Hotel Tren Dorado Riobamba

So by Riobamba we were getting into the swing of being on the bike, enjoying the Avenue of the Volcanoes and the cheap petrol. In short, basically apart from the nightmare that was Quito we knew the easy riding couldnīt last forever.

On the way out of Riobamba, we hit the first snag. A diversion around the roadworks which took us through extremely deep sand, a bikers worst nightmare. Being my usual helpful self, I jumped off and walked a couple of km (ok so it might have been 100metre...

I spent the night in Riobamba last night, at the Hotel Tren Dorado, which I *highly* recommend. Its courtyards and room furnishings were very charming, the showers were hot with good pressure, and itīs half a block away from the train station, yet quiet and a steal at $10. The reason for staying so close to the train station, or so I thought, was to be able to get up really early, like 5:30am, and get in line for tickets on the "Devilīs Nose" (El Nariz del Diablo) train, which goes from Rioba...

Got the bus from Quito this morning for one reason only: el Nariz del Diablo train ride.

Itīs only a 4 hour bus ride and I left Quito at 09:45, allowing me to check into my hotel (the best and poshest Iīve stayed in yet) and have a shower before the ticket office opened. As this is an actual proper hotel with towels, I decided to do some laundry and get my own towel cleaned for the first time in 7 weeks (itīs been smelling not so great for a few weeks now but Iīve not been able to spar...

Joe says: Arrived here via the most Dangerous/exciting bus ride ever. The bus driver drove at the far side of the road most of the time to avoid the pot holes. Twas mad hed be at the far side of the road just as we came to a 90 degree bend with a shear drop at one side and at the last minute hed swerve to avoid an oncoming car. The roads were a complete shambles (if u could call some of it a road) we got there eventully in one peace and booked into our hotel for the night. We had to get up at...

I actually left Quito...It took me long enough, but I packed up my bag (rather ridiculously full) and left my family behind. I say I 'left' Quito; I didn't, I went and stayed in a hostel for a night with some English girls I knew (who seemed to have some weird like/craving for raw garlic and onion). So eventually, on the Tuesday morning ( or was it afternoon? I am quite lazy) I did leave Quito for "Riobamba Riobamba Riobamba Riobamba" (as the bus people would lyrically shout out. The bus jour...

Arriving in Riobamba with ease and without incident we were once again impressed by the wonder that is South American public transport. Included in the price of our tickets was witnessing the sight of a sheep (a live one) being led from the luggage compartment of our bus. Perhaps that was why we were told to take our backpacks onboard in this instance. Taking a taxi to our hotel (hotel del treino or something, $9 per person per night) situated a stones throw from the station. We had spent the...

Etter et par dager til i Baņos dro vi videre til Riobamba. Vi kom dit fredag ettermiddag. Loerdag var markedsdag, hvor folk kommer ned fra fjellene for aa selge og kjoepe alt fra mango til marsvin og kalkuner. Soendag tok vi det beryktede toget til Nariz del Diablo. Tilsammen 10 timer paa togtaket, paa det som skal vaere verdens vanskeligste jernbanestrekning. Etter ca tre timer ble det 45 minutters stopp for aa grave fram skinnene. Noe mer spenningsfyllt var det med avsporing en meter fra en...

We took a scenic train journey from Riobamba to Sibambe , the route is called the devil's nose due to the hair-raising switchbacks down a plunging gorge. The eight-hour journey was fantastic as it gave us a great view of the changing Ecuadorian landscape along the way, seeing local people in the rural communities going about their daily life. Perhaps the most fun part though was getting to ride on the roof!

Woke up this morning feeling a bit achey after the canyoning yesterday so decided to find a massage and I found one that did deep tissue sports massages for only $23US for 1 hour. Bargain!! The girl certainly worked hard for her money. She was puffing and panting. Talk about bliss. The group was going up to a volcanoe and were riding down on bikes, Some of us decided not to go, we made our own way to Riobamba on public transport and a cab to the hotel. Tried to find somewhere to eat lunch. Th...

Well hello! I have much to tell and little time to do it in. Since I last wrote, we wound up the last week at the school in Quito. My Spanish is still not great but I got a certificate saying that Iīve passed īElementalī level - I think iīm a bit better than that but hey ho! On Friday we went to the Mitad Del Mundo - middle of the world - and did the necessary touristy things. Photos on the equator line - one foot on each side (see what we did there..?). We went to the very good Inta-nan muse...