Riobamba: The Sultan of the Andes and the Devils Nose

Through darkening skies and the ever-present ash cloud of the Volcano Tinguahura, we left Baños on the two hour or so bus ride to Riobamba.

Riobamba is very much a city, it has a some interesting churches and architecture but most people pass through its way soley for the train ride: Nariz del Diablo (Devil´s Nose) which starts in Riobamba and ends in Sibambe. Thinking we would hotel shop we got let off at the train station and bought our tickets for the next day. We were soon stopped by one of the hotel owners in our book (the one that was far away and we weren´t going to go to) offering us a ride to his hostal and back to the train the next morning. We ended up accepting, and it was great. The nicest, well kept, hostal rooms we have been in yet (all newly renovated) with a kitchen, tv and no one else staying there.

A wet evening was passed scrambling around town as one thing after another went wrong with our camera card. For some reason we have duplicat images on a full card, not sure how that works, but we ended up having to buy another one. The images are still on the card, it is just going to be interesting trying to get them off. We spent a couple of hours in the upstairs of a camera shop with the owner trying to get the images off the camera and burned. We got most of them, but gave up a while after he was already closed. I guess as a highlight, he sold us a 1GB camera card, two cd´s, his time and a card reader for 50$ (which was all we had in our pocket). We then spent the next hour trying to find an ATM that would accept our bank card b-c we had no money left... arg.

The next morning our hostal owner drove ous to the train station at six am... and we soon found out why.... Gone are the days when this train ride must have been really something. The train, dubbed the Narix del Diablo, because of the switchbacked track that it takes down a mountain face of the same name was also thought to be the most difficult train in the world to build. It initially starts in Riobamba and passes through farmland and soon into dry mountain valleys and crevasses. It stops in small towns along the way and its final stop is in Alausi before it begins its descent down the near vertical face of the Nariz Del Diablo. In its day it must have been something, as it serviced all the way to Cuenca, and was pretty much the only transportation method for local farmers and people. It served as a transport train of goods and such, but along with that people ended up needing lifts too. The roof riding of the train cars was permitted and is encouraged today.

The train no longer really seems to have a purpose as it was 100% gringos riding the roofs and the roof was packed full by the time we stopped in Alausi. At Riobamba you can rent cushions for your butt and back as the tin roof and metal railings can be quite tough after 7 hours. Locals climb to the top and hawk hats, gloves, coffee, banana chips etc. As far as we could tell there is no purpose to the train as we stopped a few times to unload a few railway ties, and other than that the only cargo was gringo backpacks. Nevertheless, it is an unreal experience with the wind blowing through your hair sitting atop the train as it screeches and chugs through the country side. You pass many locals farming, washing clothes, or coming out in hopes of getting a candy tossed down.

The seperation between the haves and the have nots is really apparent as you sit high above the locals, and watch little kids running back and forth fighting over candy. It is hard to tell whether the locals really enjoy this train, it must be a quite a sight, passing through three times a week with roofs packed full of gringos snaping photos... but nearly all waved and smiled, so you have to think that they must enjoy it.

The scenery is beautiful, and as it was raining and overcast, we can only imagine what it must have looked like if Chimborazo (Ecuador´s highest peak and volcanoe) and the other mountains were in view. Regardless the switchbacked descent down the Nariz del Diablo was amazing to take in, especially from the roof. We could only wish that they would extend the route.