From Chugchilan we took a bus south to Banos. There we rented bikes and drove the street of the water falls 60 km down to the tropic Puyo. Yeah right, everybody was telling us about riding down the road. In reality everything looked a bit different and every now and then the street used to ascend quite a lot. Our legs which were tiered from the hikes were not so much amused and therefore we used to get off the bikes and walked from times to times. Somehow with a lot of struggles we made it down to Puyo including a visit down and up a waterfall and took a bus back to Banos. To do ourselves some good we went to take a dip in the hot termae, ate at the Swiss restaurant a salad (which is pretty rare for it is quite risky!), Raclette and Roesti and had our feed massaged by a Chinese reflexologist.
Our next destination was Riombamba where we got on the train to the famous Nariz del Diablo. But first we needed to be sportive again on the Chimborazo. With the car we drove to the refuge at about 4’800 meters and walked up to the second refuge at 5’000 meters above sea level. Again the altitude was a challenge and each step was breath taking. After a lunch at the refuge we got on our mountain bikes and road the 38 km down – and this time really down – in direction Riobamba. Except for the ice rain which started right when we took off and which stung like needles in our faces the ride was a blast!
The next day we had to get up at five o’clock in the morning, take a quick breakfast and catch the gringo train. This train is leaving three times a week just for tourists. People sit on the roof an only the luggage goes into the wagons. The trip to the Nariz del Diablo and back to Alausi takes about six hours. In between there are stops to move the hurting legs and to release the bladder. The railway is passing villages and crossing valleys until the high light - the Nariz - is reached. There the train is going forth and back down the tracks on the hill and later on forth and back up again. The trip was very nice although it was a bit long. Both of us were slightly disappointed by the Nariz for we thought of it as something a little more impressive. But for railway fans it may be something unique.
We climbed down from the roof, took another bus and headed off south to Cuenca. After some very active days we took it easy here and let the buildings passing by, ate Indian (not native American, live up diversity!) and indulged into coffee and cake. The next day we were attracted by the see. So we took a bus through the National Park of Cajas with its lakes and peaks and then through the different zones of vegetation down to the coast. After many hours we arrived at the surfer village Montanita. Here we stayed longer than a week whereas Marc was practicing his wave surfing skills (he stood up longer on the board every day) and Esther trained her watching Marc practicing wave surfing skills skills. Although the sky was often grey and sun only showed up at Esther’s birthday we enjoy our beach life which includes good meals, a cocktail now and then, billard games in the garden of the hotel, snoozing the hammock and slowly saying good bye to Ecuador. In the next days we will take off for Peru where we make an easy start in the surfer village of Mancora. See you soon in Peru!
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