Riobamba Things to Do Tips by swesn

From Riobamba, there is a train ride to the famous stretch of track called 'El Nariz del Diablo', or the Devil's Nose.

The train departs early in the morning, at 7am, and as Riobamba is at quite a high altitude (my friend told me Riobamba is also known as Friobamba - 'frio' is cold in Spanish), do dress warmly and climb onto the roof of the train. There are people up there by 6am!

The view was not spectacular spectacular but beautiful enough. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, viewing the mountains and farms and countrysides. Many campesinos in their traditional costumes stopped work to wave at the passing train. Often, they had wide smiles on their faces. I thought it was very sweet. Of course, there were groups that appeared to be very shy, standing there with their yokels and staring at us dumbly. And gosh, the children… they were the best! Many very tiny, well-bundled up, children were waving and smiling happily at us. The tourists bought sweets from the tireless vendor on top of the train with us and tossed the sweets to the children. They were delighted and scrambled for them happily!

After Alausi, the scenery changed to stunning ravines and at El Nariz del Diablo, there is a series of switchbacks carved into the side of the mountain and allows the train to advance and reverse and in the process, descend or ascend nearly 1,000m. At that time of construction in 1902, this was the most incredible feat of railway engineering.

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