Is Cuenca STILL The Best Place in Ecuador to Start Your Expat Life Abroad?
Hola unconventionals, I’m Amelia, And I’m J P And we’re sharing our unconventional life with you. From Ecuador – And most of you already know that we left Cuenca back in February and moved to the rural beach town of Ol n Ecuador, mainly because I couldn’t handle the 8 400-foot elevations in Cuenca Yeah and I was over the cold and cloudy Weather Yep, so today we’re going to take a walk down memory lane and answer a question that we often get, which is, Is Cuenca still the best place to start your ex-pat life abroad in Ecuador, energetic upbeat music. This isn’t the video that we referenced in our last video. We’re going to save that one for a while We’ll upload it at some point in the future. Yes, we will But, before we dive into this video if you’re new to our channel or you’re thinking of visiting or moving to Ecuador hit the subscribe button Ring the bell, please because we show you what it,’s like to live. In Ecuador, both laughing, We also wanted to let you know that we shared our article over on Live Abroad. Now It’s all about pet care, pet food, and pet sitting in Ecuador. So if you’re planning on moving to Ecuador with your fur babies, this article should alleviate some of your concerns about that and reduce some of the mystery. I’ll put a link to that in the description below So you can go check. That out Sounds good all right, JP, let’s get started, Okay, Amelia? What do you think Is Cuenca still the best place to start your ex-pat life abroad in Ecuador? Well, I think it is, but perhaps we should go through some of the pros and cons. I think the biggest pro for me is that Cuenca is a modern, developed city, but it still has that old-world charm Yeah Cuenca is so beautiful. I love the architecture, it’s very diverse, including those incredible blue domes from the new cathedral, wow, And I love San Sebas, Plaza with its fountains and its Spanish colonial architecture. Cuenca is just an amazingly beautiful city And every corner you round. There is a new photo opportunity: Yeah it’s. Amazing, we love to every time we walked around. We could walk on the same street, but we would see something different every time We could go on and on about this topic, but we won’t. Otherwise, this video will be about an hour long, Yes and you guys will get bored. I think the next pro for me is that Cuenca has an airport, Something that we sorely lack here on the coast. Yes, we do. It takes two and a half to three hours to get to the Guayaquil airport, But in Cuenca, you could be at the airport in a matter of minutes and then hop on a flight to Quito. So it’s super convenient Yeah, and the flight to Quito is only 45 minutes, So you can be in Quito in less time than it takes us to get to Salinas. One of the most important things to me about Cuenca is the fact that you, don’t need a car. We love the fact that it’s a walkable city and we walked all over Cuenca And I miss our walks. I do We walk here on the beach all the time, but it’s not the same Yeah, and in Cuenca, the buses cost 31 cents and they go all over the city. You can go anywhere on a bus, The Tranv, a runs kind of from the airport to the Don Bosco neighborhood kinda straight through the middle of the city, And it’s kind of been up and running on and off. So it’s. You know when it is running it:’s, nice, We haven’t been on it yet, though We haven’t been on it. Yet When we go back to Cuenca, I hope we get to ride it. Yeah. How exciting Cab rides are also extremely affordable. We usually got to most places for less than 3, Usually 2 to 3. The minimum cab fare in Cuenca is only a buck fifty And that will get you a lot of places just for that. Well also, Cuenca is super bicycle friendly and they have all those bike rentals there And bike lanes. Yes All over the city Yup, You do not need a car. Cuenca also has the largest proportion of English-speaking Ecuadorians. In Ecuador, Most of the people under 30 speak English or at least are learning English. So it’s really easy to start your life abroad in Cuenca because you don’t have to land. Knowing Spanish, like a lot of the other places in Ecuador, Where we live now, most people don’t speak English Right. So it’s a bit more difficult to navigate your way around Yeah. But the good thing is another pro. There are a lot of different Spanish schools, Whether you want to attend a class or take a virtual class or a private lesson. There’s a wide variety And there’s a lot of language exchanges. So you could practice your English and Spanish skills in a group setting, I guess via Zoom. Now, though, Yeah Amelia still takes classes with Christina. I do From Spanish, walking or Walking Spanish lessons in Cuenca We were featured in a commercial for her classes. That was fun to film And she took us around Cuenca several times and taught us Spanish by explaining different things that we saw on our walks Yeah. Now we do our classes on Zoom and I love it. We’re still doing a lot of the cultural parts of Ecuador. It’s been a great experience. There are also lots of ex-pats in Cuenca, probably the most ex-pats in any single city in Ecuador, And we used to host our unconventional gatherings in Cuenca. Those were a lot of fun, We had lots and lots of ex-pats show up to those, And it is nice to have other English-speaking people to socialize with Right and the people who are going through the same journey. It’s a nice supportive environment, Especially when you’re just getting settled. There are a lot of nice, affordable, and modern housing options in Cuenca, And we were very impressed. We loved our house in El Vergel. It was more than we needed, but it was beautiful, fully furnished with a nice kitchen and a fantastic bathroom And we loved our courtyard. We also had friends that had incredible condos with great views and all the modern amenities, except for dishwashers Yeah. Those are not common, Although some of the newer condos in El Centro that they had recently built did have dishwashers And we did have dishwasher envy. Yes, we did, and we still do There are some places here on the coast that have dishwashers too, But not us. We have a spot. We have these. We have a spot on the counter for a dishwasher, but there’s no dishwasher, despite not having a dishwasher. The housing is still incredible. Another pro about Cuenca, if you have pets, is that there are excellent pet care options, And I’ll put a link to a video that we recorded at the Cuenca Animal Clinic right there above Amelia’s head, And that kind of gives you an idea. There are a lot of vets. Most neighborhoods have vets in Cuenca. There are just a lot of options to get your pets taken care of Yes, including Maxi,’s pet care too. So they have even doggie spas and doggy daycares available Yeah. We love Maxi.’s, Pet Care, And Jessica, hola Jessica, Yes, hola, Jessica, All the contact info for the Cuenca Animal Clinic and Maxis. Pet Care is over there on Live Abroad. Now There are so many fun and entertaining things to do in Cuenca. One of my absolute favorite things to do is to visit Pumapungo. I love going to that museum inside and out Highly highly highly recommend it. You can take a city bus tour. Go for nice walks along the river Walk up to Turi, which would probably kill us now Yeah, especially the elevation. There.’s, museums there’s a symphony. The dining situation is incredible. You name it There are, lots of fun different groups that you could join for Artwork crafting. She could go on and on I could go on and on. As JP says, I could do my list, But one thing she forgot was the hot springs: Amelia! Oh! Yes, oh my gosh. How could I forget those JP Novaqua, Piedra de Agua, and a couple of others in Ba os, which is just about a 20-minute cab ride from El Centro in Cuenca, we used to go up there at least a couple of times a month and just relax On an in an afternoon, You can also do lots of tours and go hiking in the Cajas. There is a ton to do That brings us to our next pro, which is all the amazing day trips that you can take from Cuenca. There are so many places that you can visit just on a long day and see the sights in and around Cuenca Can I list Yeah start the list: Amelia Cajas national park And the llamas Amelia laughs, The waterfalls at Gir n, The Bible n church, which is Built into the side of a hill, It is amazing You can go mountain climbing at Azogues JP At Cojitambo that’s, the mountain name, Amelia Visit Ca ar go check out, Ingapirca Go to Chordeleg and San Bartolom And I’m sure there’s even more that we did not list Yeah the list goes on and on There are so many things like the textile market and the orchid farm in Gualaceo. Oh yeah, good one JP There are just so many things that you can do just in a day You get up, leave in the morning, go see stuff and you’re back by dinnertime. It’s. So incredible One thing that was important to us when we left the United States and moved to Ecuador was healthcare we were impressed with the quality of healthcare, the facilities, and the doctors in Cuenca, especially our favorite dentist. Dr. Grace Hola Dr. Grace Hola, Yeah, Dr. Grace is amazing. I never met anybody that was so enthusiastic to clean someone’s teeth before She is truly dedicated to her work. We have several doctor referrals in our scrolled over on Live Abroad, Now which I will link in the description, so you can go check that out. If you’ve been