ECUADOR TRAVEL GUIDE: we were AMAZED! Our 15-day route, budget, food and TOP destinations to visit!

my wife and i rented a car and explored ecuador mainland and i gotta say it is a hidden gem for travel lovers you will find historical cities active and inactive volcanoes crater lakes [Music] hiking at altitudes of 5 000 meters hot springs waterfalls amazon jungles mind blowing national parks and of course the unique galapagos islands but i'll get into that in a separate video this video is all about mainland ecuador not only is there absolutely loads to see but it's also totally budget friendly this isn't going to be one of those lifestyle travel videos where i go on for hours about opinions and talk about history today's goal is to give you an idea of what a road trip in ecuador actually looks like and to help you decide whether you want to travel to ecuador yourself in order to help you with that we'll talk about first our route and the places we visited second how much we spent and most importantly how could you potentially save money we spent 3 400 for 15 days excluding flight tickets travel insurance and pcr test expenses but if you're looking for a cheapest trip you can definitely do it under 800 third we'll show accommodation we stayed and how much we paid and my personal favorite the food we try by the way this video will be transcripted on my website with more details and images i'll leave the link in the description let's proceed to our route day one we'll end it in kiddo at 2am and later that morning visited what is probably the most popular tourist attraction basilica de levotto nationale it was only a minute away from our recommendation and the architecture was absolutely beautiful both inside and out you've gotta pay two us dollars per person to get inside and three dollars per person if you want to go on the top it is well worth the price and i recommend doing both this is what it looks like inside and this is how we climb to the top of the tower [Music] there is also a hidden gem in the form of cafe where we had our first breakfast with an incredible view later we tried a traditional ecuadorian drink called colada morada the ingredients are different fruits spices and corn flour and it's located in the hidden bar in the tower you can also climb to the most instagramable spot in the building but we decided to skip that since there were so many people we were also tired of climbing askido is located at about 2700 meters above sea level why is this important because many people have jet lag issues at such a high altitude some can sleep properly while others experience headaches and nausea we asked our doctor for recommendations and she highly recommended chloroxygen soft gels that help you to adjust at such an altitude i'll leave a referral link in the description we didn't have any issues with headaches or sleeping so i can say it helped us but that doesn't mean you won't feel the altitude keep in mind you will feel it every single time you go uphill unless you've decided to travel to ecuador straight after an everest adventure the basilica is located in kiro's historic center so we kept exploring this area and walking around the streets on our way to our next destination we saw mobile plans available near a pharmacy and decided to get local sim cards the phone plans we got were from movistar and came with unlimited calls and messages plus 15 gigs of data it cost 15 dollars per person for planned with an additional four dollars per person for a sim card after getting our sim cards we continued walking the historical town and spent plenty of time enjoying the local architecture [Music] [Music] in the middle of the day we felt tired so we grabbed a quick lunch for takeout and decided to chill in our airbnb rental speaking of accommodation we decided to stay in this airbnb located in the historical center of the city it looks really nice in the images but it fits for the category expectation reality we paid only 160 dollars for four nights it looked great in the images and the description specified that the patio was part of the room however it turned out that the patio was shared and the room was small cold and had really uncomfortable beds there was no heating and on average it was about 14 degrees celsius in the room so i had to sleep in our clothes plus because the building was extremely old there were big gaps in the windows which meant you could hear everything that was happening out in the street the historical center is a beautiful neighborhood during the day time when the streets are filled with people and there are plenty of police around however there is also a tremendous amount of poverty in the city which translates into an unsafe environment at night where you can hear drunk people screaming fighting and breaking things instead i would recommend staying in the area called la mariscal or la corolina it has a wide variety of beautiful buildings parks hotels and shopping malls around i would also recommend staying in hotels instead of airbnb since they all sit at around the same price point what else are the more sensible options due to their security and services in the evening we decided to go for a walk and find something for dinner we stopped by a popular place in the historic town the ozalope and had an amazing dinner trying ecuadorian food and listening to live music we ordered three entries for 28 dollars and it ended up being so much that we had our leftovers for lunch the next day the food was incredibly delicious and i would highly recommend visiting this restaurant these are our expenses for the