Gualaceo, Chordeleg, Sig Sig Day Trip from Cuenca, Ecuador

Gualaceo, Chordeleg, and Sig Sig are three towns not from from Cuenca, Ecuador. This is what we learned and saw from taking an independent day trip from Cuenca by bus.

Updated: March 2022. Originally published: June 2016.

About traveling to Gualaceo, Chordeleg, Sig Sig

After our first month in Cuenca, we had heard rumors of various artisans in the nearby towns to the East. Just as the word of mouth information was unclear, information for this area online was even more elusive.

The only thing certain was that Gualaceo is known for ikat weaving (or rather, somewhere on the way to Gualaceo) and leather works, Chordeleg is known for silver and jewelry, and Sig Sig is known for producing Panama hats. Additionally, San Bartolome has a workshop where guitars are made.

I scoured the web for independent travel information and came up with very little. Price references for the buses were from 2012. Even the pamphlet from the tourism office in Cuenca was out of date.

I don’t want to say that you have to set your expectations low in order to enjoy this day trip, but you can’t expect the typical tourist attractions. We actually enjoyed the trip very much, mostly for the opportunity to see some new places in a beautiful setting.

Of course you can also visit Gualaceo, Chordeleg, and San Bartolomé artisans on a guided tour if you don’t want to figure out independent transportation.

It seems that, apart from the shopping available in Chordeleg, tourism in these three towns is usually limited to guided or package tours.

We witnessed a similar phenomenon when we were living in Jamaica – certain “attractions” really only functioned when they knew a big tour bus was coming, but they typically weren’t accustomed to receiving random walk ins.

While the package tours to Gualaceo and beyond undoubtedly take tourists to places we couldn’t discover through our own research, we still preferred to save our money and embark on a more independent adventure.

Costs and Times

Total transportation cost: About $6 per person
Lunch: $2 each
Departure from the center of Cuenca: 8:30am
Return to Cuenca: 3:45pm

Learn about transportation in and around Cuenca here >

How to Get to Gualaceo

• From the center of Cuenca, we took a city bus to the Terminal Terrestre (30 cents)
• Each person must pay 10 cents to enter the turnstile where the buses depart
• Ask someone for the buses to Gualaceo, check the sign in the bus’s front window; they leave frequently (every 15 minutes)
  Update 2022: Cuenca bus station has posted new signs stating that you must purchase bus tickets before entering the bus area. A number of companies serve Gualaceo/SigSig so you can purchase from any ticket booth or window that says Gualaceo. You’ll likely be asked to give your cedula or passport number and name for the ticket. Then board a bus from the same company you purchased from.
• The ride is somewhere around an hour and you can take it to Gualaceo’s bus park. (I liked to refer discretely to the offline/GPS map on my phone to make sure it looked like we’re in the right place)
• As of March 2022, Cuenca to Gualaceo is $1.30 per person. Gualaceo to Cuenca is the same price.

From the bus park, you’ll be very close to the nice riverfront park (which is apparently extremely popular during February’s Carnaval because of all the water games). There are walking paths on both sides of the river, so you could do a nice flat walk of about 4 miles up and down the river in Gualaceo.

There is a city market just a few blocks from the bus park. Here you’ll find not only produce but plenty of meal stalls as well. From smoothies and sweet coconut juice, to cheap plate lunches, fried tortillas, roast pig, and even roast cuy.

A second produce market is located up on the hill. If you don’t mind a little hike, it does have a nice view up there.

On the main road, Avenida Jaime Roldos (Hwy 594), look for Dulcería La Delicia. There are actually three shops on the road, all run by the same lady, which feature some Gualaceo specialties.

Sampling rosero, a drink of blended fruit and spices, quesadilla (a sweet bread in the shape of a hexagon, not the savory Mexican tortillas and cheese), and other pastries at La Delicia was one of our favorite things to do in Gualaceo when we returned for a second visit. 

The area around the main square in Gualaceo is the most picturesque part of town. The plaza includes trees shaped like animals, a large church, ice cream shops, and restaurants. There are many shoe stores nearby as well.

