Alausí - possibly the strangest town in the world

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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 Jose (the biggest joker around - greeted us every morning with his best english "Good Morning" and penned the phrase "muchas shit"!), is traditionally made by women because they have the sweeter saliva! Chris (our very own Shaur expert and official ambassador to Canada) informed us that each chicha tastes slightly different depending on who makes it. There we were taking it in turns to take a bit of the boiled yuca out of the pot, chew it and then spit it back in. Mmmmmm tasty. We all felt so lady like! Once it was all a big pile of mush, it is left overnight to ferment. The longer you leave it the more alcoholic it becomes. You can strain it too afterwards and add other things....the one we tried in the village down the road, Tsuraku, had mani (peanuts) in and tasted fantastic.

After our chicha making session, it was time for dinner. And as a special treat, as Gem and I were leaving, we had the opportunity to eat larvae or grubs or whatever you want to call them. Weird chubby little things that live in bamboo trees. A delicacy in these parts. You can have them either cooked or raw. Lets just say we all went for cooked. What can i say about larvae....well I had to talk myself in to it big time. Everyone else got on with it but I was scared. I felt like Simba from the Lion King during the Hakuna Matata number when they present him with a leaf plate full of creepy crawly slimey things. It wasnt the worst thing I´ve had in my mouth but boy...it was...interesting. It tasted like meat fat. Not liking meat fat I wont be eating grubs anytime soon...everyone else likened it to bacon...I didnt see the comparison. But there is one more thing ticked off the list of things to do this year!

Our final day came and went, and we got to sample our homemade chicha...even the boys grabbed a mug of it. I kinda liked it. Gem enjoyed hers too, but not being a fan of lumps in drinks (how can you not like pulp in orange juice?!) didnt like the yuca bits...although we did try and explain that those were probably the bits that hadnt been in our mouths! After dinner we went on a night walk through the jungle in an attempt to see some monkeys. Lots of spiders were seen, a bat and a snake. But alas no monkeys. The funniest thing was Timoteo (excuse the spelling if its wrong), our guide, who was another big joker, crouched down in the dark in the jungle, playing with his mobile phone and jumping out from off the trail and making lion noises.

Finally, and sadly, it was time to leave Arutam. We had a wicked time, met some amazing people, but we were both ready to move on. Feet itching to get back on the road. Our first stop was Riobamba. Not much to say about the place. It was a nice spot to get back into civilisation, have a warmish shower, get some laundry done (ah the simple pleasure of clean clothes!) and use our beloved internet.

Next day we reached Alausí (finally she reaches it!!!!!). What a ghost town! Not really much to do there. The whole economy depends entirely on the teeny tiny railway station where 3 times a week trains leave to make the Devils Nose (Nariz del Diablo) journey. The railway station itself is so ancient...it still has a telegraph office complete with machine. The place seriously looked like something from a western.

The town itself is pretty dead. A couple of internet places, some cafes and hotels. On the way in we had seen a statue on a hill and decided to head up there. It was, once again, a statue of San Pedro, holding a massive key...though unlike in San Pedro La Laguna (Guatemala) there was no chicken! We walked up lots of steps, got pretty out of breath (and depressed about my fitness level until I realised we were only 700m lower than we will be when we complete the inca trail!) to see...well the ugliest thing I have ever seen. Decorated in some sort of mosaic fashion. Nice view of the town...even with the clouds the mountains still impress!

Having seen the only attraction in the town we decided to get on the internet again, and whilst typing away we met two Swiss guys - Sandro and Reto. Realising that other than a massive group of Americans (shudder) we were the only tourists in town we decided to meet up later for a drink and a meal. The whole night cost $5 each (about 2 squid 50) and we had a two course meal and about 4 beers each. After dinner we found a fun fair and I dragged everyone on the Ferris Wheel (hee hee...such a child). It was so bloody scary. Ferris wheels do not go that fast in England I´m sure. And the fact that it was controled by some guy with pedals was equally alarming. A little bit dizzy (and cold!) we managed to track down the only bar in the town that was open. Oh happy days it was a kareoke bar! It was a pretty entertaining place, complete with local drunks...one who wouldn´t leave us alone and turned out to be one of the train drivers! (eeeek!).

Next morning we got up early to buy tickets. Some stupid girl with a stupid hood pushed in front of us and snagged the last seats on the roof (Yes, i was a little more extreme with my language at the time!). Gutted! Although it actually worked out quite well. We set off into the unknown waiting for a 45 degree gradient and a white knickle ride...it never came but boy...the view was phenomenal. Even from the inside! We were lucky with the weather...the bluest skies I think I have ever seen (not difficult by england standards). The mountains were breathtaking and the driver stopped a few times for us to get out and take some pictures. We eventually reached the "Devil´s Nose". It took us a while to find...it really should be a plural - Devil´s noses! After that, everyone switched...those on the roof went inside. You have never seen Gem and Me move so fast in order to get on the roof first. We bagged some good seats and took lots of fotos of our feet hanging of the edge of the roof. Back in Alausí, after saying farewell to Sandro and Reto (who were off to Cuenca) we headed to a railway bridge that trains from Riobamba usually cross (the route we would have taken but luckily we found out that due to a recent mud slide trains weren´t running anymore). We started to walk across but got a touch of vertigo (not at all due to the massive big gaps between the planks and the massive drop down below) so headed back for a spot of breakfast before catching the bus to Guayaquil.

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