Blogs from Chimborazo, Centre, Ecuador, South America

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South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo February 20th 2020

Today was a first for me (Jan) when I was heard to pronounce that going up was easier than going down…...sounds a bit unlikely? Unlikely but true! Today was funny old day…..We left our hostel at 0630hrs in a cross country vehicle with 9 bikes on its roof and 8 people in the car- 2 Brazilian geologists (very useful when on a volcano), 2 Dutch youngsters, us, a driver and a guide. Our goal was Mount Chimborazo, which is the point on the earth that is nearest to the sun. It's not as tall as Everest at 6263m but because of the Equatorial bulge, it's actually furthest away from the centre of the earth and therefore nearest to the sun! Well we weren't trying to climb to the top (thank goodness) but we were dropped at ... read more
Before we started....look at those intermediate smiles
The top of Chimborazo in the clouds
The END of the day...why am I leaning backwards?

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo October 10th 2014

I awoke with the sun, in a small but comfortable room with a concrete floor and a bamboo roof, covered thankfully by a corrugated metal roof. It had rained some during the night, but I says totally unaware, except perhaps in my dreams. I had slept "como un tronco", like a tree trunk, the Spanish equivalent of like a log. The power was still off when I got out of bed, so I splashed some cold water on my face and spent the time until breakfast examining the status of my once lost but now found luggage. With the exception of a couple of things saturated with honey, everything else was intact. I rearranged my belongings, separating what remained of my clean clothes from those in need of a good cleaning, which consisted of items of ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo June 11th 2013

Šiandien planuoju aplankyti didžiausią Ekvadoro kalną kuris taip pat vadinamas laiausiai nuo žemės centro nutolusia vieta. Iš ryto keliauju į atobusų terminalą, čia netrukus randu autobusą važiuojantį ten kur man reikia, bet prieš tai papusryčiauju kavinėj, nes dar turiu tam laiko. Už poros valandų aš jau kalno papėdėje. Prie įvažiavimo reikia užsiregistruoti, o nuo čia iki pirmosios stovyklos apie 10 km. Kaip tik prieš mane besiregistruojant išgirstu porelę kalbant rusiškai. Pašnekinu juos paprašau, kad mane pavežėtų iki pirmosioos stovyklos. Mašinoj sutinku dar vieną kiek pagyvenusią rusų porą. Užvažiavę iki pirmosios stovyklavietės atsigeriam arbatos čia esančioje kavinėje ir nutariam lipti iki antrosios stovyklavietės kuri yra vos 200 metrų aukščiau už šią. Moterys nutaria palaukti apačioje. Oras puikus, nešalta nors ir esam beveik 5km aukštyje, tad užlipam nesunkiai. Čia taip pat at... read more
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South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo January 13th 2012

Sunday I arrived back in the indigenous community of San Pablo on Sunday afternoon, all I wanted to do was pass out. My weekend back in civilisation hadn't gone quite to plan, on returning to Rio Bamba and preparing to go out, I was gut-punched by a harsh case of travellers sickness – I blame eating with my muddy hands on the mountain-side the blame. As I opened the door to my little house on the side of Chimborazo mountain, I heard voices and I entered to find a French Canadian family. There was a lot of energy I the room and I left quickly to get some air as the threesome of Dominique and her two children, Ariel and Justin were preparing their dinner. I walked through the village, feeling weak, but oddly content as ... read more
Churning Up the Road
Herding the Cows
Juan & the Mute

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo January 8th 2012

New Years in Rio Bamba Between Montañita and getting to Volcán Chimborazo there was New Years. I spent it in Rio Bamba, the city nearest to Chimborazo and where I arranged my volunteering I started my night with Wlady and the other agency staff in the office before hits the streets and spent the strike of midnight with a group of locals in a park, speaking almost exclusively Spanish the whole night. Of course I had wanted to spend NYE with Mor, but as I couldn't do that, spending it in this fashion was the best thing for me. Ecuador has a rather fantastic tradition for New Years Eve; huge numbers of effigies are set alight in a symbolic gesture to burn away the bad from the previous year to give the New Year a clean ... read more
Village Mutt
Wool Producing Machine
Should Turn That Toilet Around...

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo December 14th 2010

Hello Folks ! Hier je suis arrivé a Riobamba, ville assez moche qui n a d interet que sa proximité avec le volcan Chimborazo, lieu de mes futures exploits. Riobamba etait egalement le point de depart pour le ferrocarril qui passait par "La Nariz del Diablo", apparement un trajet en train ou l on voyage sur le toit qui est totalement dingue (le trajet, pas le toit), mais la ligne est fermée et n ouvrira que l annee prochaine au plus tot. J ai pris demeure a l hotel OASIS, me demande encore prq ce nom car pas gd chose a voir avec une oasis et ils n ont meme pas de canettes a boire, et meme pas de perroquet (ah non ca c est Tropico). Mais la famille est adorable, et le chien pue comme ... read more
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South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo November 7th 2010

With the early mornings and packed days we're not finding much time for this blog … but we're not gonna stress about it … We're on holiday ! … 8o) So... Sat 6 to Sun 7 Nov – Tour of the Volcanoes and Devil's Nose Train Ride We were picked up from our hotel at 07.00 by Alex (the guide) and Gustavo (the driver). It turns out it's a private tour as we're the only people on it. Sleep deprivation is really kicking in now and it's difficult to hide when the guide is talking directly to us alone. Set off on the 'Avenue of the Volcanoes' which follows the Pan-American Highway. This passes spectacular snow-capped volcanoes in the distance every half hour. We turned off the highway down a dirt track towards Cotopaxi National Park ... read more
Banos
Balbanera church at Colta
026 DSCN1667 Devil's Nose Train in  Guamote

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo July 9th 2010

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo May 20th 2010

Okay, so I've survived my first two weeks alone in site. It's crunch time, integration time. Time to make friends and build relationships and get stuff done. So Cara, what have you done? Ahh, yeah. Not much. I went to a bunch of markets and bought food, I painted a few rooms in my house, I bought a bike for way too much money, I started a vegetable garden, and I've started to make a home for myself. Oh, you meant for the community, didn't you? Since I am a volunteer here and all that jazz. Umm... not much. I made some graph paper one day at the school and I've attended a few meetings about the irrigation system I am to assist in installing (one of which was in Kichwa in which my clearly superior ... read more
Living Room
Other Half of my Living Room
Bicicleta

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chimborazo May 8th 2010

My first impression of Riobamba was good. Although Riobamba has many old buildings and appears a bit run-down I felt safe walking around the town and there´s plenty of shops if you need to buy something. It´s main tourist attraction is the train to the Nariz del Diablo (Devil´s Nose). Unfortunately, the most spectacular/scenic part of the train ride is closed for six months (from March 2010) for repair work. The official re-opening has not been confirmed. As I didn´t think it worth riding the train for only half the journey I decided to give the train ride a miss and concentrated on my main reason for coming to Riobabma - to book a cycling trip to Chimborazo. On Saturday, I visited a couple of biking agents with a view of booking a one day trip ... read more
Sign showing the height of the refuge
Pollylepis - paper tree




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