You have probably heard of places to visit in Ecuador like The Galapagos Islands, Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca. Here is a list of my favourite none- touristy places to visit in Ecuador for people that have seen it all or if you want to avoid the big crowds. In the beginning of November, there is a long-weekend holiday in Ecuador as well as many other countries in Latin America. This long weekend I decided to go somewhere with my boyfriend and a couple of friends. To avoid the big crowds and a lot of traffic, as well as experiencing something new we decided to explore the Andes area in Ecuador. We decided to start in Riobamba which was the first stop on our journey from Quito. Here is a list of galleries from all of the places we visited.
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Riobamba
Riobamba used to be one of the main cities of the Southern District during the Gran Colombia era. It is famous for its pork and some places you can get ice cream made with ice taken directly from one of the largest mountains in Ecuador Chimborazo. Riobamba has many colonial and old buildings. I must say I am not used to seeing the pork being prepared like this, where you see the nose and teeth at the serving table. However, it is worth the experience and it tastes amazing. You don’t have to eat the head part 😀
Guaranda
Guaranda is my new favorite town in Ecuador. It is so cute and colourful. This friendly city is also known for the annual Carnaval at the end of February. The whole town will be filled with people using homemade masks only made for this day. This charming town is also known for the fantastic ice cream called Helado de Cacho. You can only find this kind of ice-cream in Guaranda.
Chimborazo
Chimborazo is one of the tallest mountains in South America and is the tallest in Ecuador. The summit is at 6268 Meter above the sea. We were not so lucky the day we went there. It was foggy and we couldn’t even see the summit. We decide to climb all the way to the second shelter. We reached the 5100 meter mark, which is a record for me. I didn’t have an issue with altitude sickness because I am used to Quito altitude at almost 3000 Meter. We couldn’t climb more than 5100 Meters because everything went foggy and it would have been dangerous. You don’t want to get lost up there.
Salinas De Guaranda
Salinas is a cute little town outside of Guaranda famous for its amazing cheese and chocolate. We went there during the festival and got to see cheese competitions and tasting the amazing chocolate. You can also see some really interesting salt formations around Salinas.
Have you been to Ecuador? Where did you go or where would you like to visit?
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