Alex's Asian Adventure

The Nariz del Diablo train ride is meant to be one of Ecuador's big tourist attractions. I... fail to see why. But first things first, context.

I arrived in Riobamba yesterday, with a mission to find a hotel with reliable hot water and powerful shower, get cleaned up, write the Cotopaxi blog entry yesterday, and otherwise rest. I did all that, and here are some observations:

• Riobamba is actually quite ugly. Uglier than Quito by far - and Quito isn't pretty once you get past the old town and Gringolandia and move to the fringes.
  
• Riobamba also has lots of street food in the vicinity of the train station, which is precisely where I'm staying. This is in major contrast to Quito, which has minimal street food unless you count steel shelters selling soft drinks and packaged chips "street food"
• In my quest food a decent place to eat, I found a quiet restaurant around the corner from where I'm staying - and it serves sea bass in shrimp sauce for $8. Lets be serious: it would be a shame not to try it. And it was good.

This morning I dragged my arsche out of bed to get breakfast in time to catch the 7 AM Nariz del Diablo train. The notable thing about this train ride is a section that descends a very steep buttress of rock (hence the name - The Devil's Nose). The railroad was built somewhere around 1905, and getting up this particular section at the time was a marvel of engineering. Essentially, what happens is that the train goes across at a bit of an angle, stops, and reverses down another set of tracks to the next switchback. The attraction is, I suppose, seeing the train reverse down the hill. Oh, and the terrain is pretty spectacular.

I think the major attraction is the historical significance of the Nariz del Diablo. Constructing this secion allowed a railroad to connect the three major centres in the country, Quito, Guayquil and Cuenca. It crossed the barrier of the Andes! And, I suspect politically it was necessary for the unity of the country. Rails have a way of doing this.

The other big part of the tourist draw is the promise that you can ride on the roof of the train and get a bit of an adventure in. Unfortunately, the story goes that this past summer some deeply unfortunate Japanese girl encountered a garrotting incident involving her and an overhead wire of some type. They don't let passengers on the roof anymore, which saddens me immensely - especially given the particular car I was in had railings and seating on the top!

The train ride itself takes most of forever. We departed Riobamba at 7 AM, and arrived at an intermediate town, Aloasi, sometime after 11 AM. It is only after that point that you descend the Nariz del Diablo. The ride on the way had some stellar views of Chimborazo, sure, but it also had a few stops where one could load up on souveniers if one so desired. I would have preferred to take a helicopter to this town and just ride the train from there.

The train itself was Gringo Central. I don't think there was a single Ecuadorian local on the train, except for guides visiting their rich clients as they amble down the tracks. I saw an inordinate number of German or German-speaking individuals, in fact. I sat with a retired Swiss trio (definitely well-heeled, what with their hacienda-staying and private-guide-hiring and all that) and spent some time chatting with an amiable German fellow travelling with his sister... Lots of Germans, or if not Germans then Austrians and Swiss-Germans. Even on Cotopaxi yesterday, there were three Germans having a blast singing songs like "eine Bier, eine Schnapps, eine Bier, eine Schnapps" - my kind of crew, especially had they also added in "eine Calvados, eine Taylor Fladgate" - but I digress...

So. We ramble down the tracks. I spent most of the time on the outer platform - the rearmost part of my rear carriage, where you get some pretty cool views and can reach out with your camera and take shots of the train turning along the side of a cliff. Also, you have an unobstructed view behind the train. It's certainly very pretty. Moreover, you can see down the cliff to the next set of tracks (IE after the switch-back) and for a moment it's all very impressive. And then you realize that you're just on some silly train ride. Also, the prettiness of it all pales in comparison with, say, the Lugu Lake bus ride I went on last May (which was another pointless trip with a huge transportation component, but a lot more memorable).

We eventually made it down the Nariz del Diablo, two switchbacks & all, stopped to take some shots, and slow-hauled back up the Nariz and into Aloasi. Then, an interminable bus ride back to Riobamba, which brings me to the present.

It took the better part of 9 hours to check out this railroad. Was it worth going? Maybe - I needed a rest, regardless. Was it skippable? For sure. Would it have been better on the roof? No doubt in my mind, but how much better? The reality is that I'm spending a day in Riobamba anyway (as a jump-off spot for Chimborazo), this is the prime tourist attraction and there's nothing else to do here.

Tonight, I'm in Riobamba doing some more relaxing. The plan is to reunite with the people I met on the train earlier today and look for some guinea pig - a Riobamba specialty. Then, I need a good night's sleep since tomorrow I'm heading to Chimborazo for one more high-altitude strength-sapping climb. On Tuesday I descend to Baños, in the shadow of active Mt. Tingurahua, for hot springs and R&R. Not sure what the plan is for the remainder of the week - there was talk of going to Ingapirca (the biggest, and possibly only, Inca ruin site in Ecuador) but the distance may be too much for a day trip. I may stay around Baños and see what adventure I can organize in Sangay National Park (very close by).