Ride on The Roof of a Train (Ecuador)

Our journey to Cuenca from Quito, started with a bus ride to the town of Riobamba (5hrs) arriving late at night. The next morning, we woke up at 5am to have a quick breakfast and get good seats on the top of the 7am train past Alhausi and down the Devil’s Nose (Nariz del Diablo), a five hour journey. After a quick but tasty and warm breakfast, we bought our train tickets at 6:15am and there was already barely any room to sit on the train. The train was filled mostly by tourists as the cost of $11 is four times more than the bus would have been. Basically, the only reason the train is still running is because of this breath-taking ride). It is a good thing we rented cushions ($1 each) for the ride and brought a hat and gloves… as it would have been a long, cold, and uncomfortable ride otherwise! Let me sum up the experience in two ways: beautiful (for all the views of mountain ranges, farms, and valleys) and a little scary (there was no barrier on the top of the train to keep you from falling off… you just had to make sure you were sitting safely. And there certainly was no getting up and taking a good stretch while the train was running!). Unfortunately, the tracks seemed to be broken for the last hair-raising part so the train had to go back to Alausi.Our journey to Cuenca from Quito, started with a bus ride to the town of Riobamba (5hrs) arriving late at night. The next morning, we woke up at 5am to have a quick breakfast and get good seats on the top of the 7am train past Alhausi and down the Devil’s Nose (Nariz del Diablo), a five hour journey. After a quick but tasty and warm breakfast, we bought our train tickets at 6:15am and there was already barely any room to sit on the train. The train was filled mostly by tourists as the cost of $11 is four times more than the bus would have been. Basically, the only reason the train is still running is because of this breath-taking ride). It is a good thing we rented cushions ($1 each) for the ride and brought a hat and gloves… as it would have been a long, cold, and uncomfortable ride otherwise! Let me sum up the experience in two ways: beautiful (for all the views of mountain ranges, farms, and valleys) and a little scary (there was no barrier on the top of the train to keep you from falling off… you just had to make sure you were sitting safely. And there certainly was no getting up and taking a good stretch while the train was running!). Unfortunately, the tracks seemed to be broken for the last hair-raising part so the train had to go back to Alausi.The train was about 7 wagons long. And the terrace, where we were sitting, offered no protection from falling off. Still, it wasn’t that hard to keep yourself from falling.Each car had a very official looking train conductor spinning a wheel on top of the wagon. My theory is that this helps steer the train’s individual cars to smoothen the ride. We saw great sights along the way… high mountains surrounding us (including Ecuador’s highest peak, Chimborazo Mountain), patchwork fields on hills and deep gorges and valleys. Though many houses that we passed were in hut format … quite a few were also cement cubes (Ecuador really seems to love cement-based buildings!). Our train also stopped along villages where some of the locals (but not all) wear the colours of their pueblo, like the fuschia and red ponchos that these folks are sporting. Looking for a life-threatening job?… you can sell snacks and drinks on top of the train while the train is moving at full speed! We actually helped a vendor along by holding on to his hand so he could very calculatedly walk across the lack of foot space on top of the train. All in all though, the dangeresque train-top ride from Riobamba to Alausi in Ecuador was a fantastic five hour trip and this was definitely a must-do on any tourist’s list!