Trains, Buses, Bikes and Trucks

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Cuenca was my first destination in Ecuador and it was a nice little colonial city, though most of my time in Cuenca was not spent wandering the cobbled streets, admiring the architecture or visiting the local cathedral, it was spent zoned-out in front of the cable TV that was in my hotel room.

After a three day fix of MTV, I left Cuenca for Alausi. I woke up really early after my only night in this thriving metropolis and headed to the train station to ride the rails along the 'Nariz del Diablo' (Devil's Nose). I'm still a bit baffled as to what exactly the 'Nariz del Diablo' was, but it's fair to say that I've either been there or done that.

The train ride was fun because the way to travel on this train was on the roof, jam-packed full of other tourists. However, as with all travel in South America, the ride was not without incident. The engine carriage left us and mysteriously dissappeared with one of the tourist carriages, then re-appeared an hour later. Later, on the way back, we had a slight de-railment, which was soon fixed, then we were (literally) back on track and just in time to be a good couple of hours later than schedule.

The original plan was to take the train to Riobamba, but this soon changed when it started to rain and become really cold and... well... I didn't really fancy sitting on top of a train when it was rainy and cold, so bus then became mode of transport to Riobamba.

It was at the Alausi train station that I met Kate, a lovely young English lass, who was headed in the same direction as me. We found a hostel in Riobamba, ate, slept and woke early to check out the markets, a very colourful affair, dotted all throughout the city streets. Unfortunately, I already had enough traditional Ecuadorian dress so I got me some bananas and we then high-tailed it to the gringo-friendly town of Baños.

Baños was the perfect place to sit and chill for a few days and the garden of hammocks in our hostel was pretty much where we were to be found in all of our 4 days in town. Baños was at the end of it's October celebrations of the patron saint of the area, Santa Maria. The celebrations seemed to consist of bands playing on street corners, some really off-key singing and firecrackers being set off at any given moment.

It was high time to try and re-create a little bit of 'Downhill Madness' magic, so Kate and I hired a couple of bikes and coasted 20km downhill to the 'Pailon del Diablo', a lovely waterfal of the area. We somehow managed to get the crappiest bikes ever so we decided not to continue the 40km further to the town of Puyo. Instead we put our bikes and ourselves on the back of a truck and went back to Baños and back for some more reading-in-hammock madness.

All that downhill riding and lazing in hammocks takes it our of ya! so we went to what Baños is all about: the thermal baths. However, we soon discovered what the thermal baths were all about: a good opportunity for the locals to have their monthly bath. We thought, 'praps not' and opted for the hostel's lovely, hot showers.

After Baños Kate and I moved on to Latacunga, a funny little town with not a helluva lot to do, but it served as a good base to discover the nearby 'Quilotoa Loop'. And the first destination on the loop was Pujili.

Kate and I arrived in Pujili early in the morning for the 'Dia de los Muertos' (Day of the Dead). A celebration of the dead where all of the family gather around the graves of their loved ones to have a bit of a spring clean, whack some flowers on the grave, and then huddle around for a bit of a picnic.

The people believe that the souls of the dead return and are all around them and families remember the dead by telling stories about them. It is not a morbid occasion, but a festive time and there was such a lovely, festive atmosphere. It was a really nice tradition and it made for LOTS of photo opportunities.

More on Ecuador and Quilotoa in a future blog.

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Photos

Day of the Dead, Pujili
I reckon if I was selling naked dolls I´d be wearing a cheeky grin too.

Alausi
De-railment.

Alausi
Ridin' the rails.

Baños
Spot the Guinea Pigs.
Hint: They're no longer the cute, furry little critters you and I are accustomed to seeing in pet store windows.

Baños
´Pailon del Diablo´

Day of the Dead, Pujili
After the cemetary Kate and I went and bought the traditional food and drink of the 'Day of the Dead', Guaguas de pan (dough children in Quichuan language) and Colada Morada (drink made from corn and fruit). We sat, ate, drank and contemplated why no-one else was eating and drinking too. A couple of days later we found out it was actually the food and drink of 'All Souls Day', the day before.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
Two Kates and two Guaguas de Pan.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
Guagua de Pan.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
A whole lotta Guagua.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
These kids were carting ladders all around the cemetary for people to hire.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
When you don't have a ladder...

Day of the Dead, Pujili
Having a bit of a spruce.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
Some gals in traditional dress.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
Having a bit of an ole sing-song.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
Re-painting the tombstones.

Day of the Dead, Pujili
I just loved this guy's safari suit.