The Van to Cuence from GYE

Info about Operazuaytour in Guayaquil: Av. de las Americas y entrada a Bahia Norte. Centro de negocios el Terminal Of. 32
Phone: 04 2130837   www.operazuaytour.com.

Is very close to the airport, even you can walk there if you don't have a lot of luggage. From the airport you cross the Bus terminal is located to the right and after it you cross the street and there you are.

I think the price and time is still the same.

Vinny

Thanks Vinny! Sounds good. I'll only have a backpack with me. So I come out of the airport, cross the Bus Terminal on the right, cross the street and there it is...Correct? I hope I can make the 7 PM trip. My plane lands around 5:30 PM.
IF I miss the van, can you suggest a reasonable hostel or hotel for the 2 of us? We are fine taking a cab or bus to lodging.
If we miss the van, is there a bus that leaves in the evening for Cuenca?
Thanks for your help.
G

Sorry but I don't know of any good hotel close to the airport but look around on this webpage. I remeber I saw some info about in other posts.

And about the buses, the same thing but if you cross the bus terminal you can take a look.

Good luck and once in Cuenca we can meet if yoy look for info about this city.


Vinny

There is a hotel a couple of blocks from the airport: Murali Hostal Guayaquil ([email protected]).

I'm staying at the Murali this June, and then taking a van from there to Cuenca after an over night stay. They will pick you up at the airport for a really reasonable fee. Steve is the manager there, and he's been very helpful to me, and responsive to e mails, and speaks English. Although it's only a few blocks to the Hostel, I would suggest being picked up, unless you are arriving in the daylight.
Steve will send you a map, with their address if you choose to walk or take a taxi on your own.
Good Luck,
Neil

ZenSPIKE wrote:

Steve will send you a map, with their address if you choose to walk or take a taxi on your own.

Did The Maestro hire a new Gringo named Steve to manage the Guayaquil hotel while he runs the Quito site?

Excellent! Thanks for the recommendation. we are set. Gerry

Not really sure what the deal is. He certainly seems to have his fingers in a number of pies though, huh? Remember, not too long ago, he also built those 3 Tiki huts, and now the place at the new airport.

Okay thanks. I just hadnŽt heard the name "Steve" before, so thought it might be a new guy. Guess if I ever have a need to go to Quito, I can do some "investigative reporting"

OK guys. These blogs can help or handicap us. Bottom line, is the Murilo a safe place to overnight and can the manager (Steve?) be trusted. Bryan

Sorry. Misspelled the name. Meant Murali

stick1947 wrote:

OK guys. These blogs can help or handicap us. Bottom line, is the Murilo a safe place to overnight and can the manager (Steve?) be trusted. Bryan

Well, I have to be honest and tell you, I have not met Steve. I can say I've had numerous email contacts with him, and got a positive feel from him. I have found out from contacts, that he is a young man, a college student, and only works part time. He is very attentive to email communication. < a big plus in Ecuador > His English is very good.

I have spoken to folks that have stayed there. It is not the Ritz, but from my understanding, it is at the very least safe. They quoted me $ 5.00 for a pick up and transport to the hostel. Now, you might be hung up in customs for an hour, so I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better value.
I am traveling there the 1st of June, and will post my experiences. Cuz that's how I roll!!!! < smile >

Safe Travels

All I want when I get there is a cold cervza, something to eat and a good nights sleep. I will probably call a taxi or the Murali on arrival as it will be later in the evening and as you say, customs can hang you up for awhile. Please keep us dumb gringos informed on your progress. 
  Bryan

We are going to try and get to the VAN place before the last run. If we fail, we'll go to the Murali, unless we get a thumbs down from your experience. We are arriving on June 11th. thanks for the update. Gerry in Oregon

Gerry,
One note of caution. I see you plan on trying to get the last van ride out the night of your arrival. I have heard you do not want to make that trip at night, through the mountains. The sun sets at about 6:30, and at best, it's a pretty exciting ride with these drivers in full daylight. Night time transport is not recommended.
Do like Stick and myself, hole up for the night, have a cold one, and leave after breakfast in the morning.
Yeah, I'll keep you posted for sure on my experience there.
Safe Travels
Neil

Thanks Neil.
I have heard that it is not wise to drive at night and understand the driver(s) does that run several times a day. I figured since they are driving (not me) it should be fine. Have you heard something negative about the night run? Gerry

Gerry,
Sorry, I guess I'm not very good at conveying things by the written word. It is suggested you DO NOT travel by van at night. The roads are treacherous enough in the daylight, and at night it is waaaaay worse. Remember, sunset is about 6:30 pm, regardless of the time of year. I've heard of drivers taking " short naps ", and that is something you don't want to experience.
Safe Travels,
Neil

I think a napping driver on a mountain road might make me a bit nervous.

