Down South we go – Riobamba, Alausí, Cuenca

Maybe I should not mention Riobamba in the headline, as we didn’t spend much time there. We arrived in the afternoon – and left merely an hour later. This city was just so not appealing to us… we went to the park, that Lonely Planet had recommended, judged it ugly, saw the described church from up there and had therefore seen everything that might have been interesting there. No reason to waste further time in a town none of us felt attracted to.

Finding the bus terminal wasn’t hard, having a bus leave to Alausí even less. We arrived in Alausí late at night, but early enough to still find a cheap place to stay – and a yummy pizza to fill our stomachs. We slept well.

Alausí is where the historic train rides down the devil’s nose. And that is exactly what we planned to do: Spend some 20$ on a 45min train ride – it somehow reminded me of the Deutsche Bahn. But it would be way cooler anything the Deutsche Bahn offers is. Just – not this Monday. We went for a daytrip to Cuenca, some really nice and historic town further down South.

After visiting the museum…

…and chasing some pidgeons…

…we found ourselves a cozy restaurant which food that excellent that we spent some four hours in there, playing card games and discussing the deeper sense of the existence of human beings.

As we returned to Alausí, again, we were probably the last people awake. But it is some fascinating village to stare at at night from the hills surrounding it.

The next morning we tried to catch a bus to Tambo, a little village near the Ingapirca ruins. In fact, we caught the bus, but after waiting an hour at the highway – we arrived in Tambo too late to justify a trip to the ruins. But hey – at least we have seen Tambo now! ;)

Back to Alausí, as quickly as possible – the train wouldn’t wait for us. But this time we were on time. All good.

So then we left. In a historic train on a historic railway. A historical moment.

Fascinating landscape. Down to the river we went.

If anyone should still be in doubt whether to invest that money or not – just do it. It’s worth every single cent of it. And maybe more…

Oh, and – even lunch is included! :)

Back in Baños we had an important call to make: Homie Jazz had birthday! Happy birthday, Homie! :)

A last supper we had together. Then we said goodbye. To Adam and to Alausí. The coast was awaiting our arrival.