The journey from Banos to Riobamba was pretty straightforward and took about 2 hours. In the afternoon we went for a wander in search of food - we opted for a place listed in the lonely planet that sounded good - obviously it was the furthest walk from the hostel - but that was good to build up a hunger - what we neglected to check was the opening times and arrived (very hungry) 2 hours before it opened! We did manage to find some food and then continued our wander. There is a famous train ride from Riobamba (which I may have mentioned in my other Riobamba blog) that includes a section called the Devil's nose - I had been told it was closed (due to volcanic eruption) the previous time I had visited but we decided to check it out and see if it was running. The train was in fact running but only from Alausi a small town 2 hours south of Riobamba - but this actually tied in well as there a market on in a small town between Riobamba and Alausi we were planning on checking out. So we decided we would get the train the following day (we were fortunate as we met some people on the train who had spent 3 days in Alausi waiting to get the train). We then went in search of souvenirs as Sanchia was seriously behind in her souvenir shopping- unfortunately there was nothing much to see (for anyone who was expecting a present from Sanchia and she didn't deliver - it wasn't for want of searching - she just never found the right tat - sorry souvenirs). That night we had a relatively quiet one as we had to get up early for the bus the following morning.

We got up early the following morning and caught our first bus to Guamote to see the biggest rural market in South America - the problem with it being a rural market is that they don't have souvenirs just things that local people actually need. Ah well yet another fruitless hunt for Sanchia and off we went to Alausi. We got there in plenty of time to catch the train on the devil's nose. Unfortunately you can no longer ride on the roof as you once could (this is another case of somebody dying and spoiling it for the masses). The train ride was enjoyable with lots of stunning scenery - apparently it is the most difficult train journey in the world (for the train obviously - for me it was like a normal train journey except for the changing from going forward to backwards as the train zigzagged down the mountain). We got to the destination and watched some local dancing (I think we could probably have taught them a thing or two - especially if they saw us 12 hours later) and had lunch and then returned on the train before catching a bus back to Riobamba. There was enough time for me to have a haircut and my first ever shave by a barber (with a blade) before we headed out for dinner and a couple of drinks!

Before we went out though we did have a couple of beers and finished off the Po10C I'd been carrying around since Africa - I should have learned that that stuff is lethal. Anyway after a very meat heavy dinner (awesome) and a few more drinks we hit one of Riobamba's clubs. From what I remember we partied harty. When the police came and closed the place (not because of us……..I think) we returned to the hostel and had an iPod party - which we had to finish when the night porter came and asked us to keep it down. That was pretty much the end of the Sanchia and Emma leg of the trip (and the Ecuador leg of the trip).

The following morning I got up and headed for Bolivia and the girls headed back to Quito to get their flight home.