Riobamba and the late train (NS)

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Riobamba is an Andean city in the middle of Ecuador. Being 4000m above sea level the climate is a lot cooler and wetter than that of Quito, making the 5 hour journey there quite pleasent. The rolling Andean mountains were covered in every shade of green imaginable and the higher ones white tipped. We passed a disproportionately large number of militaty and police schools on our journey too.

We arrived at our hostel mid afternoon, a bit of a dumpy place but no doubt beautiful in its colonial hey day, high ceilings, central enclosed courtyard and much wood. The reason for our visit to Riobamba was a train journey, a very scarey one where you ride on the roof of the train while it ascends and decends the edge of the Andes.

The idea was to book our tickets that afternoon and get a train the following day but as has been the case with our visit to Ecuador things never quite worked out. The trains station was closed, undergoing refurbishment. The train was supposed to be leaving the next day at 7am so we deicded to just turn up and hope for the best.

We had dinner, pizza and beer then headed off back to our hostel, early to bed early to rise. This was prohibited however by the two sons of our hostess playing football in the courtyard outside our room until 12.30 in the morning.

We were up at 6am and out by 6.15am giving us time to buy tickets at the station. We hung around the station for an hour, the few locals that were out gave us funny looks. The train never came and the station never opened. One local approached us an told us 'Manana' but as its a warm climate country we were not sure whether to believe him. We went back to our hostel somewhat disheartened and unsure what to do next. We decided we would take adventage of the quiet, get some sleep and decide what to do later.

When we woke it was mid morning and we were much more refreshed. We had heard that if the train was running the next day tickets would be on sale that evening between 6-7pm. We decided to let fate take its course - if we could get tickets we would go on the train, if not then we would leave town on the first available bus.

We spent most of the day at the market where they sold many local art and craft items. We bought a few gifts there with the intention of sending them home as we had been told it was cheap to post items. This turned out not to be the case, the cost being +$200. We are now carrying an additional 8kg of goods, still only 8 weeks and three countries to go.

We were at the station at 6.15pm but even fate could not decide. There was a train the next day but it was full. There was however a man at the station who could take us further down the line where we could board the train for the scariest part of the journey - the Devils Nose- where the train zig zags down the edge of a mountain. We gave the man our $5 and he gave us a ticket and assurance he would be there the next day at 7.00am.

We went back to our hostle to attemt a nights sleep but despite the vocal efforts of Tasmin the kids played football until the early hours once again and we were denied.

We boarded the bus at 7.00am the next day with many other gringos, goodness only knows where they were staying becuse we had been in the town for 3 days and seen no one European looking, most of the locals were indigenous.

The bus took us to Alausi where 4 hours later (dont ask) we boarded the train. 'For the outward journey we were in the carriage. We rode over the beautiful green rolling hills and clung to the edge of mountains. To make the journey even more hair raising, at one section some local boys had removed some of the track retaining bolts and were hiding in the bushes in anticipationof the carnage. Luckily for us the train driver noticed their tomfoolery and stopped the train to clip their ears and replace the missing bolts. Disaster avoided and we carried on to the Devils Nose where we traversed down the mountainside at an angle of about 15 degrees, the train drives into a neutral area, the points are changed, the back of the train is now the front and this process is reapeated until the train has descended 100m.

We arrived at Simambe and we all swapped places, those on the roof went in the carriage and us inside went on the roof. The journey was even more astounding from our new less secure perspective. We saw many small fields about 15mx10m sloping 45 degrees up the mountinside being farmed as the only source of income and sustinence for many Andean families. As we passed they would always wave, always smiling. It seems the rural fight for survival is a happier one than the urban one. I made sure we both held on tight at the place the kids had been interfering with the track but the clip round the ears must have scared them off and we passed with no issues. We arrived back at Alausi and were told that we could stay on the train as it was going back to Riobamba - we were over the moon. Things may not have gone to plan in Ecuador but they have always worked out well.

The final leg of the journey was very good. Most people had left the train so we had loads of space on the roof. We passed many more happy waving Andean families tending their climbing plots, some ramshackle bridges and a flooded line that was considerably worse than leaves on the track but didn't even slow us down. It started to rain after an hour or so and this coupled with the wind made us cold, even tas´s newly acquired Andean made hat couldnt keep her warm so we decided to go inside.

We arrived back at Riobamba at about 7pm and headed straight to a bar where Tas had a chocolate and I had a coco based liquer that is the national drink of ecuador but for the life of me I can't recall its name, that is testament to how strong it was. We went to sleep once again with the sound of the bouncing ball in our ears but we were too tired to care.

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