watching our channel for a while, you know we like to eat. We love to eat out and Cuenca has a wide variety of delicious restaurants and a wide variety of cuisines Yeah like Paradise, our favorite Indian restaurant, outside of Ol n. Yes, both laugh. Our friends, Chinnu and Abin started that restaurant And we have a video showing that I’ll put a link right up there. If you want to see how that restaurant got started, We also love Caf Libre. It moved recently. Paul moved it to a location that’s close to where we used to live, We could have walked there so easily. Had we still lived in that house in Cuenca, We also love Zatua. Miski Paula makes some of the best chocolates. Oh my gosh and candies and waffles, and bowls oh, my God I could go on. She makes some of the best food. We just love her stuff. I think they may have moved too. I think a lot of people have moved recently. Paradise has not, though, Nope it’s still in the same spot, But yeah there’s, everything you know Italian, Oh Fabiano,’s, Fabiano’s, lots of pizza, Fabiano’s is one of our favorite Italian places anywhere Yup, Not just in Ecuador. They have some of the best Italian food that you’ll ever taste And there are several locations in Cuenca Yeah. There’s a really good Vietnamese restaurant of All types, there’s, German food, all types of cuisine, And American food too, American food. If you like that both laugh at Ecuadorian food, We eat all kinds of food, but rarely American. That is true. There are also incredible coffee shops in Cuenca. I feel like that goes without saying, but I don’t think it does. I think it must be said Yeah, because coffee shops are not that common in Ecuador. Surprisingly, because they grow amazing coffee here, they’re becoming more popular. We have a good coffee shop here in Ol n. There’s one in Salinas, but Cuenca has them all over town Yeah like Goza and Vallarta There are. Is this Yaw? Oh yeah Yaw There are a lot of great little coffee shops. Cuenca also has a lot of really nice modern, grocery stores. Just like you would see in the States like a King, Soopers, or Whole Foods, Whole Foods Yeah And there’s a new Supermaxi in El Vergel. Well, it’s an old one, but they renovated it and we’ve, heard amazing things. It’s. I guess like a Whole Foods now We can’t wait to go tour that Yeah, I’m, pretty sure we’re going to have some serious grocery store. Envy Yeah both laugh, But the Mercados in Cuenca are amazing That’s, something that we also really miss. We have what I call our little Mercaditos here. They’re a little tiendo mercados in Ol n, but we don’t have a real big mercado. The closest one is in La Libertad, which is over an hour South of here, And we miss being able to walk to several of the large Mercados in Cuenca. Cuenca also has a wide variety of specialties: organic food shops, wholistic shops, and just organic products. So whether you want chia seeds or organic soap, CBD oil Right, One of our favorite places, is Semilla. They have all kinds of really cool stuff, including shampoos and stuff. Tienda Nectar is another one. They’ve moved recently. We haven’t been to their new location, yet Telisioso, which sells tea in bulk, but you can also buy a cup of tea there. We love that place. They also moved since we filmed the video there. They’re down by the Tomebamba river kind of next to what’s that Inca, the Inca lounge Geez JP, I feel like so many places – are, have moved. We’re gonna be doing a lot of walking when we go back to Cuenca. I know Which is a good thing. I know we have to get back there, so we can film all the new locations. I know They. ‘re also a lot of people in Cuenca that can help you get your visa, A lot of different visa agents and just lawyers in general, We interviewed with Matt over at Gringo, Visas about temporary residency visas and JP will put a link To that above my head, Yup, If you want to check that out, Yeah And Gringo Visas is one of them. There are several visa agents, It’s just nice to be able to get all of that taken care of without having to travel Where we live now we have to drive quite a way several hours to do any sort of visa process Right? So it was nice being in Cuenca to build to get most of it done right there, All right, Amelia. Now let’s talk about the cons Now that we’ve had our love fest and why we miss Cuenca And what makes it I know What makes it such a great place to start your ex-pat life abroad in Ecuador. Now let’s talk about? Why we left again both laugh, I know Like. Why did we leave Oh wait! The beach is here Yeah. The beach is here, But the main mainly it’s the elevation. We moved from Denver at 5 200 feet to Cuenca at 8 400 feet And just it was getting worse. The elevation, sickness