first day i'm going to include such a list after each day so you have an idea on our spendings i've also added potential savings list for those who specifically are looking for a budgeted trip these are rough calculations but the purpose is just to give you an idea keep in mind i didn't include general expenses like flight tickets travel insurance and pcr tests day two we took a 40-minute uber ride which cost us only 10 dollars to the most popular tourist attraction middle of the earth this is the place where you can actually stand on the line of the equator well technically you're not because it moved but it's pretty close i didn't expect much from this place as i thought it was going to be a typical tourist trap however there is a lot more to check out in addition to taking a classic photo standing on the equator for once you can reach the top of the building while learning some of ecuador's history to be honest it's more of a historical park about ecuadorian history and culture than anything else but it was extremely interesting there are cacao square a planetarium ancestral homes that shows different parts of ecuador and many more [Music] we also had an amazing breakfast while watching a local show these two entries cost us fifteen dollars after that we headed to plutafwa geobotanical reserve which is quite a unique place it is a beautiful geo botanical reserve where you could witness how people live in the crater of the inactive volcano looking down from the top entry is free but an id is required to get in you can also go for a hike from the top to explore the area but we decided not to as instead we headed on to the next place this was the museum temple of the sun painter ortega mailia this place in an absolute paradise for anyone who loves architecture art culture and history it was constructed by the indigenous painter and sculptor ortega malia he researched all the designs and the ancestral architecture to maintain the culture resulting in a temple that is gorgeous from both the inside and outside you can get a self tour for five dollars or even ask for a guide for an additional cost the temple has three floors to capture paintings and cultural objects at the top you'll find another stunning view of the inactive volcano and enjoy the outside part of the temple at the end of the day we went to the popular local park named park la carolina in the downtown area we walked around saw local life in the area and tried out some street food we shared this traditional ecuadorian dish for dinner called matakon chicharron which is a moat cilantro onion tomato fried pork belly and chili the portion was generous and the cost came in at just 2 us dollars it's likely the best 2 dinner i'll have in my life and these are our expenses feel free to pause and look them over on the third day we went to another popular attraction in quito called telefurico this is a gondola lit that takes you all the way up to 3945 meters above sea level so i highly recommend going only after you've already spent a few days in keto and are adjusted to high altitudes the entry fee for international tourists is eight and a half dollars per person we skipped breakfast because we wanted to get there as early as possible this meant that the land was still huge but mostly local however i should know that it was sunday so perhaps try going during the week for a better experience once at the top you can enjoy the views and drink a coffee or hot chocolate from this coffee place there are also a bunch of activities you can do on the top like hiking biking horse riding and so on [Music] you can also just take photos from the top with lamas and alpacas or for the more adventurous types join the many people visiting the summit of pichincha an active strata volcano the views are pretty much similar to the views from the bottom but we decided to give it a go and hike all the way to 4 700 meters it might seem like a small change in elevation but it was extremely exhausting because of the high altitude if you've ever wanted to experience altitude sickness in safe conditions this is the place to start we were climbing very slowly because we needed to take deep breaths and have constant breaks every 10 steps on the way we saw a few people who had almost faded on the way down and felt quite bad so don't cross your limits trying to reach the assignment of the volcano if you start feeling a headache dizziness or nausea and if you aren't experienced hiking at such altitudes you're better off turning back we started feeling bad two and a half hours into the journey we were at 4500 meters just a couple of hundred of meters short and decided to go back by the way it took us three hours to get there you can also try this swing for a good photo but be ready for a big line when we returned to the coffee shop the headache really kicked in and we started feeling bad we had two hot chocolates a tamale and a slice of cheesecake but it was hard to enjoy anything after an hour of recovery we started feeling better and took the gondola back down we wanted to see more places in the area but felt so exhausted that we headed back to our condo in the evening we needed to do a little shopping because we intended to rent a car the next day we went to kiro santro which is a nice mall and our expense sheet day 4 we checked out and headed to pick up the car in between we decided to check what is budgeted breakfast in kira look like these two entries cost 5 only to be honest not the best option for breakfast when renting a car in ecuador you have a few options like alamo addis budget car enterprise and