things to do in riobamba - part II

i set off to find tickets for the train ride
to the nariz de la diablo
(the devil´s nose)
after a brief search within the old ramshackle train station
i found the office in one of the rooms
amidst piles of crumbling brick
and fallen rafters
paying for a ticket
i went on to look for a place for breakfast the next morning
as it would be an early morning
wandering around the city
i retraced my steps
found galo´s tour agency
but it was closed
also found the bakery with the pan de crema
there were no fresh ones
but with 2 left over from the day before
t'was good enough for me
so i bought one
and it tasted just as good!
i bought some more fresh bread at another bakery
learned that the montecarlo cafe opened at 5:30am
from this lady working at the exchange booth
in the hotel by the same name
(she had the most remarkably vibrant green eyes
that made me wonder
if such a colour could exist naturally
or if she was wearing coloured contacts)
visited a church or two
sitting down within one
that had wooden carvings every where
to admire the beauty
and take a few discrete photos
whilst the few locals within
prayed and offered devoutions to god
i then walked to the iberica supermercado
to get some more ham
(the very same jamon especiales from the day before
"special ham" for those un-spanishized)
for the next day
during this little walk
i got somewhat lost
tho i was within 2 blocks the entire time
i simply could not find
the darn store
and stopped to ask for directions many times
then i head off to a restaurant
suggested in the lonely planet
as having good pizza...
marcelo´s was open
tho one would never have been able to tell
as they didn´t have anything on their menu
except for pizza
and the lights were almost all off
i ordered a medium marcelo's special
and the pizza turned out to be surprisingly good
all things considered
and i wolfed down the entire thing
trotting the 5 blocks back to los shyris afterwards
(i still have yet to figure out what that means)
i hit the internet cafe again
to kill some time
and use up some more hours again
(i´d bought 10 hours for 5 bucks
and by god,
i intended to use it all up!)
the next morning
i left the hotel at 5:15am
waited at the montecarlo till 5:30am
and when it didn´t open
made a quick trip over to the train station
and checked to see if there was any other food available
(there wasn't)
headed back to the montecarlo
to give them one last chance
and as i walked up this second time
i was hailed by the owner-waiter
who was driving up in his truck
apparently there were people inside already
getting ready for the day
and i sat down at 5:42am
the first patron
i was pleasantly surprised
(almost shocked!)
when they had my food
prepped and out in less than 5 minutes
including the bacon
(amazing!)
meanwhile
dozens of other people streamed in
obviously also going on the train ride
i made the train station a few minutes after 6am
and discovered that the roofs of the boxcars
were already packed
tho most of the people were at the back
near the front
i found quite a few vacant "seats"
(or empty areas along the rails)
and i hunkered down
after renting a couple of pillows to sit on
the train left fairly on time at 7am
but the air was cold
and would remain breath-showing cold
until past 9am that morning
as heavy clouds obscured the sun
and stole its warmth
thank god for gortex
tho i was sorely missing
my thermal leggings
(which i had decided not to wear
because it was so warm the day before)
as the wind managed to cut through
my pants with fair ease
it didn´t help
that i only had ankle length socks on
(the were the only clean ones i had left)
at the first stop
a number of people retreated to the caboose
unable to take the cold
and as we passed through the town
it was surreal to see
busloads of european and american tourists
taking photos and videos
of US!
then again
i suppose it´s quite a sight
to see a rickety train pulling boxcars
loaded with tourists on the roof
chugging away through some village in the andes
:)
along the way
we passed children
in singletons
and en masse
(once where there was this school
that just happened to be having
an outdoor ed or phys ed class)
and when people threw candies down to the kids
they ran and scrambled for the treats
it was lively
it was energetic
and i´m sure the kids were happy to have the candy
but i had no desire to participate
because it was somehow demeaning
tho i cannot quite say why...
maybe it was the stern look of concentration
on the little faces
the seriousness there
and the fact they responded
with pavlovian emotion
anyways,
when the train reached alausi
a number of other tourists climbed aboard
local and foreigner alike
for the ride down to the devil´s nose
by this time
the sky had cleared
and the air had warmed up
and while the scenery was breathtaking
i found it less quaint and less idyllic
than the views i had seen going up to chimborazo
nevertheless
it was a fun ride
with steep gorges and valleys
and the odd branch here and there
that would whack you in the side of the head
(only got me twice
and i was dozing both times)
if you strayed too close to the edge
(not hard when your back is against the rail)
and weren´t paying attention
=)
returning to alausi
most people disembarked from the train
(myself included)
and i caught a fast bus back to riobamba
taking less than 2 hours
to cover what took the train 4
i made it to the terminal terrestre
in very good time
and found a seafood restaurant close by
the first i´d seen in a while
and stopped there for a late afternoon meal
the shrimp were very good =)
afterwards
i walked off to the church on the hill
as the lighting was quite beautiful
and the sky fairly clear
and i could see much farther
than the first day
tho the summit of chimborazo
was shrouded in dark grey.
i wandered through the town
revisiting the odd church or square
here and there
and eventually made it back to the hotel
where i spent some time chatting online
with friends new and old
technology is a beautiful thing =)

the morning next
i had planned to go to guamote
to see the thursday morning market there
but at 6am
it was raining heavily
so i waited another hour
(read, i went back to sleep for another hour)
and at 7am it was still pouring
so i decided to sleep in
and just head back to quito at a leisurely pace.
some time around 9 or 10am
the sun had come out
and being quite well rested by then
i had a late breakfast at montecarlo´s
headed back to check out
snuck in an hour of internet
and off to quito i went
catching a bus that left 5 minutes after i arrived at the terminal
(again, good bus karma)
and fairly flew down the pan american highway
arriving in quito in 3.5 hours
i must say
this was the first stretch of road i'd seen
that actually felt like a REAL road
rather than a poor excuse for a blasted lunar landscape
=)