Cuenca

Devils Nose Railway

Not sure what was wrong but could not get on server last night.

But here i am in Cuenca, the most south i will be in Ecuador.

Our trip here was mostly over mountain passes and into valleys – still over 3000 mtrs.

Two things i did on the way were both interesting.

Day started with breakfast at 5.00 am. Now all hotels and hacienda have the same breakfast setup.

Fresh fruit – watermelon pawpaw pineapple.

Lots of bread choices and scrambled eggs.

This place was full of french and german tourists and i was lucky to get my checkout before them.

We got on the road at 5.30 for a two hour drive to my train ride. This is the famous Devils nose zig zag railway. The track starts at 2600 mts and drops to 1600 in the space of 6 kms. The government has restored this part of the track and also the three carriages – mainly for tourists. The old photos you see show the locals sitting on the roof – but this is now banned.

Devils Nose RailwayZigZag RailwayZigZag railway

The zig zag part is near the bottom of the ride and allows some great shots. One hour stop at the station to watch locals dancing and time to spend money . By this time – they have the engine at the other end ready for the climb back up the mountain. My carriage now became the last one which gave me the back door with clear views of the track and scenery.

History – this was part of the rail track from Quito to the seaport of Guanquil (where i end up tonight) but because of trucks etc has now been used for many years. – also i was told over 1500 people died during the making of this part of the track. A lot thru illness.

Next stop was to an anicent Inka site. Some of the stone work was to the standard of Machi Pachi but most was of the non royal standard. There is some ground movement and you come see the measuring instruments used to keep track of the movement. On one side of the main temple is about 50 plus metre down – they built five small terraces to hold the wall up. Maybe this is what is now moving.

This morning i have a walking tour of Cuenca. I am staying in the old part of town – one block from the main plaza. Another church to see!!!!

Time for breakfast and pack my bag again.

Chau