I also asked a lady who works for the city, and she said there aren’t really any artist workshops in the city itself. You would have to stop on the way from Cuenca at Bullcay or San Pedro de los Olivos to see the dye and weaving.

I heard there is somewhere outside the city to see orchids as well as roses, which are exported. And apparently a couple has created a pyrotechnic or fireworks museum, available by appointment.

We thought Gualaceo was a nice town. It was smaller and more quiet than Cuenca, but still has a fair number of restaurants, shops, and colonial architecture to explore.

How to Get to Chordeleg

• You can get direct buses to Chordeleg from Cuenca, but they also load buses from the Gualaceo bus park frequently
• The ride is short and cost 45 cents each (2016 price)

The town of Chordeleg is kind of perched on a hill and the buses pass most of the town from below. We saw the big church as we passed by and sure enough, that’s the center of everything.

The plaza with the church is surrounded by jewelry and gift shops, as are many of the main streets in this tiny town. The main attraction here is shopping, although the whole place itself is very picturesque. Street lamps are decked out with elegant silver decorations and the surrounding mountains are gorgeous.

Originally we thought we would have lunch in Chordeleg – there were certainly options – but it was not quite 12 o’clock so we opted instead to continue on to Sig Sig.

How to Get to Sig Sig

In Chordeleg, we headed back to the site where our bus dropped us off and asked someone if there was a bus to Sig Sig. She said yes but they typically don’t stop in the “park” (a small pull out spot) and pointed us to a bench across the street where the bus would come by. I’m assuming this means most of the Sig Sig buses originate in Cuenca.

After about 10 minutes, a Sig Sig bus swung through town.

• It took about 30 minutes to wind our way around to Sig Sig and the cost was 75 cents each.
• There is an actual bus terminal as you approach town, which is where we got off.

I tried to ask for directions to the Panama hat cooperative at the tourist desk in the bus terminal, but I didn’t get very far. With some prompting, the lady finally recalled that it’s in the old hospital and suggested we just get a taxi to take us.

We opted to find lunch first, so we walked along the main road toward the church and central plaza. We got our $2 almuerzos (set lunch) and made sure to choose a restaurant with a bathroom.

We got directions from the server of the restaurant to the “hat workshop in the old hospital” and set out on foot.

The main road leading out of town is pretty dusty but it’s wide and wasn’t too bad of a walk. At the bottom of the hill, next to a nice riverside “beach” park is the old hospital building which is now a cooperative for all the ladies who weave straw hats.

We did see a number of ladies weaving a hat while walking around town or sitting on the bus.

The cooperative has one gigantic hat sitting in the courtyard, apparently an entry for the Guinness World Records. To the left there is an “exhibition” or shop of some of the products.

There wasn’t quite as much variety was we expected and they weren’t organized by size so we had to poke around quite a bit to find what we were looking for. There also aren’t any prices listed but we were told they start at $20 and go up.

Compared to the hats for sale at the “Hat Museum” in Cuenca, the prices are slightly lower at the Cooperative. But they don’t come with the adjustable inner band and the choices are more limited.

I suppose if you came on a guided tour you would probably also get to see more of the hat making process – which we had the opportunity to see at the museum in Cuenca.

Rather than climb the dusty road, we caught a taxi for $1.25 back to the center of town, took a peek in the Sig Sig market, and walked our way back to the bus terminal. We only had to wait 5 minutes for the bus to Cuenca to depart.

• The return trip to Cuenca from Sig Sig was at least an hour and half, and we paid $1.75 each (2016 price).

If you have questions or suggestions for this day trip, we’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Prefer not to go on your own?
Enjoy Gualaceo, Chordeleg, and San Bartolomé artisan visits on a guided day trip >

For further reading:

– 5 Great Day Trips from Cuenca, Ecuador
– What to See and Do in Cuenca, Ecuador (Plus Walking Tour Map)
– What and Where to Eat in Cuenca
– Guide to Public Transit in Cuenca
– Where to Practice Spanish and Get Free Lessons in Cuenca
– 6 Beautiful Places to Visit in the Ecuadorian Andes