American Teacher in Ecuador

It was a four-day weekend here in Ecuador -- Day of the Dead and Independence Day for Cuenca so we had Monday and Tuesday off.  Two other teachers I work with and I took the "buseta" which is a van from Loja to Cuenca on Saturday.  It's $12 and takes just over 3 hours, vs. the bus which costs $7.50 and takes us over 4 hours. We booked La Querencia Hotel which is way on the uphill side of town, about as far as Rio Tombebamba (which is where all the action is) as you can get.  It was a cute little place, $17 a night including breakfast. The best part was "Uncle and Aunt", the couple who ran the place.  They were adorably hospitable in an Aunt/Uncle kind of way.  Breakfast was eggs how you like them, yogurt with fruit, bread, and coffee. The first night, we went to dinner and ended up here at Wunderbar.  The bartender told us there would be a $2 happy hour on Sunday so we decided to go there in the afternoon.  But when we got there, a...

I took a bus from Puerto Lopez to Guayaquil (4 hours), dragged my 70 lbs worth of bags all over the place, had a tantrum, and finally figured out where to buy a ticket to Cuenca and where to board at the Guayaquil bus station.  I timed it just right and got on the next bus within 15 minutes.  That busride was another 4 hours.  Once we started climbing, we went through Cajas National Park which is absolutely gorgeous!  Lakes and tall mountains all around, the bus zigged and zagged up to Cuenca. My hostel, the Posada Gran Columbia, was easily enough found with the help of a taxi.  My first room was adorable, with a skylight.  I thought -- cool!  Until morning.  The bright light woke me up at 6:00 and I still couldn't see outside. Check out the bottomless drawer in the dresser: So being a pain in the ass, I asked for a room with a window.  I waited around the next morning 20 minute, then another 20 minute, then another 20 ...