Banos to Alausi

On the road to Alausi. 

Hostel Panamericano Detail

The morning after our excellent bike ride, I hiked up the mountain next to Banos to get a great view from a lookout point called Bellavista.  The hike was a little much after the exertion the day before towing that crazy Australian damn near to Amazonia, and my back has been really bothering me since.  But that's no matter.  

We, being Alex, Ferne, and myself, representing three continents of English speaking countries, headed south a couple-three hours (thanks to Maine for the term "couple-three") to a city called Riobamba, which may be the fourth largest city in Ecuador, for all you know.  Our intention was to catch a train to a magical place called El Nariz del Diablo, or "Candy Mountain" in English.  All the guide books mention it, and for good reason.  It's the only interesting thing about Riobamba.  And it's not that interesting.  As it turned out, though, they were sold out from Riobamba, which was good news, because it meant we didn't have to stay there.  

And MORE good news... we could catch a train to the same magic Candy Mountain from a much closer and cheaper spot in Alausi.  And so we had a quick bite to eat and headed back to the bus station for another couple-three hours to Alausi.  

Side note:  On the train to Alausi, the bus stopped for a couple of dozen traditionally dressed Ecuadorians to board the bus and crowd the aisles.  The women still wear the clothing you see in the pictures; I was amazed!  Hats of varying styles.  Four or five layers on top, covered with a very brightly colored shawl.  Half a dozen skirts, with an equally brightly colored top skirt, sometimes with some lacy stuff towards the bottom.  And crazy wool socks pulled up to the knees.  But here's the thing, and I mean no disrespect; they smelled of rotten-onion trout.  I didn't even know rotten-onion trouts existed until I smelled them, and I kid you not, I am still smelling it today.  But I digress.  

After quickly finding perhaps the most meager accommodations I have ever had the pleasure of paying good money to lay my head in (and yet still considerably better than the house I lived in for the past 10 months), we toured Alausi in the dark, assuming we would be leaving the next day after our train treat.  And as it turns out, Alausi is absolutely beautiful.  I can not describe how magical the town park and church are after sunset in this 5000 person Andean gem (do I sound like a guidebook yet?).  I'll include a picture here so you can describe it yourself.  The whole town is magical, though, from the cobblestone streets, to the $2 big ass breakfasts, to the mix of traditional and modern dress and customs, to the old western movie style train station and balcony doors, to the gigantic statue of San Pedro, the patron saint of patron saints.  

Boys around the age of 7 to 9 run the streets covered in soot asking REPEATEDLY to shine your shoes.  I named one Pedro, and he and I had a great conversation consisting of him starting with "Something in Spanish that probably means shoe shine", and my response of "No gracias."  And then repeat.  Not a dozen times, but hundreds.  Eventually, we cracked little Pedro, and his smile beamed.  He enjoyed the game enough to bring friends back the next morning, and we finally cracked and gave them a dime or several to pose for the picture shown here.  Pedro is the one with his arms around two other boys.  Love those little guys.  Taught them to say "dirty shoes" in English.  Best of luck my friends.  

So we went and saw the Devil's Nose on a train.  Meh.  At it's best.  If you've done everything else in Ecuador and have lost your passport and therefore can not leave, you should do the train ride to Devil's Nose.  Or just lay on the tracks and wait for the train... that may be better.  

Afterward, we decided to drink our dinner in our penthouse, which was fun, and left us with nice little hangovers for the next day when I, again, changed my mind last minute and decided to head south to Cuenca, instead of out to the Ecuadorian beaches to the west, keeping the Three Amigos together for at least a few more hours, and seriously testing my cash reserves.  At the time of boarding, I had no idea where I would go from Cuenca, but Peru was weighing heavily on my mind.  So - close - to - Peru.  Must - go - to - Peru.  Doesn't that make it sound heavy?  I won't tell you how this turned out, but I'll give you a little teaser...  Da-da-da-da!!!  I'm in Peru!  But you knew that already.  Because I want my next blog to be about my trip to Peru and my first day here, I'm going to skip Cuenca with just this... Absolutely beautiful.  I don't like big cities, but if you are going to go to one, go to Cuenca (Ecuador's third largest city, as far as you know).  But avoid the burgers from this point south.  

Tomorrow's blog - PERU!  Neat.  Am I the only one excited about this?  Oh, don't get your hopes up; I'm still in the range of 40ish hours from Machu Pichu, and don't even have the money for the bus to get there and back.