europe car in our case we needed to pick up the car from kiro and drop it off in guayaquil 7 hours away it was only these big names that offer such an option when comparing prices you'll see that the manual transmission cars are way cheaper than automatic ones while suvs are way more expensive than basic sedans it's mandatory to buy insurance from the ecuadorian companies even if you have third party coverage and make sure you pay attention to the number of kilometers included for example europe car provided me with the best quote for 11 days however they only included 100 kilometers or 62 miles per day [Music] every additional kilometer would cost 95 cents if i picked europe car i would overpay over a thousand dollars the next cheapest option was budget car for about 1200 with 1500 kilometers included and 50 cents per additional kilometer finally enterprise cost was 128 dollars with unlimited kilometers we picked enterprise and never regretted it our drip mileage came in at over 2200 kilometers i can highly recommend the enterprise office in kira downtown not airport everything went smoothly and they were extremely helpful we had an issue with my bank and they called canada at their own expense to figure this out allowing me to talk to my bank which was a great customer service due to these issues the pickup process took about two hours before i got on the roads of ecuador i felt anxious at first but it was extremely easy to adapt to the local driving style go pretty slow and do not use your turning signals the road signs are mixed up common american and european signs so it is easy to follow and alright to otavala begins the desktop google maps version told me it was about one and a half hours away but the mobile version said about three hours away i thought it was because of the traffic but i later realized that my app had avoided toll roads as a result i had extended my trip that being said it was actually nice to see the country and the views [Music] [Music] and we arrived at the intiya hotel in ottawa it was an extremely authentic hotel that i'd highly recommend to everyone i cannot describe the hospitality and edit it of the people who work there marcus the owner the one on the picture built the hotel by himself while following all the local traditions of this area in ecuador the hotel itself was like a museum the saddest part about the hotel was the guests because we were the only ones staying in the whole hotel marcus said that not only had the pandemic really hurt the business but also that people usually travel to aravala on the weekends so that's why the hotel is rarely busy during the weekdays if you ever travel to otavalo i highly recommend booking this hotel it's inexpensive and the staff are extremely kind you will find all the links under the video description or on my website our room was amazing and cozy the bed and blankets were warm and comfy making a great change from what we'd gotten used in quito we also had a nice terrace with the views of aravalo and a full fireplace you had to pay five dollars for firewood but we were more than happy to support the hotel aravala is home to the indigenous indian mountain people it was completely different to kiro and we really liked the energy of the place we headed to otavalo market probably the most popular indigenous market in ecuador as i expected to see a variety of unique and crafted items i was a little disappointed many vendors sell exactly the same thing meaning it became a typical mass market look at this image it looks authentic at first but if you check more careful you'll find adidas logo bart simpson tiktok so it's not that authentic after all while it is possible there are more unique vendors on saturday because it's the biggest day of the market it's not worth visiting during the week nevertheless my wife bought a llama sweater as a keepsake a memory from this part of ecuador the cost was 20 keep in mind that many restaurants are closed after 6 pm in the area but we found one with a lot of locals inside we expected to see local food but it was chinese well sort of a local plus chinese cuisine mix the portions were absolutely huge and neither of us were able to finish even half of the plate it cost only 12 dollars and we packed up the leftovers for tomorrow's lunch [Music] day 5. [Music] we started off with a cozy breakfast that was included in the hotel prize then headed to laguna de cuycocha it is a crater lake at the food of kotakacci volcano it is a popular hike around the otavalo area and was about 40 minutes away from the hotel everything was going well until we encountered a closed road and needed to find a detour let me tell you in that situation google maps is not your best friend i highly recommend using waze waze maps are optimized way better in ecuador long story short we almost lost our car somewhere in the forest but eventually arrive to our destination you'll encounter many unofficial parking signs that ask you to pay for parking but make sure to go to the official entrance because parking and admission is free but make sure to bring your id it's an ideal easy hike of a loop around the laguna while enjoying spectacular 360 degree views it was a tuesday so we didn't encounter a single person during our time on the trail we only did maybe 25 of the trail because we didn't feel the need to see the same use from a different angle many people drive all the way to the water where you can rent a boat for three dollars per person right in the crater we decided to skip that and headed for our next spot right by our hotel which was pegucci waterfalls it's