Devils Nose

Hi,

Has anyone been on the Devils Nose journey riding on the roof recently?
I have heard conflicting rumours.
1. Yes you can although not as many people are doing it now.
2. There is only one carriage on which you can ride now and that the officials arent so happy about it so it might not be possible.

All answers welcome - particularily from 2008 riders! Reply to this

I just did it about 2 weeks ago. It was a bit disappointing to be honest since I had gone a fair ways to get there. It was not leaving from Riobamba....I was told it was due to weather conditions.....so I had to get to Alausi and catch the train there. Yes, it is ONE carriage. And yes, it is about 99% gringos. If the train is full (which it often is from what I understand), half go on the top and half inside. Then once you reach the Devil´s Nose (which is not anything too spectacular) everyone switches so that everyone has a chance on the roof. The view was spectacular though.....I enjoyed it just for that. But other than that, it is very touristy and not really dangerous at all. I loved Alausi though and ended up staying a night there after the train ride. It was a holiday so there was a parade, bullfighting (humane kind), concerts, fireworks, etc. Not sure what it is like on a normal day.....

Hope that helps. 😊 I bought my ticket for the train once I arrived in Alausi. They do tend to fill up quickly and they run about 3 to 4 trips a day if i recall.....I had to wait about 2.5 hours for the next available train once I arrived in Alausi.... Reply to this

Hi Mel, nope, not scary whatsoever. However, I am also an extreme sports kind of gal so maybe it takes more than the average person to scare me. But with all honesty, i would be highly surprised if you found it scary. It is really not that bad at all. A Japanese tourist died on this train sometime last year (he stood up to take a photo and got decapitated)....since then they have made many changes. The train is down to one caboose and it really does not go very fast and well....it is more of an amusement park ride than anything. So i would not be too worried but I guess it depends on just how much you fear heights. The train does cruise around on the sides of mountains so there is a drop off one side of the train.....but not dangerous at all really.... Reply to this

Hi,

Thanks for all the info. One last question, now it is down to one carriage is it proper seats on the top rather than a ride the roof properly type thing

Thanks! Reply to this

...feet dangling off of the side ...

Better be careful not to lose your shoes then. :D Reply to this

Great thanks for that. We don't really know what our plans for Ecuador are yet (even though we'll be there by Saturday or Sunday) so we're thinking if our route takes us nearby we'll go and try to do it,but if not we're not going to go miles out of our way just for that. Thanks again for your help! Reply to this