altitude sickness was getting worse, not better, And I was pretty miserable there. My back hurt all the time That may have been because of the elevation or the cold weather, But since we’ve lived here, my back feels great and I don’t have altitude sickness, which I do not miss. No, I know I’m really glad about that And it’s interesting because we just had some friends visit us from Cuenca and they commented about how you’re, not red. Yeah, Like you used to be, I used to just be flushed all the time and that’s just from the altitude It just made me. I was always light, lightheaded, and short of breath, And it doesn’t affect everyone. It doesn’t affect most people, but it did me and it does my mom and apparently, it runs in the family, Bummer Yeah, so that’s the that’s big one, And also the cool cloudy weather. Yes, We mentioned before When we left Cuenca, we had not seen the sun in a year. I mean other than just a few times peeking out from the clouds Yeah. It was rough And we had an unusually cloudy year and there just wasn’t any sun, And we were just tired of it. It was like being in Seattle for an entire year, and we were just done with it and Amelia. Just couldn’t handle it Well, and I was cold a lot. It was weird ’cause. I would feel warmer at night. I think ’cause it was windy during the day, But we had to run our heater a lot and I was over it like I said earlier Now. It is cloudy here quite a bit as well, but it’s just not cold Yeah. It’s not the same type of cold. I’m wearing shorts right now. Yeah, both laugh. Another con is that everyone speaks English, which is also a pro Yes, We mentioned that as a pro, but we want to become fluent in Spanish, And it was so easy for us to speak English in Cuenca that we weren’t learning the language As quickly as we wanted to, Our Spanish has just exploded since we moved to the coast because we’re just forced to speak. It’s so much more often Yeah I feel like it. Had we been able to do an immersion program in Cuenca, which is available, we would have been better off, but that was not the case for us Yeah. We work full time So there wasn’t we couldn’t take off several weeks or a month to go to classes all day long. But if you’re retired, that’s a great option Yeah. However, all of those are virtual now because of the pandemic, they’re not being held in person. I don’t think, And the final con is that you have to drive through Cajas to get to Guayaquil. If you’re going to fly out of that airport or you want to go to the coast And while Cajas is absolutely beautiful, that drive is not fun. It’s fun like the first time. You do it And then Because you’re, like Oh look at that – Oh my God, look at that And then after that you’re like. Is this ever going to be over as you’re going like this, I know The whole way back and forth Yeah. We recommend Dramamine for that too Yeah. I always It’s a little nerve-racking. I always load it up on Dramamine because it’s a recipe for carsickness Well, and it gets foggy too. So we just get nervous. Maybe we’re just wimps when it comes to the Cajas because people do make that drive all the time, But it That’s a good core workout, both laugh for sure ’cause it’s, windy. Two-lane road You get stuck behind buses and semi trucks or horses donkeys. I mean it’s, JP laughs. There are no horses or donkeys. There are too we’ve seen those on the Llamas, Maybe on the side of the road. But I have a new appreciation for driving to Guayaquil because it’s all flat and it seems like it’s a lot faster Yeah. I’ve dozed off in the back of the cab and on the bus before the pandemic. When we took the bus, I can sleep, but no sleeping for me on the through the Cajas. Now that we did our pros and cons list, I want to visit Cuenca. I forgot how awesome it is Yeah. We still do think it’s. The best place to start is Ecuador if you’re going to move abroad, But there are lots of other cities that are popular with ex-pats. In Ecuador, I wrote a long blog post covering most of those cities. I’ll put a link to that. In the description below, I think that’s, all we have for this video, If you liked it, leave us a thumbs up. Please Thank you And if you like another city in Ecuador, let us know about that in the comments and why you prefer that city over Cuenca or any of the other cities. Yes, we’d love to hear your input All right guys. We will see you all in our next video Hope. You have an unconventional day. Yep Have a great day, Chao Chao JP. Now that we’ve revisited our pros and cons. I want to go back and visit Cuenca. Oh, I just sprinkler head now. You’re making me aware of it: JP laughs. Okay, You ready, Go, Okay, go Let’s get this done before somebody fires up their loudspeaker, Amelia laughs,