definitely worth visiting if you're in the area the entrance fee was only one dollar per person and it offers another beautiful easy hike but as usual we didn't see the entrance sign and went off trail in the beginning we appeared to be on a dirty trail and saw suspension bridge so i was 100 sure it was part of the trail however the bridge was in quite bad condition and not really safe to cross ten minutes later we found the waterfall honestly it was nothing special but still beautiful especially if you stay in out of our area we were going to see way better waterfalls later on our trip that evening we enjoyed an authentic dinner in the hotel and these are our expenses day six aurovalla is a great area to visit we highly enjoyed our stay with the indigenous community and recommend visiting this area in ecuador to everyone it was sad to check out from this beautiful hotel but our adventure had to continue our next destination is cotopaxi national park area which is about three hours away and we used tall roads this time that are extremely cheap there are a few unique places you can stay we really wanted to stay at two places our first option was a country house hacienda los mortinos with cozy rooms and use of carapace volcano unfortunately our dates were unavailable to book which was weird because other dates like one day after or before had plenty of rooms available we conducted them but no one replied our second option was this secret garden which looks like the shire from the lord of the rings however while waiting for reply from hacienda los martinez all the rooms became unavailable so if you like either of these two options be sure to book in advance i put links in the description we ended up staying at hacienda el rejo and we have no regrets whatsoever i can highly recommend them the hotel is located on a farm alongside many cows that are used for milk and cheese products only while the room was spacious and with comfy beds [Music] what we really loved was their lounge area [Music] when we arrived we were extremely hungry and decided to have lunch in the hotel most of their many accounted for steaks and reefs at quite expensive prices for ecuador i got pork ribs and my wife had steak the cost was 35 dollars which was quite disappointing to what we used to the weather had cleared up by the evening so we took a walk around the farm and hiked about the area it was a beautiful area with many farm animals around we headed out to find something for dinner at around 7pm but by then almost all restaurants in the area were closed we headed back to the hotel and decided to check out their menu for the second time then they only had pizza and pasta on offer rather than any local goods so we ended up ordering two homemade pizzas they were delicious though but after the hotel caretaker saw our frustration about inner choices we were promised a surprise in the form of a local dish the next day and our expenses day seven [Music] in this particular area we're planning to visit two major spots karapaksi provincial park kilotoa lake the weather forecast wasn't promising whatsoever it showed 100 chance of rain storms we weren't happy because it's always best to visit this bus when the sky is clear not to mention the fact that both are located 39 meters above sea level so it's quite cold we initially wanted to visit cut epoxy first but once we saw there was only a 90 chance of the rain there we decided to drive to kill at all lake it rained all day long when the highway ended there was a long serpentine road rose went from 2500 meters all the way up to 3900 meters it became extremely foggy well we were driving through the clouds the cars were moving so slowly and there was no optimism whatsoever but then we drove about the cloud and everything became crystal clear it felt like we driven through a portal and into a different world in the meantime the weather app switched to 100 rain for kilato lake here is a valuable tip do not trust the weather app in ecuador going forward the same situation happened a few more times it was so cool to drive at such altitude and see the local communities living here and we arrived the admission cost four dollars per person and the viewpoint was only a few minutes from the car just wow we were 3 900 meters above the sea level in front of an active water-filled crater lake belonging to the most western volcano in the ecuadorean andes and we were so happy that weather was so clear it was 2 degrees but it felt like 10 to 12. you have several activities from there you can explore the local communities do a loop around the lake or go all the way down to the lake shore itself it was only 220 meters elevation to deal with on the way back so we decided to go down and see the dead water in the lake the hiking trail was absolutely stunning although there were a lot of people on the way back who had been left exhausted by the elevation many were using mules to get all the way back and i felt so sorry for those poor creatures [Music] finally we were in front of the lake the water isn't suitable for swimming but you can rent a kayak for six dollars for 30 minutes we spent about an hour kayaking in the crater and i can highly recommend this experience for everyone it's hard to describe the feeling but it's like you're on a different planet [Music] all good things must come to an end the clouds were coming towards us and the weather started getting worse 220 meters in elevation may seem low but not when you're at 3 900 meters above the sea level it took us almost three hours to reach the parking lot by the time we reached the peak there were no use of kilato lake anymore time to eat we stopped in a local place and had an amazing lunch creamed corn loma a la planta or just pork and trucca a la plancha or trout it was a great meal after such an adventure and we were so satisfied with the day as we drove back to the hotel at the hotel the host had prepared a surprise dinner for us it was a local white fish korovina and was honestly the best meal i had during the whole trip although my wife would disagree if you decide to stay at hacienda you make sure to ask for such a dinner it cost us 27 dollars for two people and it was totally worth it finally the expenses they ate after nice breakfast in a hotel we headed to karapoxian national park when we reached karapaki national park we found out that we need to register surprisingly there was no admission fee after entering the rangers remind you of the strict speed limit which is at 30 kilometers per hour keep in mind that the pavement ends after two kilometers and the road just keeps getting worse and worse [Music] the first stop on our route was laguna olympia pungo it is a scenic lagoon that offers beautiful views when the weather is good it's even possible to see the reflection of karapaksa volcano we weren't lucky the hike is flat and easy and if you are lucky you can spot wild horses roaming around we only spotted wild horse poops while the landscape here is unreal and stunning just wait for the next spot we drove all the way to try and hike one of the highest active volcanoes named kotopaksi and get as close to his 5 000 meter peak as possible the most common hike is from the parking lot which is 46 000 meters above sea level if you're about to drive into the parking lot like we did make sure you're in a car with high clearance you're going all the way up a terrible road and i had to push on the gas non-stop because the car was so much slower than usual at such an altitude [Music] when we reached the parking lot we weren't actually able to see the peak oh well the weather was constantly changing [Music] we hiked all the way up to the checkpoint named refugio jose ribas which is at 4 800 meters it took us two and a half hours to get to the point the weather was changing constantly we're talking every 30 seconds or so the peak was hidden and then could suddenly be seen clearly every once in a while we felt euphoric the whole way i mean just look at that the red eruption looks like mars and the view to the valley just unreal there was a little cafe at refugio jose ribas as well as an overnight shelter for those who are intending to climb all the way to the summit we spend 10 on these snacks i would definitely recommend grabbing enough snacks and water we wanted to climb more to reach the 5 000 meter mark but we didn't have the proper equipment not to mention zero experience in fact if your intention is to reach the summit then it's the best to get a guided tour i highly recommend going to karapoxy national park to everyone [Music] we were able to spot wild horses as well we were so tired after such an amazing day but the trip wasn't over we had to drive to our next destination banius that was about two and a half hours away banis is an extremely popular destination for both tourists and locals this is for a few reasons like unique nature many waterfalls and thermal baths huge variety of different extreme activities nice infrastructure including many hotels restaurants and pretty much everything you need to enjoy a nice weekend when we arrived to our hotel we were so exhausted that we just ordered pizza had a shower and fell asleep [Music] the hotel was so nice with an amazing balcony view a good breakfast and relatively cheap for the area we paid 162 dollars for three nights and these are our expenses for the day if you're enjoying this video i will highly appreciate if you show support the easiest way would be a thumb up because it will help to spread the video to more people also if you find the video available you can buy me a coffee i leave a link in the description finally this video is transcripted on my website with more images name of the places details and affiliate links for example buying tickets booking hotels and so on if you use any of these links i'll get a small commission at no cost to you thank you really much i really do appreciate it day 9 new day new adventure after we had a nice breakfast we headed to the number one spot in the area diablo falls according to the weather app it was supposed to be rainy even snowy with a temperature of about 5 to 10 degrees in reality it was sunny and reached 30 degrees that says all you need to know about the weather app there are two entrances to the waterfall and each ask for submission of two dollars per person we arrived at 10 30 am basically when everyone had just finished breakfast and it was really unusual to see such crazy crowds in ecuador it was crowded as hell apparently we picked the worst date and time to visit diablo falls even though it was so powerful and beautiful such a huge crowd killed everything with no one controlling the volume of people after 10 minutes we decided to leave and come back for a proper visit on monday morning so more to come instead we decided to check out less popular places the best part about banis is that there's just so much to do that you can really pick your own path many love their extreme activities but we skipped that after driving and seeing so much of ecuador you could tell that there's not much in the way safety regulations in the country so we weren't too sure about the equipment and standards they used