Sunday, February 21, 2010

Prices In Cuenca Ecuador, Part 1

I did some shopping and baking this weekend, and thought I would share a few notes on the prices for goods and transportation here in Cuenca. Some things in Ecuador are cheaper than they are back home, while others are more expensive. See what you think of these 10 price comparison points:
  1. Bus Trip: 25 cents
  2. Optifree Express Contact Solution: $12.97 (Note that contact solution is not sold in supermarkets or big box stores. Nor is it sold at optometrists offices. Instead, it is sold at pharmacies, and kept behind the counter. Optifree and CIBAvision are the two brands that are sold here in Cuenca.)
  3. 400,000 volt taser: $38 (I didn't buy this, a friend did. No ID required.)
  4. Jif Creamy Peanut Butter: $5.01 (small jar)
  5. Ginger Root: 83 cents for half a pound
  6. Milk (1 liter): 80 cents
  7. Lemons: 35 cents for two big ones
  8. 10" Wood-fired pizza with ham, cheese, mushroom, green pepper, and bacon: $4.72
  9. 8 ounces of fresh squeezed pineapple juice: 70 cents at the sit down restaurant
  10. 3 pairs of ankle socks at the Tia (a supermarket): $1.59
Thoughts? Reactions? Let me know other things you'd like to know the prices of here in Cuenca and I can do some additional research!

4 comments:

  1. I like the idea that contact solution is behind the counter, while tasers are freely available. Also, that you could buy 14 lemons for the price of a small jar of peanut butter.

    But most of all, I like the fact that Ecuador apparently understands what most of the rest of the world does not: putting ham and bacon together, instead of being redundant, is in fact a glorious match.

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  2. the ammounts do seem odd, but after some thought they kinda make sense. Food that can be grown, cheap... non-grown items, more expensive. but why the contact solution is behind the counter is beyond me. Maybe too many people steal it???

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  3. Could you buy the taser and bring it back to the US without customs questioning you? ;-)

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  4. Haha, I don't think I can smuggle a taser. Nor am I smuggling back the pepper spray that is dirt cheap down here, either. I'd like to go my whole life without ending up on the NO FLY list!

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