Two days after returning from the Galapagos, I spent almost a week in the remote indigenous village of Chugchilan, population somewhere between 100 - 200. The village is nestled in amongst the Ecuadorian Andes, so the view
s and scenery are absolutely spectacular. I stayed in a fantastic vegetarian eco-lodge, The Black Sheep Inn which is about 2km´s out of the tiny village. The food, people, animals, scenery, bunkhouse and even the compost toilets were all fabulous! It was the perfect destination after spending approximately 8 hours on 3 buses, with one particular bus driver fancying himself as the next Michael Schumacher! Aside from a few hair raising moments, it really was a beautiful, scenic trip pretty much from start to finish.
During my stay at the Black Sheep I did a couple of day hikes (always in fear of potential dog attacks), a 5 hour horse riding trip to the nearby Cloud Forest (a beautiful day after the initial nerves of jumping on a horse subsided...it has been a few years) and a gruelling 15km hike from the Laguna Quilotoa back to Chugchilan. Seven of us set out for the challenging 5 hour hike. After travelling an hour in the back of a truck to actually reach the lake, we were already windswept and covered in dust, but the view over the Laguna Quilotoa was well worth it. The hike was relatively easy for the first hour or so. Then there were ALOT of steep and narrow descents as we slowly headed down into a canyon. We had to contend with a small landslide half way down...a tad scary when you feel your head being hit by sand, dirt and small rocks! But that was the least of my worries...we still had the long, long climb out of the canyon. The last hour was all up hill and steep! Definitely the hardest part of the hike. The altitude doesn´t help. Chugchilan is about 3400metres above sea level and the Quilotoa lake is just under 4000m. I´d already had a day experiencing the affects of altitude. Let me tell you, the feeling your head is about to explode is not a pleasant one! Still, some people experience alot worse. Fortunately I did not have a repeat performance during the hike. We finished the hike relatively unscathed, just windswept, sweaty and covered in multiple layers of dirt. Once we arrived "home" we celebrated our achievement over a few cold beers and one of our many great vege dinners.Local Niña
I met at the Black Sheep, spent the better part of a day on trucks and buses to reach Baños from Chugchilan. Chugchilan was beautiful but Baños was even better. Maybe better is a bit harsh... just different? The mountains appeared higher, dwarfing the quaint town. And it´s also much greener whereas Chugchilan was very dry and dusty. My time in Baños was a nice balance of adventure and chilling out. The chilling out consisted of wandering around the colourful little town, reading, writing, card games and red wine. Throw in a very cheap but glorious herbal facial and I couldn´t have been more relaxed! Adventure 
consisted of a 50km bike ride. The scenery so dramatic with loads of little waterfalls and lookout spots along the way. About 22km´s from Baños is the spectacular cascada, Pailon del Diablo. It´s about a 40minute hike to reach the falls, walking through gorgeous rainforest. You cross a rickety suspension bridge for a fantastic view of the falls or take the winding steps down to the base of the falls to fully appreciate it´s power. After an hour and a half spent admiring the falls and refuelling with some lunch, 7 of the 9 bike riders continued the ride south. About 40km´s along, 2 more riders dropped out. Five of us girls powered on though, cursing the endless hills on what was supposedly a downhill ride. At 50km´s it was getting late so we decided a good time to stop riding. A cold drink, a bus back to Baños with bikes on the roof, we were exhausted but feeling good!
From Baños it was another bus trip, this time an hour and a half south to Riobamba. A bit of a 
nothing town overall, however the downhill mountain biking was a treat! Yes, less than 72 hours after our 50km bike ride, three of us girls were back in the saddle for a very different kind of ride. 38km´s, mostly downhill, riding across paved, rocky and sandy terrain. We started the ride at 5000m above sea level and it was bloody scary when we first took off. I love adrenaline filled activities, but riding downhill in sand and over rocks is rather daunting I have to admit. The constant sliding of my tyres because I kept braking out of fear, which in turn put even more fear into me! But as I slowly accepted that not braking 
too much, particularly in the sand, made for sturdier riding, the fun and adrenaline kicked in big time and the rest was a hoot! We started our ride at the base of Volcan Chimborazo, Ecuadors highest peak at 6310m. Before our mountain biking began, we walked up to the second climbers refuge on Chimborazo which is at 5000m. My highest altitude to date! Overall I didn´t feel too bad aside from being a little spacey and feeling the first stages of another headache, but all that disappeared once the riding commenced!
Altitude 5000m
Volcan Chimborazo
Day two in Riobamba and we were up at the ungodly hour of 5.30am to 
be on board a 7.00am departing train for the ride down the Nariz del Diablo, translating to The Devils Nose. It´s a 5-6 hour round trip with the last hour or so heading down the sometimes hair raising switchbacks. Hair raising, but not due to the fact there are quite steep drops either side of the tracks or the fact that your riding on the roof. More so because the train derailed! Yes, as we were chugging along back up the switchbacks the first carriage derailed. In turn, so did the following two carriages! It only took about 40minutes to get the train "back on track" though. With the 3-4 train staff using a few simple rocks to fix the problem believe it or not? I have no idea how rocks actually fix a derailment, but after a few failed attempts it was no problema! Apparently it´s quite common for the train to derail so the staff have the fix mastered. A bunch of people jumped off in fear of the train actually rolling, but most of us just hung out on top enjoying the sun and the little piece of drama of the day. We are in Sth America after all!
local kids love a train chase
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