Riobamba,Chimborazo,Guano Journey to Chimborazo

Sunday We hired a taxi to take us up to the mountain Chimborazo. Most of the way up the mountain road the driver had to keep stopping and adjusting the carburetor or something with his screw driver. The scenery was wonderful. Cultivated fields like patch work quilts all up the mountain. We passed through many small towns. There were lots of people going about their daily business. At the higher elevation we could see Llamas in the distance. Just around the snow line the taxi driver stopped the car as he could not go any further. There was another taxi waiting for someone in the same spot. I had hoped to get up to the second refugio at 5000 meters but the taxi we had hired could not even make it up to the first refugio at 4800 meters. I think we were misinformed as he knew he could not make it to 4800 meters up the very steep mountain road to the first refugio.

When we first got out of the car we were quite light headed from the altitude. We started to walk up the mountain road, already in the snow toward the refugio. It was very hard walking at that altitude. We had to keep stopping to rest and get a deep breath.

Ellen decided it was too difficult for her and went back down to wait at the taxi. I kept on walking and was lucky when a Spanish family driving a four wheel drive came along and offered me a ride to the first refugio. It had been nice and sunny when we started up and we had a wonderful view of the mountain. By the time we got to the refugio the clouds were starting to close in. We were very fortunate to have such a nice day. I only stayed a short time up there and then walked back down to where the taxi and Ellen were waiting. Very exhilarating.

On the way down the mountain the taxi coasted about half way, not using his motor. A bit scary as we were going through villages and there were people and animals on the road. Never seeming to hurry they managed to get out of the way. But as the saying goes " If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space." When the driver did finally start the motor he had to keep stopping and fiddling with it to keep the vehicle running. I guess there are some problems keeping a motor running efficiently at this altitude.

After quite a few hair raising moments we made it safely back to our hotel in Riobamba.

Just around the corner from where this picture was taken there had been a mudslide and the road was being repaired.

Trip to Banos

Monday we took a bus down to Banos which is a 1000 meters lower and much warmer then Riobamba. Again the roads were washed out in places, but the bus driver just managed to go around these spots. Again spectacular scenery. Mountains all around and cultivated fields almost to the tops of some of them. Banos is a touristy town where there are hot springs and thermal baths. That afternoon we walked around the town visiting the churches and the parks. Sent e-mail to Winfield to let him know where we were.

Tuesday morning we went hiking across the river. We encountered some dogs on the trail that appeared very aggressive. After our experience in Otavalo we were a bit frightened of them. We did not want to get bitten. Some women ahead of us just picked up some stones and the dogs retreated. Even if you reach down as if to pick up a stone they back off and dont bother you.

The weather was hot and the trail was difficult as we were climbing up the side of the mountain. We had hoped to continue on this trail and cross over another bridge farther on that would bring us back to Banos. Unfortunately we had not brought much water and had drank all we had. It was very hot and we were sweating so we did not want to go on without more water. We went back the way we had come. Before crossing the bridge back to Banos we walked on down to the rivers edge and along the bank for aways. Of course we then had to climb back up to the town and it was not easy. We went and picked up our packs at the hotel and caught the bus back to Riobamba.

Back in Riobamba we walked from the bus station and booked into the Riobamba Inn again. We were hoping to get the train around the Devil's Nose on Wednesday. That evening after six we went to the train station to get tickets for the ride to the Devils Nose. Bad News! The transportation strike was on for the next two days so nothing was running, buses or trains. This also meant we could not get back to Quito for two days. We were a little worried as we were booked to fly to the Galapagos on Sunday.

Wednesday morning when we left the hotel the strikers were burning tires on the streets and demonstrating. Soldiers were guarding the banks and gas stations with machine guns. There was all kinds of stuff on the road. There were nails stuck in cardboard or boards and laid out on the streets to puncture tires. The taxi drivers had bunches of brush attached to their front fenders to knock over the nails so they could continue working. I had never been in a situation like this. It was very exciting at first. We were a little nervous about going out on the streets, but as everyone seemed to be going about their business as usual we decided to venture out. Some of the shops and restaurants were closed, but we had no problems walking around the city. We just stayed away from the parks and the squares were there were demonstrations.

We walked down toward the main bus station to see if anything was moving but no luck. We came across the park where all the ceramic animals were. We also found the shop where the Tagua nut figurines were made. We bought a few souvenirs at the shop. I bought a turtle and a little vase. The artist was working on the lathe and he made each of us a small vase for free.

Thursday morning we walked to one of the bus stations in Riobamba to see if we could find a way to get somewhere out of the city. There were not any buses running but there was a truck parked at one of the corner stores that was going to (Guano) and would take passengers. Guano is a small town not far from Riobamba. We decided to give it a try. There were several Indian people and a young boy already in the back of the truck. The driver also had supplies of cement in the truck to deliver to someone. A woman in a car came along and the young boy left and went with her. We waited for a while and were about to get out of the truck and forget about going when the driver finally decided to leave.

Outside the city there was all kinds of junk on the roads. Tree trunks, big rocks, tires burning and any garbage they could find to try and stop traffic. The driver manouvered around the obstacles driving very slowly. We came to some manned road blocks. The truck driver paid them something to let him by. At one roadblock there were several young boys, very dirty looking and wielding sticks with nails in the ends of them. They seemed very aggressive and gave the driver a rough time. The scene reminded me of the novel "Lord of the flies" where the kids became violent and took over. This unnerved us a bit as we had planned on walking back but did not think it was a good idea to walk back through this area. Two gringo women alone. I had all my id and money with me also.

The town of Guano was very pretty but there were not any stores open, so we sat on a park bench and had our lunch which we had brought with us. It looked like a very nice little town with a beautiful garden next to the big church. The church and the gate into the garden were both locked.

While we were sitting in the park another truck came by which was going back to Riobamba. We decided this was our chance to get back safely and jumped on and away we went. 2000 sucres, about $.20 cents. There was an older Indian lady and two young girls in the truck too. The driver started to Riobamba on the same road we had come on but when he saw all the debris on the road he decided to turn around and headed back to Guano. There is a long hill coming out of Guano and we did not want to go back down to the town because if we had to walk back it meant climbing this fairly steep hill.

Just as we were about to jump out of the truck, the driver, on the advice of the Indian lady decided to take another road. This road had some debris on it but no road blocks and we were on our way. As we drove along we got covered in the dust that swirled up into the back of the truck. We could not understand the other people very well but we talked and laughed with them and had a good time anyway. We were just glad to get back safely to our hotel. It taught us a lesson but it all turned out OK. Ellen kept saying not to tell Ralph. There are many indigenous people living in this area and they were the most active in this strike.

NOTE: I do not have any pictures of this day. It did not seem like a wise move to pull a camera out under the circumstances we found ourselves in.