Erin & Regan's South American Adventure
The Devil Nose (Nariz del Diablo)
Hola,
Our next destination was Riobamba, famous for the Devils Nose train journey. We arrived, checked into a hostal (Tren Dorado - Golden TRain) right next to the train station and went for a wander. We had a little lunch and then went back to the hostal for an afternoon nap, well Erin did, I had to go and line up to buy train tickets for the next morning.
The hostal had early morning buffet breakfasts for $3 per person so we signed up for 2 of those (figuring nowhere else in town would be open). I spent the rest of the night watching football on TV (There is *always* a game on one of the channels!) while Erin wrote in her diary.
The next morning it was up early, breakfast and straight to the train station to get a good position in line (which we did). Unfortunately the concept of a line went straight out the window when the trains (if you can call them that) arrived.
The people with luggage (like us) had to wait as someone loaded them into the train, consequently the people without luggage pushed past and climbed up onto the train to get the best seats. As a result we ended up with possibly the worst seats (if you can call them seats).
As you might be able to see from this picture the trains are not really trains but more like busses with train wheels. Sadly the original trains have long since retired.
It was also bitterly cold that morning and to top it off it was carnival season so the locals were throwing water at each other and tourists on the roof of a train are just too choice a target to pass up. The older English lady got a water bomb right in the face, which was lucky for me because had it missed her it would have got me.
The scenery was much like the rest of Ecuador and we´ve seen so much of it we´re almost over it..
It was sunny, but still cold on the roof of the train.
Our artistic shot of the day.
More scenery, the legs off the side of the train looked kinda cool too.
We passed through some interesting places. The track is famous for its feats of engineering.
We stopped at this point because the view was quite good. You can see the other train(bus) below us.
Scenery, scenery, scenery...
At the bottom of the valley we stopped and those of us on the top had to switch with the passengers inside (some of whom had hopped on in Alausi).
Where´s wally?
There he is.
Regan Heath: I was sitting! Trapped in the press of people. We didn´t really see it coming. (03/03/07)
Juanita: Regan, as your mother, I feel compelled to express my disappointment that you didn't manfully throw yourself in front of the water bomb to save that poor woman! (02/26/07)