for extreme activities but it's always a personal decision and that's just us instead we decided to check out the waterfall route which is an amazing 61 kilometer road with many waterfalls along the way if you're not planning to rent a car you can rent an atv to enjoy the route at a rate of 15 to 20 dollars per hour each waterfall you see along the way is unique so we decided to randomly stop at the machai waterfall admission is one dollar per person there is a really steep staircase letting down but the atmosphere was amazing we felt more like we were in the tropics it was so green around and we heard so many wild animals and we didn't see a single person the waterfall was beautiful we didn't expect the weather to be as hot as it was and we found ourselves wishing we brought our bathing suits there were only a few people downstairs so we chilled enjoyed the nature and had a little snack for the journey back we had to go up 191 meters we were ready to spend 2-3 hours climbing back but it only took us 19 minutes we forgot that bunnies is located at just 1800 meters above sea level we were so happy to be able to breathe properly again we felt hungry and decided to grab some of the street food on our way these cubers were only four dollars all together after lunch we didn't feel like more hiking so we took the monto de la nombia gondola which was quite a cool experience the cost is only two dollars per person [Music] after we made our way back to the hotel as we wanted to check out the weekend vibe in the city is quite nice and the weekend vibe was absolutely great there were so many restaurants to check out we stopped by an argentinian one called cimarron parilla the appetizers were really good but the unique steak special they sold us was so-so the cost of the dinner was 30 dollars finally our expenses day 10 it was sunday in banias and we wanted to get away and try out the jungle experience venus is located near the amazon basin so we drove through the city of puyo to finca mirador indiciuris it is a one and a half drive from banius and it's simply amazing to see how much nature changes as you go down driving via the rainforest was a completely different experience like we had moved to a different country altogether it was 32 degrees outside and extremely humid thin camerador mirador indicuris is a really nice viewpoint with a few caves along the way [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] on the top you'll find a beautiful viewpoint and call the hammocks to chill in and of course there are always a few cool spots for instagram shots after that we decided to check out the local area and community [Music] surprisingly it had quite nice infrastructure as we were driving we saw the handmade sign waterfall in spanish that led to an unpaved narrow road through the forest while it looks scary you didn't even need an suv there was a local community in the area and one of them asked us to pay an admission fee of five dollars it was a public area so we were kind of ripped off truth to be told it was the only ripoff in ecuador we ever experienced and it was only five dollars we didn't want any trouble with locals so we just paid and asked for directions to the waterfalls by mistake we went the wrong way we ended up climbing an extremely muddy very steep hill it wasn't even a part of the trail the locals who passed this part themselves on a higher section of the official trail were surprised to see us climbing there we reached the official trail went all the way up and found another viewpoint it was nothing special the previous viewpoint was way more scenic [Music] i can't describe how wet and mighty we were by this point so we definitely needed to find this freaking waterfall finally we found the right path from the parking lot we simply crossed a little bridge and turned right that was all it was our first jungle experience and we were completely alone unfamiliar sounds insects plants spider webs it was a little bit scary and so incredibly hot due to the extreme humidity 20 minutes later we spotted this small basinic waterfall in the jungle 10 seconds after we found it we were swimming in it it absolutely made our day refreshing crystal clear water in the jungle we swam for over an hour completely alone until a local family joined us keep in mind it was a weekend so i guess it must be really empty during the week in which case i'd highly recommend this spot we discovered the spot randomly and it's hard to find on google maps but i think i did we were completely satisfied and happy we needed to finish everything up with a late lunch it was almost 4 p.m and randomly stopped by at a restaurant named la casona in puyo it had an amazingly scenic patio right in the rainforest and even better extreme rain started just wow the pricing was more than reasonable and the food was so good we had this stunning chicken entries gratianata and polio champignoni but the menu was huge it seemed like a fancy place serving the local community and the owners were so surprised to see tourists like us they asked us to recommend the restaurant to everyone heading to the puya area so that's exactly what we're doing and our expenses for the day day 11. finally it's monday and the city of banis has once again become so empty first thing in the morning we went back to diablo falls remember this crazy crowd on saturday it opened at 9am and we were there by 8 50. this time we used different gates because they offered a unique experience to fill the waterfall the gates were open but every single shop nearby was closed the admission was two dollars per