Neil: Is it like here in the Philippines? The 'highways' are about as wide a a residential street in a US suburb, no controlled access (as with an Interstate), and the drivers like to pass buses on blind curves.

I just shut my eyes a lot, and pray.

Bob

Yeah, roads leave something to be desired, and the drivers are crazy aggressive. And they will pass on a blind curve as if it's normal to do.  And, if you go out to check if it's safe to pass, see a car coming, and decide to get back in your place, forget it. Someone filled it when you pulled out, and you ain't getting back in. Just pray you can make it back to the end of the line before you get creamed. For such a seemingly gentle population, they behave as if someone flipped the maniac switch when they fire up a vehicle.
I've ridden motorcycles for 50 years, and I've never done the crazy crap I've seen them do in S. America. I saw a guy take a dump in Cuenca when his handlebar hit the mirror of a car. The guy was squeezing through spots I thought impossible, until it wasn't possible any longer, and down he went.

Sounds exactly like it is here -- there is no way you would get me to drive here, and it sounds like I'll do the same in Ecuador.

I'm very happy walking and taking taxis when necessary, or buses between cities.

I will have about 450lbs what to do??? Coming from Cuenca to GYE any van suggestions/tel numbers.....donkeys out of the question!

that is what we are doing my husband does not want to make a night trip in a van so we are staying over in quito and taking a morning van to Cuenca we feel safer that way.

I myself, want to take the morning trip to see the mountains.  I understand from ZenSpike and others that if you take a shared van, you pay for extra bags. Pele, you don't say how many people are with you but you might look into a private van. Check the posts and maybe you can find a name or number or try to Google it. There is also a hopper flight to Cuenca but don't know the cost.  I understand the manager at the Murilo is quite helpful in arranging a van.

My wife and did the GYE to Cuenca. We arrived at 730pm into GYE and stayed at the Hampton Inn, expensive but I used honor points. The next morning at 1100 the private van to picked us up and off we went on our first Ecuador adventure. The van was $80 for both of us. Like so many people say "DO NOT TAKE THIS TRIP AT NIGHT", we had an excellent driver and felt very safe with is experience level.

The trip over the mountain was unadventful, but we saw cars passing on blind corners and near misses, we saw rocks, boulders and dirt in the road, taking it to one lane.

Best of luck

I heard from good authority that yeah, the trip is $12.00, "but" the pickup charge from the "airport" is another 40 or 50. Then there is a mandatory "picnic" stop en route. You "will" have fun whether you want to or not, is what it sounds to me. For that, I found several afternoon/early evening flights from GYE to CUE from 60 up. You know "my" choice. Hope all is well with you folks. I will be in CUE in 30 days.
DT

David and I ended up staying overnight (airbnb: Patricia) in GYE and then taking the morning bus to Cuenca for $8.00/person. It was a beautiful trip, comfy seats, a movie and bano on the bus. I think it was 4-5 hours. We also did the trip BACK to GYE on the bus around dusk and the light in the mountains was awesome. Then we rented a car in GYE and drove around EC for 2 weeks, (coast, mountains, rainforest, etc) and back to Cuenca for a few days. We then drove back to GYE to catch our flight back to ORegon. YEP, the drivers are different in EC but once I got the hang of it, we had no problems. The horn beeps are just confirmations that they see you, all is well, pass now, or they are going to pass, etc. Blind corners, yellow lines, It doesn't matter...Those are just suggestions.... We rented our car from Expedition in GYE and I negotiated a much lower price than the one advertised.

