Riobamba - Devil's Nose - Alausi, Ecuador - 23-24 October 2008

Above left: At the origin in Riobamba - cold and drizzly; train departed at 7 AM

Above right: Arriving at Nariz del Diablo - hot and sunny, 6 hours later at 1 PM

Riobamba, a 1.5 hour bus ride southwest of Baños, is the popular starting point for the amazing rooftop train ride on Riobamba Express. The service would take us across the Ecuadorian Sierra of the ‘Avenue of the Volcanoes’, where eight of Ecuador’s ten highest peaks are found in the Central Andes, and then onwards down to the ‘Nariz del Diablo’ (Devil’s Nose).

I shared a 4-bedroom dorm with 2 young Swiss girls (whom I had met earlier at Baños) at the Residencial Nuca Huasi. At US$4/night, it was by far the best-value hotel that I had slept in but I would not care to stay another night as the conditions were deplorable – the dirty toilet and sketchy interior screaming for a facelift were reasons enough. It was just as well as this was a layover town for us. We walked around Riobamba for the rest of the afternoon and went to bed early as we had an early morning start to reserve a good seat atop the Riobamba Express. Some photos of Riobamba below:

Above left: Muchin de yuca; Above right: Pinchos

Friday, Oct 24, 2008 - We rose early at 5:30 AM and went to the train station at 6:15 AM. By that time, there were already a fair number of tourists sitting atop the train - many knew to sit on the right side where the views were better and the switchback turns would be done. Each of us then placed our cushion (which we paid for US$1 each) at a random spot on the right side of the second car to mark our spot.

The 6 hour train ride from Riobamba to the Devil's Nose and then to final stop Alausi was truly a memorable experience and for a mere US$11 a person, an excellent deal in my opinion. The views from the top of the moving train were simply spectacular. Seat back and relax as I take you on a pictorial tour of the highlands, the Cotopaxi volcano, canyons and valleys atop the Riobamba Express (minus the elements):

I was truly in awe of the engineering marvel of the train tracks at the Devil's Nose. About 5,000 workers paid with their lives to build the tracks at Nariz del Diablo (so labeled by Quito religious conservatives as it was deemed an impossible obstacle). This "masterpiece of railway engineering" as many liked to call it involved carving zig-zag tracks on the perpendicular rock to allow the train to move back and forth before reaching the necessary height to proceed onwards to the town of Alausi. The first train finally arrived in Alausi in 1902. The locomotive project was commissioned in 1899 by then President Eloy Alfaro to link the coasts to the highlands, more specifically Guayaquil to Quito.

I retired the rest of the day and night at the tiny railroad town of Alausi - sun-burned and exhausted. Who knew that sitting on top of a train and soaking in the sun and sights for hours would be that tiring? Next stop, Guayaquil, where on Sunday I will fly to Rio de Janeiro. Woohoo!!! Some photos of Alausi below: