Top of the World
Our bus trip to Guaranda took us within 5 km of Mt.Chimborazo... an inactive volcano which is the furthest point from the center of the earth due to the earth's bulge at the equator! The clouds completely hid it on the way to Guaranda so we had to just be glad we had seen lots of farming on the highlands, herds of picuna (smaller than llama) shepherded by shawled locals and dairy cows tethered on the grassy higher slopes where they were milked into cans carefully carried down by the farmer. As we got higher, the bus windows fogged over and dripped with water so we had to keep wiping the window to peek out at a barren land covered with ash. The only homes we saw up there were dug into the mountain. We went down hill to get to Guaranda which was quite a large town filled with shawled and hatted locals. It rained as we walked around town checking out the markets and finding a bit of lunch...which we ate in a center park and the whole time some guy talked to Rog in Spanish (probably the town's goofball) and another stared at me. When Rog had eaten a much as he wanted, he handed the dish to the man staring at me...and he gladly ate it. Around 2 we got back on the bus to head back...and the sky opened up for us and we got great views of Mt. Chimborazo!! As you can imagine, it was majestic. Snow covered much of it ... the clouds eventually decided we'd been lucky long enough!
Chicken & Fries & Rolls
Have I mentioned that the most common meal around here...and we devoured lots of...is grilled chicken and fries. Mmmm. There is a grill on most every corner. And the fresh baked smell of bread is on every block...and those rolls melt in your mouth! (Joyce you would be in heaven!)
Museum Of Religious Article
We sought out the #1 sight (according to Lonely Planet) in Riabomba...the Museo del Convento de la Concepcion. It was housed in an old convent and filled with ornate statues, art works and religious articles. Such riches. Glass cabinets crowded with tiny dishes, animals, clothing, household furnishing, etc, etc, etc with a baby Jesus in the center. Statue of Mary laying in a bed wearing a gold crown & pearled necklace in jeweled gown (all the real thing). Life size crosses with Christ dripping with blood. Priest robes embroidered with gold and silver and jewels. And the most prized- a monstrance (to hold host) adorned with 1500 precious jewels and casted with solid gold weighing 797 lbs.
Rich exhibit!! And no guards anywhere! But then, who could dare try to carry that out! Once again, a reporter happened to be there and took our picture & interviewed us! She was from the Ecuador public TV station and told us to watch for us on Tv. We won't know how to act when we become ¨common folk¨again!
Train Museum
Next we headed for the train museum where we could also get tickets for a train ride we hope to take tomorrow. Got the tickets but the museum was closed...guess they felt sorry for us...or our ¨celebrity status¨ shone through....because they unlocked the museum and let us tour it! Free!
On to Alausi
Our train trip starts in Alausi, so we bussed there passing panormic views of farm plots that made a gorgeous quilt like view. Our photos just can't capture the immensity or beauty of the view. A huge statue of St. Peter sits on a hill overlooking this quaint town. We took a walking tour noticing that they seem to be doing lots of repairs on many of the older buildings. Evidently, they are resurrecting the train from Riobambo which will connect again to the section still in operation here...so it will become more of a tourist destination. We met two couples from Maine who winter 6 months in Cuenca. They love it! No way could we be that far from family & friends that long...this is long enough!