DT,
Am I understanding you correctly about the pick up and bus costs? Are you referring to GYE airport and a bus to Cuenca from there? If that's the case, your good authority is waaaay off base.
The GYE. airport is a 1.50 taxi ride to the bus terminal. It's a buck fifty cuz that's the minimum charge. You can see one from the other. Here's my experience, today!

Took a taxi from airport to the bus terminal. ( $ 1.50 )
Arrived at terminal at 6:30 am.
@ 7:00 am boarded bus at a cost of $ 8.00

Bus Company was : Alianza Executive Express

Arrived at my condo @ 11:00 in Cuenca
No picnics, no parties, no side trips, no additional charges, although I did buy a nifty led flashlight for a buck on the bus.
Don't know if I was understanding your facts, but this is true and accurate, as of this posting. For $8.00, you want the Executive Line. Nice buses, and 2 hours faster.
Stay Well,
Neil

Neil is correct and very wise.

But I did get ripped off when I had to take a taxi from the bus terminal to the airport, I paid $3.

Yeah, wise.... that's how I'd describe myself. < smirk >

It was nice to finally see and talk to Pam today.

That airport, and bus terminal can be very confusing, so don't feel badly about being taken on the fare. Those drivers make it seem as if you are going some distance, when in fact it's probably less than a mile as the crow flies.
I have to admit, that is absolutely the worst mish mash I've yet seen in Ecuador trying to get out of the airport there if you're trying to go the other direction, or I should say, circle back.

My driver, who had been in New York for 10 years, even admitted at the end of my ride from the malacon that he is totally tense for his whole shift, that he NEVER relaxes. Yet when you watch them in that crazy traffic, they always seem calm and collected. If this was in the US, you would see guns drawn!
Stay Well,
Neil

It was the van company that told me this. Same one that was on the Captivating Cuenca site. The one with the advert of 12 each way. That's what the owner told me. When I said good authority I wanted to keep them sterile, but someone has passed me the incorrect info and now I don't know whom. In any event, I'm taking the air from GYE to CUE. Anyone else who can add to this please feel free.

And thanks.

My wife and I had to make last minute flight reservations and we each paid about 90-100 for one way tickets. It would of been cheaper if we had our cedulas.

It's a short and gorgeous flight, get a window seat.

Almost forgot, we had to go to the airport and get our tickets and they don't like cash, bring a CC.

This was back in December.

My Bad Blue,
Sorry, I must have misread, or just misunderstood what you were referring to. I was thinking from the original post you were talking about the executive buses, not the van services. It's a moot point now as the van services have been put out of business recently. The bus companies felt it was unfair to them, as they have to pay taxes and permits and I guess other fees the private vans were not. They were just operating under the radar, in plain sight I guess.
Most folks don't like the fact that if you fly in from the US, you come in so late, that you have to overnight. But, if you come in from Panama City, you don't have to. But, that is a long day's travel going that route.
They are working on being able to fly directly into Cuenca.
Good Luck in your travels.
Neil

Thanks, I think I obviously spoke to a different company in light of the foregoing remarks. But I'll still be arriving later afternoon and considering night travel, I better stick with my flight!

David and I arrived at 5:30 PM from Panama. We stayed overnight via Airbnb (what a great website service) and then hopped on the bus the next morning. It was great for $8 and as mentioned, we got to see a part of Ecuador we would not have seen from a plane. Literally going from sea level to 8000 feet, all the terrain and weather changes was amazing.

Gerri,
It was like the most awesome visual I think I've seen since I've been here. You travel through the mountains, the clouds... it's an awesome trip. What a beautiful country!
Neil

Hey Neil, How's it going down there? I've got pictures on my blog if you want to chek 'em out...gerrygoestoecuador.wordpress.com
My favorites are the little church atop a small hill and the mountain lakes at the top.

The cost factor of the flight is very reasonable, and if you are more interested in just getting to the destination, it's your best bet.
But, once you are settled in, the bus trip is a great way to see the countryside. It is absolutely gorgeous.
The bus terminal in GYE. is much larger than most airports. It's a bustling place, but they do have information kiosks with English speaking personnel that are very helpful.
You certainly must visit the malacon in GYE. It is just fantastic, great sights, great food, fantastic architecture, and the greatest family atmosphere there is. Obviously, it's right on the ocean.
Safe Travels
Neil