Blogs from Riobamba, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 7

Advertisement

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba June 5th 2007

well riobamba! we last left you heading out for stu´s birthday... so a synopsis of the night... cuenca is dead on sunday... we wondered around looking for places to EAT which were open let alone find a disco... so we ended up at a pizza place and had dinner and some drinks... and the best dessert we have had in a while... i had a banana split... yeah my first ecuadorian banana and i have to admit it was tasty... the mountain of gelato ontop did help... we then headed off to riobamba the next day because it had a cool name... oh yeah and apparently there is one of te coolest train rides in south america... yeah it´s called the nariz del diablo or the devil´s nose... ohhhh sounds scary... anywho... that the plan for ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba June 3rd 2007

Hey my dear friends, I know I have been neglecting you, since I have been here 3 weeks now ( since Monday 14/05) and still no word of me. I will ease your mind, I didn't get lost on the Galapagos or in the Andean Highlands. My first days in Quito I met a really nice Ecuadorian woman called Patricia, who drove me around in her car to discover Quito's historical center and the Middle of the World. One of the many highlights untill now, was my trip to the Galapagos islands, where Charles Darwin created his "Origin of Species". I thought that I had stranded on a utopian colony, where the animals rule over the humans and think of them as annoying paparazzi. The islands have litlle vegetation and are made out of volcano erruptions. ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba April 25th 2007

Friday lunchtime, Hannah, Steve and I headed down to Riobamba on a "luxury" coach to meet up with some others who we met at orientation, but who were whisked off to the depths of the jungle, never to be seen again, practically!! Anyway, 4hours later we arrived in Riobamba, and it was so much better than expectations! Everyone had warned us it was "freezing" in Riobamba, and apart from the Devils Nose train journey there was nothing to do......However, we arrived slap bang in the middle of a carnival-festival type thingy and the town was buzzing. Funfairs in the main square, looking slightly more dodgy than blackpool however, but the atmosphere was great!! We met the others at the hostel and had a catch up before heading out to the most amazing steak house ever, ... read more
Bull fighting
Bull fighting 2
Bull fighting 3

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba April 20th 2007

Well after being stuffed from the Indian the night before it was time to head South to Latacunga for a bit of exercise and burning off all the food we ate in Quito. We were planning to partially climb Volcan Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world (5897m) and Ecuador’s second highest peak. Going from the Lonely Planet which described the 2 hour drive from Quito as ‘Magnificent’ we were looking forward to some nice views of snow capped mountains. The two hour drive summed up the next 4 days, shite. All we got to see was mist and fog and when it wasn’t misty it was cloudy and raining and the only nice views I got to see was the postcards we bought showing what we could have seen! Due to the weather we ... read more
Miss Riobamba
MMmmmm Toffee apples!
Fair ground gambling.

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba April 15th 2007

Vanochtend vroeg, om 5 uur, opgestaan want vandaag gaan we met de boemeltrein van Riobamba naar Alausi. Waarom? Deze treinreis is beroemd omdat je hier op het dak van de trein mag-kan zitten. En waar kan je beter zitten dan op het dak van de trein... Schitterende uitzichten, langs plaatsjes met vriendelijk zwaaiende bevolking die hun waren aanprijzen (zelfs hele gebraden varkens) en een lekker fris windje in je gezicht (gelukkig heeft Silvia de windjack van Nicole mee...) Maar waar deze treinreis zeker beroemd om is: Nariz del Diablo. Op een gegeven moment is de afdaling zo steil dat de trein hele scherpe s-bochten moet maken, met wissels. En dat is natuurlijk helemaal spectaculair! Na zo´n 4 tot 4,5 uur zijn we op onze eindbestemming Alausi, waar het een drukte van jewelste is. Veel kraampjes, ... read more
Nariz del Diablo
Nariz del Diablo
Nariz del Diablo

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba April 11th 2007

Pozdravljeni! Kar nekaj casa je ze minilo od kar sem se zadnjic javil. Hja, je bilo pac pestro, kaj morem. Ce je clovek v Ekvadorju, ne more mimo "Nariz del Diablo" ali " The nose of devil" ali "Hudicev nos". To je ena stvar, ki jepotrebna v Ekvadorju med popotniki. In sicer to je 150 let stara zeleznica na visino od 3000 metrov do 2600 metroc, vmes je potreno iti naprej in nazaj ker ni drugace vec prostora. Je pa treba priznati da je bolj ucinkovito ce jke to opravljeno na strehi vlaka. In seveda, ndi nor, sem to naredil. Bilo jwe 7 zjutraj, mna visdini Riobamba 29000 metrov visoko, oblacno z nmalo dezja, kjo sem se spravil z ostalimi butli na streho. Preleto me je zeblo, moram, priznati, ampak to je potrenbno doziveti, dogodivscnina kt ... read more

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba April 1st 2007

So we made it to Riobamba, for the Sunday train to Alausi. Riobamba was an OK place we recon its where all the Ecuadorians meet there match, full of kids, there were fair ground rides ect... We stayed in Hostel El Tren, not great see the photo, our bed was so high we had to jump to get into it!!! and the shower was not that hot! plus the man above I noticed peeping at me (what a perv) Our book described it as very modern well maybe in the 80s. On Saturday night before the train we went up to the park were you can see 4 volcanos on a bright day, we have photos of one going off very cool!!! The day of the train. We awoke at 5.30am had some breakfast and ... read more
Steaming again!!
Volcanic eruption
Volcanic eruption with church

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba February 12th 2007

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 FUN and FIESTAS. In Ecuador, for Carnival, kids throw water at people on the street. Either with water ballons or squirt guns!! What they throw varies on the city your in. Riobamba, luckily, is just ... read more
...
Niños malos jaja
Old school sowing machine

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba February 10th 2007

Here’s to writing things on time!! Salud!! Our fine trip to Río Bamba took place on the 10th and 11th of February. With the anticipation of carnival looming, we decided to take a trip to this town to get out of Quito for a bit, you know sometimes, it’s just necessary. Due to work schedules and the need to plan the trip at the last minute (yes, it was planned Friday night at around 11:30) we left on Saturday morning at about 6:00 ready for adventure. This soon wore off as we all fell asleep on the bus. Río Bamba itself is a small city where there’s not tonnes to see, but nice to go and relax a bit. We checked into our hostel and headed to the Saturday market, famous in the area. The ... read more
Me, Emily, & Jehanne
Having some fun
Indiana Jones Style

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Riobamba February 5th 2007

After waiting two more days in Riobamba, our time had come to ride the famous train south to the Devil´s Nose. We sprung awake at 5 am on Friday morning, wolfed down breakfast and made way to the station for the 6 am train. We arrived to throngs of anticipating gringos all there for the same reason--to cruise down through a chunk Ecuador via train while riding on its roof. And of course, the train was late. When the horn sounded and the light appeared, the amped crowd balled up, jockeying for position to get the best seat on top of the train. I don´t think anywhere else in the world believes in lines. The arrival of the ¨train¨ was a bit anticlimactic to say the least and completly hilarious to say the most. Their ¨train¨ ... read more
hmmmm, mercedes trains
Our bus oh, wait i mean train
Matt earning his keep




Tot: 0.187s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 8; qc: 98; dbt: 0.1195s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb