Cuenca seems very appealing to me.

Mountain village with year round near 70 degree temps (highs). Me like.

and it does get frickin' cold there at night.

Their police do seem better than other places in Ecuador. I once got on a bus at the downtown terminal heading for Riobamba. About 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time an official-looking guy got on and went down the aisle asking passengers to show their tickets; after he completed his review and stepped off the bus, a female European tourist across the aisle from me began screaming that her camera had been stolen -- apparently a partner of the guy reviewing the tickets reached in through the window and lifted the camera while everyone was distracted showing their tickets. A policeman patrolling the terminal heard the ruckus, came onboard to find out what the disturbance was, and took off like a flash to track down the thieves. The bus driver then hopped aboard, said he couldn't wait around, and we took off with the tourist quite upset and emotional. About 5 miles down the road a police car pulled the bus over, and they returned the camera to the passenger. I was impressed.

Just be aware that petty thievery is quite common throughout Ecuador.

Thank you, Judi Lynn.

The General Welfare of a people should be the primary concern of any government.

If it is not, the government needs to check their priorities.