Hello all, it looks the the strip from alausi onwards is closed until march 4th for maintainence, however riobamba to alausi is still open. Would the trip still be worth it if i skipped the alausi onwards and just did riombamba to alausi? Please advise me, as I would love to maximize my time on the train! thanks!
Reply to this my spanish might be even worse than i thought. do you guys officially know also if passenges are allowed on top of the train after the accident 3 years ago? thanks!
Reply to this We only did the Alausi to Sibambe section - down and up the Nariz del Diablo. It was OK but nothing special, not as good as we expected. The train is actually a bus converted to run on rails, you are not allowed to sit on the roof. I read somewhere, but can't be sure it was right, that Riobamba to Alausi these days is a normal bus on the road not a train.
Reply to this After seeing all the promotions of the steam train with people travelling on the roof I was very disapointed to find ,as Martin said, a converted bus that you weren't allowed on the roof.Also I was expecting the Nariz del Diablo to be an impresive mountain that looks like a nose but instead it was only an outcrop that ,if you squint, kind of looks like a nose ,I am trying to upload photo as I type this.Long story short ,the Riobamba-Alausi section was the most impresive part of the trip.Alausi is a beautiful freindly little village.
This train only runs 2 or 3 times a week so I would suggest getting the bus to Alausi and the train back to Riobamba.
Reply to this thanks for your time, guys! im doing the riobamba to alausi stretch this wednesday, im not expecting much but im sure the views are nice. ill sit on the right side as suggested in the books. thanks again!
Reply to this well i was on the roof less than 3 years ago.
the nicest thing for me was seeing the cute children in the fields waving at us all the way on the riobamba to alausi part. though it was not easy to take nice photos due to the vibrations. i would say its worth it to do tha part.
the actual mountain was nothin to get excited about.
prepare sandwiches the night before incase the train breaks down, it did on me about 6 times (trip took 10 hour in total)
also if i remember correctly if you sit on the right hand side you will see more things without having to twist your back.
Reply to this just wanted to contribute. The train will be under maintainence from March 3 for another six months! its not a train but a bus that goes on the tracks. I had a good time, i was going south anyways, so might as well get some good views in before. id say it was a 7 out of 10.
as for the right vs left? right was definitely more in the lead in the beginning but then left caught up towards the end. would i do it again? probably not, as we can´t go up, but if i hadn´t done it yet, id do it!
thanks you all!
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