at their destination within a week. Sending and receiving regular mail is not that big of a deal. We have found the Ecuadorian mail system to be efficient and reliable.

Club Correos (Mail Club)

The Ecuadorian Postal Service has recently offered a service by which we can receive packages from the States rather quickly and at a reasonable rate. The service is called Club Correos (Mail Club) and has proven to be a reliable and easy to use way to get some of the products we can’t get here in Ecuador, such as clothes and shoes that fit and some health and beauty items.

Here is how Club Correos works: For a $10.00 yearly fee, you are assigned a physical address in Miami which gives you a U.S. shipping address where you can receive packages from online retailers in the U.S. Each Club Correos customer has an individual box number which distinguishes you from other customers who use the same Miami street address. It is similar to renting a P.O. box at a UPS Store location.

Once you have signed up for Club Correos, you just log on to your favorite online store, such as Amazon.com, and place your order using your credit card. There are some shipping limitations with this service:

With this service, all customs matters are taken care so you don’t have to deal with Ecuadorian Customs officials. When your package arrives in Ecuador, the post office gives you a friendly call to let you know that you have a package waiting for pick up. They will even deliver the package to your house, if you can tell them how to get to your house. Remember, most houses here do not have assigned addresses so unless you speak good Spanish and have a house that is easy to recognize it is better to just pick up your package at the post office. If you want more information regarding Club Correos, check out Correos del Ecuador where you will find a link to the Club Correos site. Happy shopping!!

from: gringosabroad.com

Post Offices

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Internet access

TV Cable

TVCable Internet

tvcable-internet-ecuadorGrupo TVCable Certainly one of the biggest providers in the country. TV Cable has offices all over Ecuador (Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, Ambato, Ibarra, La Libertad, Loja, Machala, Manta, Portoviejo, Riobamba, Salinas, Tulcán). In addition to internet, they also offer tv cable (as their name would suggest) and telephone connections.

When we last wrote about internet, we had a 1.1 mega connection for $29.90. Their $29.90 connection now provides a speed of 4.1 megas. Almost four times the speed for the exact same price. Not bad.

Current TVCable Internet Speeds

Cuenca

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TV Cable seems to be the leader. They offer the fastest connection speed with the lowest price. As often happens with the leader, their customer service really sucks. As long as you don’t have to go to cancel, you should be fine. Their monthly rates range from $13.40 (220k) to $114.90 (3500k). We use the 1100k speed at $29.90 and its good. Taxes are extra.

ETAPA is run by the municipality and they offer a 350k speed at $19.99 up to a 2100k for $80 plus tax.

CentroNet is okay. We’ve used them for the last 8 months, but have switched back to TV Cable. They are a good option if you live out of range of either of the first two. They are more expensive and slower speed. They use a roof top modem to pickup a wireless signal from their towers. The signal is consistent.

Porta and Movistar are the two primary cell phone companies here in Ecuador and they each sell a usb thumb modem.

ETAPA Cuenca Internet

ETAPA Cuenca Internet Rate Sheet

With Porta and Movistar thumb modems you have two options:

A monthly plan with a limit on the volume of data that can be transferred. A 2 GB monthly plan costs around $20. While this isn’t any good for watching videos, and average of 67mb per day is plenty for some web browsing and emailing. The modem is free.

A Pay-As-You-Go service that costs around $3 per day. They offer an unlimited connection for the 24 hour period, although the speed appears to be throttled after the first 100mb. The modem is bought outright, and costs from $80 to $120.

These modems are a great option if you are traveling around the country, or if you are only going to be here for a short period. As a rule of thumb, if you have cell phone coverage you will have internet access.

from: Gringosabroad.com

Taking the bus in Cuenca

Getting the bus in Cuenca

Every city transit bus has two ways to pay:

Per-Trip Fares

As mentioned, fares are 25 cents (less if you're over 65). The machine accepts nickels, dimes and quarters (or the Ecuadorian equivalents—cinco centavos, diez centavos and veinticinco centavos).

**The Urbania Pass**

The Urbania pass is definitely the way to go if you get around Cuenca a lot. You buy it (there's a small fee) and load it with as much money as you want on it—$3.00, $5.50, $10.00, or more.

Each ride deducts 25 cents until you've run out of money on the card, at which time you recharge it. You can do that at many of the little convenience stores that pepper the city, if they have a Recarga Urbania or similar sign outside or in the window.

- See more at: http://www.captivatingcuenca.com/taking-the-bus-in-cuenca.html#sthash.uEIyCDMT.dpuf

Taking the bus in Cuenca will get you just about anywhere you need to go—the terminal terrestre, the the Cuenca airport, Mall del Rio for shopping, Milenium Plaza (yes, that's the correct spelling) to see a movie in English, El Centro for Gringo Night, or even Baños, the small town with hot springs.

Some buses run from one side of the city to the other, while others do a circuit. So they're a great way to see parts of Cuenca that you might not ever see.

Unfortunately, if you're taking a bus into El Centro, the return bus is never on the same street, since all the streets are one way. So it might take you a while to find the return bus you need.

Here's a link to two images of the guide to Cuenca bus routes (guía de buses). Since it only goes as high as Route 29, you won't find Route 50 on it, one of the ones that travels along Ordóñez Lasso, in the west end of Cuenca.

The paper version of the map seems hard to come by in Cuenca, so open up both pages in your browser, and then print them out. It's better than no map.

- See more at: http://www.captivatingcuenca.com/taking-the-bus-in-cuenca.html#sthash.uEIyCDMT.dpuf

The best source for buses

— Antonio Fiorentino Distefano 2012/12/02 19:57

Hostal Orquidea

Antonio Borrero 9-31 y Bolívar Cuenca, Ecuador (07) 282-4511

telefax

dial 011 + 593 + 2835844

Alexandra Solis Cordero, Manager

alexandrasolis@etapanet.net

add only to fixed local numbers

Cuenca 7

The weather here is like San Francisco weather; with a little more sun. It has ranged from the 40s to th 70s every day. On most days it has rained for about half an hour. It is quite cold at night; and there is no heating for the hostal- just plenty of blankets on the bed.

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Opinions on Cuenca

Here are the experiences of a relatively new N.American resident of Cuenca

http://www.gas2335.blogspot.com/

My first visit to Cuenca Ecuador

More photos of Cuenca Ecuador