Around the World in as long as it takes.

We jumped on the Bus from Banos to RioBamba and after a short, but bumpy hour and a half we pulled up in RioBamba.

The Bus dropped us off by a Roundabout at the top end of town... which meant we had to jump in a cab to our hostel.

We stayed at the Hostel Oasis...which the Taxi driver knew where it was.. which made a nice change.. and having booked in we decided to talk a short stroll around the city.

As we wondered around the city (the old colonial buildings were everywhere and there seemed to be a plaza on every corner (so to speak)... a bit different to Banos that´s for sure!

We asked around about tours to Chimborazo, and after some discussions with various operators.. we were recommended a guide by one of the hotels. The Hotel phoned the Guide (Joel) and literally and as if by magic he appeared at the hotel ready to meet his prospective guests for the following day.

We payed half the total (cheap at $40 for the 2 of us for a private tour!) and then headed back to the hostel via a pizza place as we had a TV in the room and decided to make the most of it.... Pizza, Pepsi and crap TV..... Great !

Joel picked us up as arranged at 7:30am outside the hostel.

His pick up was new and he spoke Spanish.. which meant the whole day was to be spent flicking through the Spanish phrase book for those illusive little words we couldn´t remember....

Joel was a pleasent soul and very talkative.... which at 7:30 am.... wasn´t exactly what Steph and I had in mind... Steph having taken the back seat so she could hide away and not have to talk pigeon Spanish for an hour or so up to the Mountain !

We continued up towards the Mountain and the Mist was heavy in the air... the higher we got... the heavier it seemed to get.

However... luckily for us Joel was on Hand and joking around he bet me that he´d be able to clear the mist so we could see the summit !!!

The Bet was on !

Stupid Welsh Man !!!!

Like a practiced conjurer.... Joel clapped his hands... started to sing and then as if by magic (or a well honed trick) he blew the mist away and the summit suddenly appeared above us !

The Man was a Magician !!!

Either that or a frequent visitor at this time of the day

So here we had it... the Highest Mountain in the world.....

well....

If you were to measure from the Centre of the Earth to the summit of Chimborazo... it´d be further away than both Evertest and K2.

However, unfortunately for it (and Ecuador)... the sea level bulges at the Equator... therefore... it´s not as high above sea level as the it´s 2 more famous mountain Brothers in the Himalayas.

Unlucky, but still Impressive I can tell you !!!

Joel dropped us off at the First Refugio (a meer 4,800 Metres above Sea Level) and then we headed up towards Refugio Edward Whymper a further 200 metres higher at 5000 metres above sea level!

On the way up you pass the graves of climbers and people who have died on the mountain. This was a bit of a downer as the most recent were a couple of germans in 2003.

It once again reminded us how dangerous and yet beautiful Mountains can be ! And in this respect, Ecuador had it´s fair share!

Luckily for us we´re fairly acclimatised to this altitude malarky and after a short half hour walk we arrived to a Locked Refugio.

The Obligatory Welsh Flag Shot was taken with the Help of Joel and even the Mountain cooperated a little bit by clearing up for us

It was nice and luckily for us the Refugio caretaker (not too happy to be there we thought) turned up (begrudgingly) and opened up for us... no coffees or anything though were to be had... so having taken some shots of the mountain we headed down once again!

We arrived at the lower refugio to be welcomed by the Entire Ecuadorian Mountain Elite Brigade and their artillary (or so it seemed !)

We worried for a wee while and contemplated returning back up the mountain and claiming sanctuary at the Higher Refugio.... but we didn´t and wondered into the Refugio.

Here the Soldiers were all having cups of Coca Tea and chatting happily !

Their Tanks were outside and having chatted to the Captain and shared a cigarette we managed to convince him to let Steph up into one of the tanks for a quick photo !

Classic !!!

In a tank at 4,800 metres !!! Not many people can claim that one I tell you !

