A friend will be visiting and tells me he wants to see, “the real Ecuador.” It amuses me when people say something like that because what is the real Ecuador? To me it's the friend in the hospital because of a car accident, and the friend whose credit was cut in half and still fuming, and it's a woman I know who is trying to support her son and mother. It's also other friends and people I interact with daily sharing good times and not so good times.
That's the real Ecuador to me.
Having said that I will show him the “real Ecuador”, 
and make the usual rounds of centro histórico, mariscal, mitad del mundo, teleférico, etc. While obviously not the “real Quito”, those are must see places for tourists while in the capital.
What's the "real Ecuador", to other expats?
"I want to see the real Ecuador"
What is the fake Ecuador your friend refers to? I'm kind of giggling to tell the truth
IL
If I read "between lines", it means.... go out of the "beaten path", then you will discover places, people, ambience, seldom captured in pics.
I've been there.
You're absolutely right marcomueses, I have to include something like that in the itinerary that I'm making for him.
I'm also going to introduce to my best friend here who speaks English and also has a car. So that should be a cool experience. I'm also thinking about a language school that I been to before, all the teachers are Ecuadorian and they interact well one on one with students. Also teach him how to go back and forth on the ecovia. That should be a nice little ecuadorian immersion that he'll never forget.
One thing is certain he will be disappointed to some extent because of the hype. It's not all idyllic and cheap but unfortunately people romanticize about destinations.
Vsimple,
If I'm around by the time your friend (and yourself) decide to pay a visit to Tonsupa, I'd like the opportunity to be the guide.
Tonsupa/Atacames are growing beach towns that preserve the Ecuadorian ambience while trying to accommodate the foreigners taste in all aspects. Closest beach towns to Quito.
Here, you can listen to mixed music , from the heavy metal Rock, to soft old melodies, rhythms I never hear of before, such as "Salsa-Choke" to local marimba tunes, or romantic guitar singer-players showing unexpectedly to perform in Restaurants.
A mixture of food, from KFC to "bollos" and "allacas" rolled, cooked and packaged inside plantain leaves. Or a "CeviCangre" that will keep you coming back for more.
From modern aquatic parks or rivers where the local people attend weekend picnics to enjoy a soup of "gallina criolla", or "los Pozos de Muisne", an spectacular immense beach that during the low tide leaves dozens of large shallow areas filled with clear ocean water with no waves to worry about, an ideal place for families with small children where the parents can leave them bathing in the salty water with no worries.
Accommodations, from 4 star hotels to simple cabanas.
Populated beaches, to: isolated - private ones, where you can tan nude if you choose.
What you will NOT find is, malls, heavy traffic, cinemas, casinos, nor, any other form of major entertainment. However, on the positive side, NO timing pressure. Practically, you are forced to acquire their tranquil life style, if it doesn't happen today, it doesn't matter, it will happen tomorrow.
..... I could go on and on.... simply, this is the real Ecuador, like the advertisement mentioned, ...
"ALL YOU NEED IS ECUADOR"
if you want to see the real ecuador go to Papanku in Napo province
marcomueses wrote:Vsimple,
If I'm around by the time your friend (and yourself) decide to pay a visit to Tonsupa, I'd like the opportunity to be the guide.
Tonsupa/Atacames are growing beach towns that preserve the Ecuadorian ambience while trying to accommodate the foreigners taste in all aspects. Closest beach towns to Quito.
Here, you can listen to mixed music , from the heavy metal Rock, to soft old melodies, rhythms I never hear of before, such as "Salsa-Choke" to local marimba tunes, or romantic guitar singer-players showing unexpectedly to perform in Restaurants.
A mixture of food, from KFC to "bollos" and "allacas" rolled, cooked and packaged inside plantain leaves. Or a "CeviCangre" that will keep you coming back for more.
From modern aquatic parks or rivers where the local people attend weekend picnics to enjoy a soup of "gallina criolla", or "los Pozos de Muisne", an spectacular immense beach that during the low tide leaves dozens of large shallow areas filled with clear ocean water with no waves to worry about, an ideal place for families with small children where the parents can leave them bathing in the salty water with no worries.
Accommodations, from 4 star hotels to simple cabanas.
Populated beaches, to: isolated - private ones, where you can tan nude if you choose.
What you will NOT find is, malls, heavy traffic, cinemas, casinos, nor, any other form of major entertainment. However, on the positive side, NO timing pressure. Practically, you are forced to acquire their tranquil life style, if it doesn't happen today, it doesn't matter, it will happen tomorrow.
..... I could go on and on.... simply, this is the real Ecuador, like the advertisement mentioned, ...
"ALL YOU NEED IS ECUADOR"
Thank you for the kind offer, a true reflection of Ecuadorian kindness and the nice information you provided us all in your post. But perhaps some other time as the itinerary is almost full now.
I totally understand the idea of seeing the Real (whatever country/city, in the case Ecuador).
When we travel, we often only see the well trodden tourist areas. Sometimes we never see the day-to-day lives of the masses, we only get to experience the theme park version.
When I think of my first expat experience in 1993-94 in the UK, I was stuck in The City, London's financial district, for my first 10 days. Lots of visitors, foreigners, office workers, executives... and nobody actually lives there. It felt like the same stuff I saw on cable tv, just a bigger version of Disney's EPCOT. It took me a long time to get to see the working class neighborhoods, with the pubs and corner shops and supermarkets. That gave me an entirely new point of view. That was the "Real" London to me. And in a working class neighborhood where I eventually settled for the upcoming year.
I had a similar experience with my first trip to Guayaquil in 2017. Started in an Airbnb in Kennedy Norte-- which seems to be mostly a financial district, but with international chain hotels, office buildings, and the great big shining Mall del Sol. But very few people really live in Kennedy Norte, its almost empty at night. After 4 or 5 days, made it out to Downtown and Santa Ana. It still didn't feel Real, but I liked it. Then my girlfriend took me to Sauces, a working class to middle class residential neighborhood in North Guayaquil where she lives. We went by bus. That felt Real.
Finally, I felt like I was in the Real Ecuador. Whatever that means!
After that, we went to Montanita, again by bus. Leaving the bus station, I finally saw where the poor lived. I got to at least see this other side of life, if not experience it. And I loved Montanita too, this charming hippie surfer village. Awesome
I think having an Ecuadorian girlfriend in itself qualifies as the real Ecuador. Jjjjjj. My friend saw the real Ecuador within glimpses of life in Quito. Yeah the scenic beauty too but that is found in so many places around world for instance when locals brag about their beaches I tell them I've seen better. It's the people.
I love their varying temperament.
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