What Kind of Nose was that?

After spending 7 hours on top of a train with little space to move, we (my friends Marion from Cali and Kathy from New Zealand and I) discovered that el Nariz del Diablo (Devil´s Nose) wasn´t anything to write home about (although it´s worth a blog posting). Yes, we actually had to buy a ticket for $11 to sit on top of the train.

The girls and I arrived in Riobamba by bus on Tuesday afternoon. After buying our tickets and finding a $5 hostel, we walked around the town for a bit and ate Chinese (chifa) food. I just recently learned that there was an influx of Chinese and Korean people to Ecuador in the last few years.

The train only runs on Wed, Fri, and Sun at 7 am from Riobamba to Alausi (4 hr trip) and then to the ¨Nose¨ (roundtrip about 3 hours). Wednesday morning we woke up early and walked to the station. It was a zoo in there! Most of the spots on the top of the train were already taken but we managed to squeeze in there somehow. I didn´t have much room to move (oh my aching body) but I tried to make the most of it. After 5 1/2 hrs, we finally went down the Nariz by way of 3 switchbacks. Not very exciting.

The best part of the ride was seeing all the indigenous people and children. Everyone would wave to us on the train. We soon discovered that people on the train were throwing candy to the children so we joined in the fun.

It took 6 hours to finally get back to Quito on two buses. I enjoyed being with the other girls (new friends) and seeing more of Quito. Other than that, I guess all I have is: been there, done that, eh?