Riding the CRAZY train...on the ROOF!

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  Riobamba, Ecuador
Sunday, October 19, 2008

Up early and out of Baņos to catch a bus to Riobamba.   Two reasons: to catch the Saturday market and ride the last track of train in Ecuador after El Niņo's wrath.
The market in Riobamba lived up to its claims.  All the streets were buzzing, almost everything was for sale, and many strange odours filled the air.  First we made it to the vegetable section, about a football field of different kinds of vegetables, fruits, and various legumes.  What really got Charisī attention was the near by meat section.  Cow hoofs only $2!  Next were counterfeit clothes (nothing to fit these huge whiteys) electronics, sombreros, DVDs, used car parts, batteries, and brooms.  At the centre of the market were the live animals.  Dozens of puppies being sold out of burlap sacs, cage after cage of guinea pigs (for eating), chickens, goats, and everything else.
After the market we made a big decision - WEīRE GOING TO THE GALAPAGOS

6:30AM Train o´ Gringos

!
We always said we weren't going to visit the Galapagos Islands this trip because it would be an easy vacation later in life and it is rather expensive...well out with that and in with our new plan to visit the Islands! Penguins, boobies (as in water fowl), iguanas, and waves - ahh we are excited.   Ironically enough we will be flying out on our 2 year wedding anniversary must be fate.   A nice anniversary present to each other.  
Back in Riobamba we woke up at 6AM to ride the last remaining strip of operating Ecuadorian railway.   We stayed at a hotel next to the station so we could get there early and ensure good seats on the train, boy were we surprised when the train was packed by 6:15 with the largest congregation of gringos this side of Cancun!! 
Now, this isnīt a normal passenger train.    But what do you do with old dilapidated train tracks and rusting cargo train cars?   Well in Ecuador you simply stop every now and then to wedge the train back on the rusty tracks after derailing and with out any seats you ride on the roof...duh!
Yes momīs (both of you), riding on the roof of a train so far away from the Canadian health care system.
At an elevation of 3000m and being on the train for 7 hours in the middle of the day we chalked up another sun burn - when will we learn?  We were joined on the train by a film crew from Dateline NBC who are doing a story on this crazy train

The chilly view

.   We wondered what the headline would be so if anyone catches the story back home please let us know.
The highlight of the trip is supposed to be some steep cliffs off of the side of the track, but being from Canada and driving the Rogers Pass many times this was somewhat anticlimactic.   Our highlight of the trip was the hundreds of kids who ran up to the train to wave at the train, of course in exchange for candy.   We heard about this so we bought a few handfuls of lollipops and had a great time whipping lollipops at their smiling little faces.
We are staying in a small town called Alausi tonight, then heading to Ecuador's largest city for our flight to THE GALAPAGOS!!!!

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Train Kid	One of the cutest, up on a rock!!!	Soakin up Rays	El Narriz Del Diablo (Devils Nose)

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