7/15/15
Life is full of irony. Just after I typed the entry about what a wonderful tool travel blogs are these days, I have to broadcast bad news: I took a 9.5 hours bus ride from Guayaqil to Quito today, then another 40 mins of local bus ride from the bus station to downtown, then another 10 mins taxi ride to my hostel in La Mariscal. So the rest of this is more observations about Ecaudor so far and complaints. Read on at your own discretion! I will try to be funnier tomorrow. (Well, maybe. I am never sure if I am funny in the first place. Except dirty jokes. Especially 4th grader level ones.)
Instead, I will say something about my impression of Ecuador so far. I hate to be disparaging about anything (and I am Chinese, so you know I am always polite in front of people), but so far, Ecuador is not impressing me as a country for tourists. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Galápagos Islands, the beautiful city of Cuenca, and the modern convenience of hot water and working toilets; but as a tourist, I don’t think Ecuador has a little distance to cover. For example, the bus station in Guayaqil is great, huge, modern and in the city center; but it is also slightly confusing. You buy tickets on the ground floor, then have to find the corresponding bus on either the 1,2, or 3 floor upstairs. There are 2 tickets: one for entering the gates, and the other for the bus. It is actually not too complicated- if they bother to explain it to you. Instead, the bus agents just hands you the tickets and acts like you should know exactly where to go and what to do. However, the policemen/women are really helpful if you ask them for help.
The buses are seldom on schedule, and I just witness a case where a complete stranger was able to get onto the bus and randomly direct people to random seats ( even though we all had assigned seats) as a ploy to let his friend ride for free. I guess he thought that if everyone were in the wrong seats, the conductors would be too confused to check tickets. The ploy failed badly (since they obviously check tickets before and during the trip), but the fact they allowed it to be so confusing for passengers were, well confusing to comprehend.
The last issues I have: everyone is asking for tips or inflat prices when they see you are a tourist. For example, the hostel called me a can, and told me it would be $4. The taxi driver then insisted it is actually $5, and I should also give him tips. Several waiters also told me tips are not included in my bill, so I should leave a tip. Of course, I am always appreciative of good service, but to tell tourists to tip seems…a little strange.
However, I have also met some very nice people, seen some beautiful sceneries. Maybe I have just been pampered by the great services in Galápagos? Let me sleep in my 6 people dorm and figure that out…while hoping no one snores too badly. (Or maybe witness some acrobatic acts?! One can only dream..)
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