The Middle of the World

Inside Convention

What a weekend! Dad got all the blame this time. And I guess he deserved it. First we took the day bus from Cuenca to Quito. Not the funnest. We left at 7 AM from Cuenca on Cuenca Taxi bus line and arrived in Quito at 5PM. The bus was actually not bad. The washrooms were automatic doors, ring the bell and the driver lets you in. That being said if you try and self close the door like Aidan did then you may get squished as it is a pneumatic door. Seat space is a little less than Imbambura Flota but otherwise I think it's just as good of a line.

Upon arrival in Quito we needed a Hotel/Hostel. First tried a hotel called Ricks hotel in the Mariscal area which I had stayed at the previous week. Unfortunately it was full. It was raining. And I had no back up hotel. Heidi had a hostel app on her phone and so in the rain off we went looking for a hostel. Unfortunately most were full. Finally we stumbled upon a cute little bed and breakfast called the Maple B&B in the Mariscal area. We got a good clean room with a single bed, a bunk bed and a double bed for 40$ a night. Shared washrooms and a descent breakfast.

Middle of the world

Sunday we woke up to go to our special assembly day. Again a bit of a disaster. Up at 5:45 to be at the bus for 7. Bus ride was about 1 hr from there. Beautiful building I must say but with only 173 pubs in the circuit if you are active you are busy. Every brother pulled double and triple duty. So sitting with the family for the day doesn't happen. It was nice though to have 284 in attendance and 1 baptized. We got back home again in the pouring rain around 6 PM to go for supper. Taxi over drove our hotel and we had to walk back 2 blocks. Then after walking to where we wanted to have supper we found out it was closed.

See the line

Monday was somewhat better. I say somewhat. I started off with 60$ in my pocket and no debit card or Credit card PIN number. After walking for about 25 mins and trying to find a way to get cash Banco Pacifica did a credit card cash advance for me at the teller. Thank goodness. We wanted to go to Mindo so headed to the bus station Ophilia. Upon arrival we found out that the next bus to Mindo was at 4PM and that a taxi there would cost 50$. Scrap that idea. We had 12 hrs to kill and what to do. We went to the middle of the world.

The taxi driver offered to drive us there for 8$ and we did. We arrived and had a good time FINALLY. There were several parks for the kids and quite a few gifts shops that were to our surprise very reasonably priced. In fact I think we made one shop keepers day when we bought 30 some key chains (so don't be surprised when we bring you back a keychain). Lunch there was good as well and by 2 PM we were done. We hoped on a bus just outside the center which brought us to a larger bus station and from there hoped a double bus to the center town.

What time is it?

It started to rain again. So with help of a local lady we made our way to a mall instead, were we spent the next few hours. I felt bad for this lady though she got soaked as did we but she didn't need to. She just kindly wanted to get us to where we were going and then refused a coffee or anything from us. Our final stop before leaving was the kids treat McDonalds. They have been begging for McDonalds for 3 months.

We had the taxi take us to the bus station, which turned out to be the wrong bus station of course. Fortunately there was a direct bus from that station to the south terminal which was where we needed to go. The ride home was no joy either. We rode Imbambura Flota home and the drivers assistant was a jerk. We had to ask him 3 times to open the washroom door and it wasn't until Heidi stood beside him and waited for him to come that he finally did. It's the biggest down side here on buses is having to wait for them to feel like they want to do something before they do. And although most of our bus experiences have been good that one or two can make things bad.

The real middle of the world according to GPS

I guess with all the bad we finally made a good and got one more thing done that we wanted to see.

Phone Service is Ecuador

Keeping in contact with friends, family or business aquiantances can be a little challenging in South America so here are a few tips I have tried and used that may be of value to you.

Magic Jack - This seems to be one of the most popular options. There are 2 different models available. One plugs into your computer and as long as your computer is on you can receive phone calls to an American or Canadian phone number. The other model plugs straight into your router and your phone. With this option be sure to use the cable that comes with the magic jack and not just any network cable. It will not work if you use a standard network cable. A good internet connection is required.

VOIP Apps - Again there are many of these available. Some are free and other cost you money. The problem with some apps is if they are not design right the sound will not carry and you will have spotty phone conversations. Also to consider is how good your internet will be with these apps.

Toll Free Forwarding - Do you have an American or Canadian number you want to keep. Try this option. Cost varies but basically at 39$ a month you get an 800 number. You forward your home North American number to the 800 number, next you forward the 800 number to your local South American number. The nice thing with this option is that no internet is required and since incoming calls are free in ecuador on prepaid service then you only pay for the 800 number.

Skype - Skype has many options for phone service. In some cases you can even have a Skype number.

Rogers Canada - If Canadian I have gone through ups and downs here BUT finally Rogers seems to have fixed everything. They have a app for the tablet that gives full access to your rogers cell number. Rogers one number seem to work well to keep your old number plus with this option you have access to text messages.

Text Message Options - This can be a big deal to many, so here are a few options.

What's App - Available for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry. Simply install and have your contacts install then whenever and wherever they want to contact you they can. No international charges. Only require wifi or 3G service.

Skype - If your contacts have Skype then you can text back and forth.