We headed back to RioBamba, via some local villages(And Wildlife!), where Joel seemed to know almost everyone... or so he made out

Once in RioBamba, we popped to the train station and bought our tickets for :

"The DEVILS Nose Train ride"

oooohhhhhhhh.......

What a dissapointment this turned out to be !

Chimborazo was Fantastic Though so well worth paying for the day trip with Joel (Highly recommended also)

The following morning we were given a lift to the train station by the hostel owner (well his great great grand dad or similar it seemed in an equally old car)

We´d met two germans (Andrea and Reinhart) at our hostel and a Brazilian, Amy, who we´d met at the Refugio on Chimborazo the previous day all waiting for the train and we all boarded ready for the 7am departure.

Now unfortunately, because of 2 Japanese tourists who´d literally lost their heads whilst riding on the roof of the train (i.e. not paying attention!) we were no longer allowed to ride on the roof of the train !

Damn.... what a let down and to be honest.... the only point you´d be riding the train otherwise !

It was a pretty train ride to Alausi... however nothing special (I fell asleep) although the town of Alausi was pretty.

We headed for the Nariz (Nose) of the Devil and after a coupld of switchbacks down the mountain arrived at our final stop.... a ghost town / train station in the middle of nowhere!

Then....... we headed back up the track, back to Alausi !

Wow... what a ride... NOT !

Really think the Ecuadorian Tourist people need to find some way of letting the Gringos back on the roof...else word will get around and no one will bother.... I wouldn´t that´s for sure !

We jumped on a bus in Alausi, together with about 30 other Gringos and headed down to Cuenca.

We arrived in the evening at 8pm so jumped in a taxi and headed to our hotel in town (Hotel Milan)

It was nice and having checked in for a mere $7 each (including Agua Caliente.... hot Water and more importantly.... BREAKFAST !!!)

we were well chuffed with ourselves (Some things are too good to be true though.... as we found out later on!)

We went to sleep and tomorrow we´ll head out and about around Cuenca!

The view from our room was cool as it overlooked Plaza St Stephen (one of the main market Plazas) and also we found out that the Irish Girls were also in the hotel as we bumped into Caroline on the stairs the previous night !

Ben was also there from Hostel Revolution in Quito. So it was good to catch up with everyone.

Steph and I visited the Museo De Las Culturas Aborigines which had more pieces of Pottery than I think we´ve ever seen before in our lives.

We really liked it.. although the others weren´t too impressed!

We also visted the Museo Del Banco Central (Pumapungo) which had a fascinating exhibit of Shrunken Heads (or tsantsas) and also the remains of an Inca Citidel in it´s grounds.

It was a good museum, however, lacked something... not too sure what though !

ah well....

Today was Shopping day... since I had a hole in the knees of mine... and Steph didn´t like her American ones (The Cut was apparently bad!)

So to keep my life simple... I agreed to the purchase of 2 pairs (Mine being a cool pair of Dolce and Gabbana Copies.... $15 and Stephs being a bit more at $25... I got the better deal I reckon though

Quite liked Cuenca and enjoyed the night life and just walking the streets, which is refreshing after Quito I can tell you !!!

We headed for Loja the following day, and racked up in a cheapy hotel (Hostel londres) which was basic to say the least.

However it was safe and the following day we caught the bus from Loja over the border to Peru (Via Macara)

This route was absolutely fine and having walked over the bridge and the border into Peru we headed to Piura, where we decided to immediately catch a bus down to Chiclayo where we´d start on our Temple Journey Around Peru....

I´ve been waiting years to see all the interesting temples and Cultures in Peru so here... finally... we were in Peru !!!!

The bus ride from Quito to Baños (about $3) took about 4 hours...... on bumpy roads!

We travelled there with Caroline (an irish girl we had met in Quito), it was her second time in Baños as her bag had been swiped the first she had arrived straight off the bus! This time everything was ok!

