Half day- 5 Hour Pottery Experience In Cuenca

Here’s a polished version that keeps the criticism clear but fair: I was excited about this experience because I do ceramics in New York, so I thought it would be interesting to see how pottery is approached in Ecuador. The guide, Pedro, was excellent. He showed me around Cuenca, was very helpful, and clearly knew the city well. The issue was with the pottery part of the excursion. I only had a short amount of time to make the pots, although I did manage to make a couple with the help of the Spanish-speaking guide. It is worth noting that you probably need at least some Spanish for this experience to work smoothly. The local potter then told me I could return on Saturday to decorate and finish the pots, which I was genuinely looking forward to. They gave me a WhatsApp number, and I messaged in Spanish to ask what time I should come back. I was told I could come at any time and that they would be expecting me. Unfortunately, when I arrived on Saturday, nobody seemed to know anything about it. The people there were not particularly welcoming or friendly, so the whole situation felt awkward and disorganised, and I ended up leaving. Overall, Pedro was great, but the pottery studio itself did not feel professional or well organised. For an excursion costing around $136, I would expect a smoother and more welcoming experience. My advice to the organisers would be to work with a pottery studio that is better prepared to receive visitors and follow through on what has been arranged. Estaba emocionado por esta experiencia porque hago cerámica en Nueva York, así que pensé que sería interesante ver cómo se trabaja la cerámica en Ecuador. El guía, Pedro, fue excelente. Me mostró Cuenca, fue muy amable y se notaba que conocía muy bien la ciudad. El problema fue con la parte de la cerámica. Tuve muy poco tiempo para hacer las piezas, aunque sí logré hacer un par con la ayuda del guía que hablaba español. Vale la pena mencionar que probablemente se necesita al menos un poco de español para que esta experiencia funcione bien. Después, el alfarero local me dijo que podía volver el sábado para decorar y terminar las piezas, algo que me hacía mucha ilusión. Me dieron un número de WhatsApp, y escribí en español para preguntar a qué hora debía volver. Me dijeron que podía ir a cualquier hora y que me estarían esperando. Lamentablemente, cuando llegué el sábado, nadie parecía saber nada del asunto. Las personas allí no fueron especialmente acogedoras ni amables, así que toda la situación se sintió incómoda y desorganizada, y al final me fui. En general, Pedro fue excelente, pero el taller de cerámica no me pareció profesional ni bien organizado. Para una excursión que cuesta alrededor de 136 dólares, esperaría una experiencia más fluida y acogedora. Mi consejo para los organizadores sería trabajar con un taller de cerámica que esté mejor preparado para recibir visitantes y cumplir con lo que se ha acordado.

The ticket clearly states and warns passengers wishing to take the finished piece home that it takes three days for processing. We made a plan, with the owner, to go back in three days and paid for a taxi to Encalada Pottery to pick up our pieces. Further we were on a private tour. The owner wrote us through Whatsapp, stating that they can't do the drying and burning for just two pieces as they need to fill the kiln to keep the cost of using it affordable. See attached WhatsApp convo. Then Encalada Pottery said that we could go back and pay $15 each to have a demo and get our pieces. This was already paid for through Viator. I'm requesting a refund of $30 for falsely advertising we would receive the piece we created. Read less

Fantastic way to get to know a little more about Cuenca and as a solo traveler, it was very customizable. Food was excellent.