Impossible

After settling in, and making some friends, we had already made plans to explore Ecuador. Time seems to have flown by, and next thing you know I found myself on a bus. Luckily enough, the first two seats on the bus don´t have any seats in front of them. This meant . . . you guessed it, endless leg room for the giant lady. The city to city travel busses are coach style busses, much like Canada, with comfortable seats that lean back, and movie entertainment provided. We were going to Rio Bamba Ecuador, which was 4 hours away from Guayaquil.  Another CIDA intern from the College of the Rockies, British Columbia program, had a Lonely Planet travel guide for Ecuador. Our plan was to, relax, and settle in to the hostels we were staying at in the first day, in preparation for our big train ride the next morning on’ The Devil´s Nose train line.´´ Rio Bamba was a nice town, with many boutiques and very kind people.  

Unfortunately for us, the Lonely Planet book had mislead us, and the Train was no longer leaving from Rio Bamba, Ecuador. This forced us to leave for Alausí, which was another city that was 2 hours away. This taught me a valuable lesson: Traveling books are not set in stone. Things change. From now on I will always  double check with a local. This small lesson can I can save me big bucks. 

Centre

Alausi is a beautiful little town at an altitude of over 2340 meters. It has attractive old buildings and a large statue of St. Peter overlooking the town. Their large concentration of Nizag indigenous community gives Alausi a very traditional/cultural feel. 

The main street

Train station

You may agree that ¨The Devils Nose¨ is a strange name, for something that seems so beautiful. It has this name for three reasons (some of them, I kind a bit creepy).

1. Historically, the plan to create a railroad on hard rock was not only very dangerous, but also considered ¨impossible¨. Planned in 1877, the technology we may have today, didn´t even exist to make the task any easier. (El Nariz del Diablo) is known for being one of the most difficult railways to construct. The railway literally goes up a mountain, and is so steep that the train tracks have to change direction and reverse itself up the 800 meters zigzag climb. This train is considered impossible in railway engineering! Apparently, nothing is impossible, because there I was on a train that was completely diagonal on its way up the side of a mountain. The train ride offers breathtaking views, and can be quiet scary if you´re afraid of heights because you´re literally on the side of a cliff. Ecuadorians, being mostly Roman Catholics, believed that to succeed in creating the railway a deal with the Devil had to be made.

2. During the construction period of the train over 3000 men died, falling off the mountain, or from the dynamites that were used to shape the rock, which often created a rock avalanche and crushing people to death. To this day, they call it a ¨Blood pact¨ with the devil and don´t believe the railway would exist without the devastated lives.

3. The shape of the mountain it´s on looks like the devils face, with a large nose, a winking eye (one open, one closed) and horns at the very top. Or course you have to use a bit of your imagination to see it.

During the train ride we received a guided tour from a young man in both Spanish and English. He informed us that a few years ago, tourists could ride the train on top of the roof, which I imagine is an even more surreal experience. However, because of a devastating occurrence, involving a man getting decapitated from being caught in wires, safer travel methods were enforced. Sitting inside of the comfortable train, we see the same views thanks to the big windows.

View of train on tracks

That is the Devils face "from above it's more clear"

Almost at the peak, but wow we are high up

Cultural information

The Devils Nose railway attracts many tourists and is a great source of income generation for the people of Alousi. The train stops at the highest point, and everyone then gets off to enjoy a meal that’s included, a historical museum, a look out point and photos can be taken from the wonderful view. The museum was very interesting because it contained a lot of information about the indigenous people that live in Alousi, what they use for cooking traditionally, why they dress the way they do, and what the mountain means to them. The man, who was a native elder, also shared some ancient stories with us, and was very open to questions.

Details of community based tourism focus

Traditional food preparation method tools

Also, for the length of our stay, Indigenous people were dancing to traditional music to ¨celebrate our arrival and thank us for coming¨. We got to join them in dance, which was extremely fun for me. 

 and try wearing their traditional clothing as well...

The train ride experience was most definitely an example of what encompasses what community based tourism is about. It not only provided employment for native community members, it also gave them a chance to share their traditions, culture and history with tourists. The location was very picturesque, and I was thankful to have the opportunity to enjoy it with the Nizag community.

I was also fortunate enough to meet the founder of community based tourism development NGO in Cuenca, another city in Ecuador. I told her why I was here, and she was very excited about my enthusiasm about possibly volunteering for her. We then exchanged information, and went our separate ways. (Hopefully this is a sneak peak to another blog entry. . . keep your fingers crossed for me.) This was most definitely an enriching experience that had to be shared. I got to experience a successful example of a community benefiting from tourism in a complementary way. I plan to take these lessons with me, and see if I can help create something similar with Cerro Blanco and the Puerto Hondo 

Community. Wish me luck!

I'm always learning, always growing and always going somewhere. That is a personal promise from myself to myself.

Thank you for reading.