person we were there completely alone this was such a nice feeling after we saw all the crowds on saturday we reached the falls in about 15 minutes the best part about the falls is he can go through the caves and end up behind the waterfall [Music] the cave was so tight as it was i can't imagine how they handle the traffic when there are loads of people on the trail you need to crawl through some parts and there is only enough room for one person [Music] [Music] be ready to get soaked when you're behind the waterfall afterwards we needed to check out from the current hotel but we had intended to spend one more night in banius we booked a fancy romantic hotel that i'll talk about later but we had a few hours to kill before check in so we headed to another hot spot in banis called swing at the end of the world which is a popular place if you want to take pictures from the peak something like this i can imagine the lions here during the weekend if you're heading to banius make sure to do it during the week the admission was just two dollars per person and is definitely worth a visit finally it was a time to check in at luna vulcan adventure spa hotel oh my god this was exactly what we needed we were tired of such an active trip and this hotel offered everything for us to chill and it is a high-end hotel located at 400 meter point above banias it has many unique different romantic rooms with great views while it's quite expensive as we paid 240 dollars for the night keep in mind that a high-end dinner and breakfast are both included [Music] plus four pools are available alongside the ultimate selling point jacuzzi with hot volcanic water at the edge of the mountain [Music] i would highly recommend booking a room from the official website rather than an aggregator like booking or expedia because you can pick a specific room and upgrade the way you want [Music] i gotta say it was so worth it if i had the budget i would stay here for as long as i could the jacuzzi was amazing the dinner was delicious and the room was just outstanding and our expenses day 12 time to leave banios for the next amazing destination the historical city of cuenca it was a long seven hour drive due to time limitations we had to pass a few cool spots on the way riobamba city [Music] chimboraza volcano the devil's nose train ride but it was also great to drive through the country and see the lives of local people we could see what the real ecuador was like [Music] the landscapes were unreal but the roll was quite hard there are strong curves with ink lines and descends all the way not to mention there being only one lane some cars were going as low as 15 kilometers per hour and it was quite risky to pass them due to curves and turns one good thing is that each gas station we stopped at had really nice very clean washrooms this was a relief because we had been worrying about it just make sure to have toilet paper with you every time you go to the washroom we booked some pretty cool accommodation in cuyanca through airbnb but unfortunately they refunded our money and canceled it two days prior to the trip neither us nor the host were sure what happened so i reached out to airbnb support they advised us that the place received a few complaints with safety concerns oh well we were actually quite relieved after our airbnb experience in quito we decided to just arrive and book something last minute finally we arrived in cuenca we ended up in a five-star auroverda hotel for only 85 dollars per night what a treat i was absolutely exhausted after driving so we ordered paella through the local app pedes sort of local uber eats and that was pretty much it for this day [Music] day 13 the city of cuenca is a must visit if you're in the architecture they have it all after an amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel we're ready to explore [Music] but first my wife wanted to visit a unique open-air zoo to see the ecuadorian wildlife we are against zoos in general but this one in particular was supported by environmental zoological organizations with the intention of protecting those animals that were either unable to live in the wild or which had been seized from illegal organizations and hunters the zoo is located at the top of the city and has some nice views this open-air zoo derides into different ecuadorian regions and is made as a long one-way trail it took us almost two hours to finish the trail even though we tried to be as fast as we could it was great to see the wildlife of ecuador there were a few animals that i got to see for the first time in my life such as spectacle bears many burst pieces and incredibly reptiles on the stands along the trail you can read some horror stories about how the government has destroyed some forests and animals can't live in their natural habitats or how illegal hunters are devastating rare species i also love the garbage part of the trail talking about the importance of recycling and how bad trash is for the nature considering the fact that many parents bring their children here it's a great opportunity for education as ecuador is hardly an eco-friendly country once we were done we headed to the historical city center cuenca's architecture is from the 18th century and they do their best to maintain it in the best condition because of that cuenca's historic downtown was declared a world heritage site by unesco the city center felt way safer when walking in quito cathedrals cafes markets everything felt so cozy [Music] we used to buy this cozy cafe for lunch right by this cathedral it was delicious too we also tried the popular