At 5:00 am on Sunday, the last day of February 2010, 6 girls in Riobamba, Ecuador excitedly jumped out of bed and into a little yellow taxi. They enjoyed a brief ride to the train station in the downtown area, and met a friend who was to accompany them on the upcoming journey. They enthusiastically viewed the train tickets, and watched a video in Spanish about the history of the train and locomotive industry in Ecuador.
A few minutes before 7:00 am, they were cordially invited to board the train and they discovered, to their unconcealed delight, that their seats were in the very front of the train!
Just as the sun was climbing into the sky, the little one-car locomotive (but we'll call it a train) pulled out of the Riobamba station, proudly tooting its whistle and announcing to the world that the "Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose)" train ride was underway!
After passing through a beautiful piece of countryside high in the Andes mountains, they arrived an hour later in a charming little town. It was breakfast time, and several street vendors were calling out, "Empanadas! Emapanadas de banana y queso! Maize con leche! Empanadas!" (An empanada is a piece of deep-fried dough, and these particular folks had made some with banana inside, and some with cheese. They were also vending corn with milk.) Although the American and Canadian girls chose to eat the empanadas, there were others around them who enjoyed instead a breakfast of pork, or coffee, or porridge.
A few minutes before 7:00 am, they were cordially invited to board the train and they discovered, to their unconcealed delight, that their seats were in the very front of the train!
Just as the sun was climbing into the sky, the little one-car locomotive (but we'll call it a train) pulled out of the Riobamba station, proudly tooting its whistle and announcing to the world that the "Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose)" train ride was underway!
After passing through a beautiful piece of countryside high in the Andes mountains, they arrived an hour later in a charming little town. It was breakfast time, and several street vendors were calling out, "Empanadas! Emapanadas de banana y queso! Maize con leche! Empanadas!" (An empanada is a piece of deep-fried dough, and these particular folks had made some with banana inside, and some with cheese. They were also vending corn with milk.) Although the American and Canadian girls chose to eat the empanadas, there were others around them who enjoyed instead a breakfast of pork, or coffee, or porridge.
After just 15 delightful minutes in that pueblo (small town), they again boarded the train and set off for their next destination.
The train's pace was perfect to permit an excellent view of the majestic Andes mountains. The air was brisk, and the effect of the landscape passing slowly by, combined with the relaxing atmosphere of a sight-seeing journey, caused the passengers to delightfully relax.
They passed many small villages and towns, but most of the journey found them winding through remote parts of the campo (country). They saw countless sheep and cows, as well as quite a few excited dogs. It was not uncommon to catch sight of the folks who were out tending the animals.
The train track itself wound over and around the mountains in a most fascinating fashion. The young ladies learned that this particular track was a marvel of engineering as it employed switchbacks in several locations in order to ascend and descend the dramatic mountain cliffs.
1 comment:
Enjoyed reading about your adventure. Great job on your blog, ladies!
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