Baños to Riobamba

Trip Start Mar 18, 2007
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21
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Trip End Mar 16, 2008


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Friday, April 20, 2007

In the early afternoon, we boarded yet another rickety bus (definitely authentic!) and arrive in Riobamba shortly afterwards. Riobamba is quite a large city and luckily for us we arrived the day before the townīs celebration of the Indepenedence of the Battle of Tapi, which happened on the 21st April 1822.

On the 21st there were big bands playing and we stumbled on a large crowd waving at someone looking relatively important... only after asking the Pharmacy girl standing next to me did I realise it was the El Presidente of Ecuador! Then, there was a huge procession of tanks and artillary going down the street... felt like we were in the twilight zone for a little while!

Anyway, after our run-in with El Presidente, we wondered back to the hotel and randomly bumped into our US friend Jonathon from the Galapagos boat-trip. Heīd joined a tour (Gecko Tour) and was travelling through to La Paz (Bolivia) with them over the next month. So, after a few surprise hellos I agreed to go out with him and his guide for a quick beer...

so... we ended up in a taxi going miles out of town and finally realise that in fact we were off to the yearly Rodeo show! This was the best place to meet the chicas (apparently) as after the rodeo finishes, the people take to the centre stage and dfance the night away. Well, we got there early and there were only the odd hairy man with his cowboy hat, and the very odd hairy girl. The opening of the night was great. Big music (texas ranch style), and the entrance of three top models on horses burst onto the scene. Oh my God... they didnīt have a clue and the "Queen of the Rodeo" was swaying as the horse suddenly bolted for no reason, and finally Miss Quito, who had survived better than the other two, got off the horse and then subsequently got kicked by the horse in the high-leg/groin area. It was quite a scene as all the onlookers cheered and had another swing of the beer... the night had begun! It kind of got from bad to worse in the technical sense (all the bulls and horses were running loose and kicking everyone) but the entertainment factor was high. Best (and only) rodeo event Iīve ever seen. I was assured by Jonathon (whoīs from the deep south of the US) that this was NOT the normal rodeo, and heīd never seen anything like it before. Definitely Ecuador-Style Rodeo! Definitely recommended!! Itīs a pity I left the camera at home... some priceless shots were missed!

After the rodeo evening, we got up very early to board the "devils nose" train.
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