local street dessert as pumila it costs only one dollar after exploring the historical center we headed to ruinas de pumapungo unfortunately the weather got worse and the rain started pouring so we decided to head back to the hotel instead we wanted to explore local restaurants in the evening for dinner since cuenca is famous for a few cool traditional dishes such as cui asado or lechon al horno unfortunately my wife started feeling unwell so we ordered delivery again but i would highly recommend you to do a food tour in cuyanca day for kin the next morning we checked out early in order to drive all the way down from 2500 meters above sea level back to the sea level itself to guayaquil through el cajas national park the park has unreal views based on the photos on the internet when i looked them up they reminded me karapoxie national park but greener unfortunately we were unlucky with the weather and didn't have a chance to hike in the park we stopped in a few spots for an hour hoping that the weather would clear up but no success oh well after all the luck we had with kila toa lake and katapaksi we weren't complaining besides the road was pretty scenic we arrived in goyakill at about 2pm and needed to do pcr tests before our galapagos journey i really hope that by the time you watch this video you've forgotten all about pcr tests and can barely remember what kobit is unfortunately we had to spend over 24 hours in goyakill because of that goyakil is the biggest and most criminal city in ecuador the traffic was quite crazy and stressful after taking our pcr test we grabbed lunch and began the drive through the city's downtown area so we could return the car let me tell you it was quite a challenge extreme traffic no one respecting anyone on the road i was so happy to return the car and get to the hotel we felt quite tired and didn't feel like exploring the city so we chilled in the hotel and ordered a card for dinner for the third night in a row finally the expenses day 15. finally our last day on the ecuador mainland trip we didn't feel like exploring guayaquil at all but had been forced to stay in the city to get our pcr test results while the city has many beautiful places we were so tired by this point that we really wanted to get away to the galapagos islands as soon as possible nevertheless we took a cab to malikon 2000 which is a riverside boardwalk with a bunch of local shops and cafes while walking we noticed that part of the park was closed in preparation for goa kill independence day which was about to take place the next day we walked around the area and found a few cool architectural buildings as well as a local live orchestra playing the agoya kill independence composition [Music] we also recommend visiting park seminaria which has not only a nice historical church but also a lot of land iguanas and turtles throughout the park that was a big surprise later we returned to malecon had lunch and headed to the hotel to pack for the galapagos islands and our final expenses as you could see if you travel on the budget you can definitely make it under 800 for 15 days this was an amazing trip that we greatly enjoyed we've visited so many incredible places but of course there's always more when planning the trip we had a few alternative destinations we wanted to visit after all ecuador has such variety to it and two weeks is only a limited time frame if you didn't like our route you can also consider these spots first it's mind the valley that is located in the middle of cloud forest and offers activities like waterfalls zip lines and natural baths sort of like bunnies but different make sure to research more second the amazon experience there are so many different amazon tours either for just one day or over multiple days for us after watching too many youtube videos we didn't find them used to be particularly beautiful or unique we mostly saw dirt and humidity but many people go to ecuador specifically for amazon experience third is the coastal ecuador one of the most popular cities is manta the only reason we decided to skip on this part of ecuador is since our trip also included a visit to the galapagos islands next is the devil's train which is also a one-of-a-kind attraction with great scenery and views i'm sure there are even more things to do in ecuador also i covered the frequently asked questions about travel in ecuador on my website article questions like is it safe in ecuador can i travel without any knowledge of spanish is it dangerous to drive in ecuador and so on once again i highly appreciate it if you support this video by giving it a thumbs up buy me a copy or simply using affiliate links from the description or my website if you have any questions about our trip leave a comment below the video i'll be as responsive as possible feel free to subscribe to this channel if you love this sort of travel videos the video about galapagos islands is coming thanks everyone for watching you

Channel: My Trip 2 Somewhere

Views: 15,258

Keywords: best things to do in ecuador, things to do in ecuador, ecuador travel guide, ecuador travel guide 2022, ecuador travel vlog, ecuador travel, ecuador, what to do in ecuador, restaurants in ecuador, ecuador food, banos ecuador, cuenca ecuador, quito ecuador, travel to ecuador, cotopaxi ecuador, ecuador guayaquil, otavalo ecuador, quilotoa ecuador, ecuador foods, rent car ecuador, pichincha ecuador, things to do in quito ecuador, things to do in banos ecuador, travel ecuador

Id: eF2YBYCYF5M

Length: 61min 12sec (3672 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 15 2022