08/11/12

Happy birthday to my lovely step mum Bev xxx

The 2 hour journey to Riobamba was beautiful, up and down huge lush green mountains, over bridges and through small villages untill we were told to get off the bus so we could get the next one to Alausi. We were not however at the bus terminal but instead at a few bus offices where no one seemed to know what we should do to get to Alausi so we decided to get a taxi to the main terminal. Once here we got a bus to Alausi with no problem, being shown the right diection by 2 bus company staff. We settled into the 2 hour journey and were shocked when 5 minutes later still in Riobamba we were told to swap buses. This involved us rushing off the bus looking puzzled, the bus company staff running our bags between 2 buses and us getting on an almost moving bus - we found 2 seats together and relaxed!

After paying for our tickets we settled in for another beautiful ride. we were soon in Alausi and got off the bus at the top of town on the main road. We grabbed our packs and walked down the hill into the main street in town (which was tiny!) where we got accosted by a 'helpful' man who, in English, showed us to Hotel Europa which was exactly what we were looking for so we took a room and then went to explore the tiny town.

Alausi is a small rail town which is now best kown to tourists for the Nariz Del Diablo or the Devil's Nose train ride but it is also a quaint traditional little town restled amongst the mountains. We enjoyed pottering around the old streets after buying our bus tickets for tomorrow. We also checked our train tickets for the Devil's Nose and had a look at the main square and lovely big church. Before all this sightseeing we had a nice cheap lunch of soup (potato and cheese or Locro - a local staple) followed by chicken, rice and beans - yum!

Back at the room we relaxed and looked at our travel plans before heading out again for dinner. There wasn't much choice as it is a tiny place so we ended up with a set meal of soup (locro again) followed by rice and some kind of stew. We were also served toasted corn which was delicious. Amazingly in the small town we saw a tourist type bus full of people with a band on driving up and down the main street making a lot of noise - no idea where it goes or what its purpose is but it made for good viewing.

Alausi is a lovely little traditional town and we saw a lot more women tradionally dressed and men in panama hats. Even though we only have a short stay here I'm glad we stayed the night and didn't just bus in for the train.

09/11/12

We were up bright and early after a rubbish noisy night's sleep ready for our Devil's Nose train ride. After nipping in the bakery for some breakfast we made our way to the station where we had our tickets stamped, took some photos and got on the train.

This is now only a tourist train, and until recently you used to be able to ride on the roof for the journey but this has been stopped now due to accidents. We set off and our guide Anngelo was brilliant, even speaking in English. It was a beautiful scenic ride down to Simbamba station along the track taking in two switch backs. The highlight for me was when Angelo opened the train door as we drove along a high pass with a sheer drop and let me stand right at the edge - it was awesome to have the wind blowing in my hair.

We passed through Simbamba station and carried on a little further where we got off the train for great views of the tracks winding down the Devil's Nose. It is called the Devil's Nose because it looks a little bit like a nose and also because a lot of people died while constructing the track - local legend has it that it was the power of the mountain taking people for disrupting it.

Back on the train and at Simbamba station we were greeted with dancing local people, horses and llamas. We enjoyed our free sandwich and drink before climbing the stairs to the look out point and info centre. The info centre was great, it told us why the track was built and how. It was awesome to look back and see how far we had come down the mountain in such a short amount of time without even feeling like we had decended.

After some more local dancing we got back on the train and enjoyed the scenery back to Alausi. In Alausi we climbed up to the look out where there is a huge Jesus before returning to the room to check out.

With our packs on we walked up the steep hill stopping half way to grab a quick lunch each. Delicious llapingachos for me, Neil ended up with a bowl of boiled potatoes and fatty soggy pig skin instead of chips and cracking which is what he was hoping for. It looked disgusting to me but Neil being Neil ate every mouthful. We then waited 45 minutes or so for our booked bus. We got on and found two seats and relaxed into the ride enjoying the beautiful scenery again - Ecuador truly is one of the most picturesque places we have been. At one point we must have been very high up as we were driving through the clouds!

I was pleased when we pulled into Cuenca as I had a terrible headache and was very tired.

Lots of love xxx