I visited Ambato on Saturday! Ambato is the capital of Tungurahua, a neighboring province in Ecuador. I had visited the city once before last year, but went again to explore it further (and get my flu shot). The bus journey took about 3 hours each way, but it was a nice day trip, and I had a lot of fun bopping around town.
I’ve been so lucky to travel quite frequently during my time in Ecuador, both within the country and the region. In the past year and a half, I’ve visited 10 provinces in Ecuador and four other countries in Latin America (Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Peru).
I almost always walk here. San Miguel is small enough that we don't have buses; I can walk from one end of town to the other in 30 minutes max. But there are buses for longer trips. The buses are operated by private companies, and they're nicer than the yellow school buses in the United States—think of them as charter buses for the most part. It's a 45-minute bus ride to my provincial capital of Guaranda and (depending on traffic and stops) about three and a half hours to Ambato. Going to the capital of Ecuador, Quito, takes me about 5-6 hours on the bus.
