Dad & David this one is especially for you both, I know you would have loved this ride! Looking forward to roof from Riobamba all the way to the Devils Nose... only to find out on my way there that the line is broken and has been for some time. Hmm this was a problem, the sole reason for going to Riobamba was to take the train... I figure surely there must be some option of taking the train from somewhere else. And, I was right, but it ment taking a bus to Alausi, ha a mear 2 hours where [View Full Entry]

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Our last few days volunteering at Arutam were probably the best. Linda, who cooked our food, promised us she would teach us how to make Chicha (the Shuar drink I briefly described in the previous entry). Good to her word, on Monday, we (just the girlies) headed over to Ernesto´s (the daddy) house. Crouched on the floor in the kitchen hut, Linda whipped out a giant pot of boiled yuca that she placed in the middle and started to stir it with a big stick. She then taught us the secrets of the art of chicha... Chicha, according to her husband [View Full Entry]

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Up at 4.30am! aaah. It was a killer and very hard to eat breakfast which as always was accompanied by eggs at 5am. We got to the train station in Riobamba by 6am to bag a seat inside the carriage by the window. I resisted the temptation to sit on the roof for a number of reasons: 1) It was very cold 2) It had only recently been re-opened due to the deaths of a number of tourists 3) It looked uncomfortable 4) I wasn't allowed. Well my Dad didn't seem too keen so in the end I sat inside on [View Full Entry]

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Hmmmm welll not much pics but a few things will either make you cringe or sigh... So coming up from Cuzco...a nice 21hr bus ride through mountains and desserts...past Nazca (note the giant highway built straight through the middle of one) on the coast and the panamerican highway north.... leaving the dessert lands of the westcoast we visited the excavated tomb of the king of Siam, wow how much Gold can you put in the ground....(sorry no photo´s gringos) but im sure you can google them... Gold,silver, copper, turquoise,red corral amaising fabric still in ok condition...burried lamas (d [View Full Entry]

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HOLA AMIGOS!! Hope you are all well and husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and pets are all treating you well! Arriving towards the one year anniversary of my travels, I though I would give you some stats of my adventures for you to google, be amazed, envy or just laugh at how crazy this whole thing has been. The only stat I cannot measure for you is how much I have enjoyed doing this so far and how sad it will be stop at the end of it all. However, this is not the last of my journeys [View Full Entry]

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hi, ehjoy the long awaited photos [View Full Entry]

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The bus from Baños to Riobamba did not take long, although we were somewhat disheartened by the torrential rain cascading from the skies and filling up the road in torrents. It made the huge potholes even worse and the suspension on the bus reaching its ultimatum! Once there, I am ashamed to say, we went into a fast food restaurant and had burger, chips and coke. It was actually very nice...nothing like the rubbish we have. The following day we boarded a very late train with a hell of alot of foriengers... The train consisted of a 3 passenger carrienges, a [View Full Entry]

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Riobamba is the town where the train ride to the mountain called El Nariz Del Diablo begins. The tickets cost $11 in October 2007. They should be bought the day before. The time of sale may vary from that stated in the book. Go early. I was second in line and the man before me was buying 30 tickets because he worked for a travel agent. People who tried to buy tickets at 7:00 AM the next morning were turned away. Arriving at 6:15 a barrage of people, selling coffee, buns, scarves, gloves, hats, bananas, water, cookies, chips and anything else [View Full Entry]

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WERE IN SOUTH AMERICA!!!!! Thats what Ian and I keep telling ourselves when were travelling outside of Quito!! (Sometimes in Quito too, lol) This weekend was no objection! Emily, Ian and I decided, Friday night, that we were leaving for Riobamba the next morning... when we got there, Saturday at like 11h we didnt do a whole lot, visited the big bad town of Riobamba, went to the market and bought some good old indigenous wear! I have to mention that Carnival is next weekend. Carnival is some sort of religious celebration before lent or something, BUT most importantly its for [View Full Entry]

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Hola, Hello again everyone. Today I am in Cuenca in southern Ecuador enjoying a sunny day on the cobblestone streets of this small colonial city. Two days ago, in Baños, Tessa and I ended up doing a one-day horseback riding trip (because our 2 day was cancelled due to weather) and having an amazing time. Meeting our extreme-sports enthusiast of a guide, Jose, at about 12:00 noon we geared up and mounted our horses (mine's name was Pinto, don't remember the rest) at Jose's ranch just on the outskirts of town. The first thing we did was ride through the streets [View Full Entry]

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