A little apprehensive that my spanglish telephone conversation the previous night had not been understood we turned up at Hostal Plantos y Blancos......... we had a room booked....... yeah!

A nice private room with our very own shower (definately agua caliente), how posh!

Carolines friends, Niamph and Sarah had bussed it to Baños the previous day and were already at the hostal.

That evening we sat upstairs on the outside patio to see a huge smoke plume puff it´s way upwards from Vulcan Tungurahua......... one of the most active Volcanoes in south america (if not the world)....... very reassuring for us at the base of the mountains!!??

We managed to create a little gang on the patio and proceeded to drink lots of cervezas, followed by lots of ron (rum) and cokes!!!!

This made the decision to head out on the town very easy....... it was Halloween after all!

We chose the leprachaun bar, very fitting for the irish girls, and proceeded to get even more pished....... after a weird, unknown shot with tequilla and some other spirits, it was all downhill from there!

There was much dancing, drinking and stealing of the bar staffs hats going on (and maybe a little volunteer work behind the bar too!!!

As you can imagine the following day, for myself anyhow, was much of a write off!!!!!!!!

We did manage to visit the cementary that was very elaborate. Lots of people were painting the tombs and laying flowers. They were all very proud and getting ready for All Souls Day the following day.

A fairly quiet night with a little gang of us heading out for a bite to eat.... It was an ok restaurant but a little tainted by the fact that a guy from the hostal (central american) received his meal for free after suggesting the restuarant in the first place..... we didn´t go there again or accept the guys invitations again!

There wasn´t any problems, however, when someone that´s supposed to be part of the gang and a fellow traveller, gets their meal for free from the owner as their Spanish is much better than anyone elses.... We don´t like it. It helps cement the idea of "Them and Us"

The following day was All Souls Day and we headed up to the cementary again to see flowers being sold, old men in their sunday best and lots of people just milling around. It was all very interesting as to how fond of their deceased relatives South Americans are. Kids would be climing on the grave stones and people would be talking about stories of how "Old Uncle Xavier did this and that ..... etc."

A Good Eye Opener for the both of us!

It was a gorgeous day, no clouds for a change, so we headed along a path in search of a better look at our smoking volcano!

The walk up was great as we passed a few farm houses, children playing and chickens running across the path. Unfortunately, by the time we made the Mirador, there were a few clouds hanging around the top of the volcano but the constant plume of smoke was still clearly visible.... cool but scary...... we were in a really bad place if it were to blow big style....... yikes!!!

A little later we decided to hire bikes and head off for an easyish ride for a couple of hours. The bikes seemed too much effort so back in town a few of us grabbed quad bikes and headed up to Bellavista lookout and beyond for some great views over Baños. It was so green and lush out here!

That night we had dinner at a really nice mexican restuarant, Poncho Villa on the main drag in Banos, with the irish girls. Fajitas and plenty of vino mmmmm.

During the night there was a huge thunder and lightening storm, so loud it shook the room. Having been shaken up I decided to check there was no major erruption happening..... everything seemed fine. Mr Williams was happily snoring all through the storm! The next day we were told that constant volcanic activity causes the huge storms! Something to do with the ash in the air collecting the humidity.... or something like that!

After a rainy start it turned out into a beautifull day and so Alan and myself had a quad bike between us (I had the easy part of being a passenger) and rode along the ruta de cascadas towards the pailon diablo waterfall!

The route was very pretty, right on the edge of a canyon.

The unnerving part however was the 4 or 5 pitch black tunnels that we had to ride through......... with a little flimsy light on the quad. Glad Mr Williams was driving, I just hung on for dear life!!

Later we had a meal at Casa Hood (Cafe hood also nice for lunch), it was very tasty but full of gringos!

We did see some Coy (Guinea Pig) for sale on our way back... but we were already full so thought it wrong to try some on a full stomach

It was a nice early start the next day and after breakfast on the patio we headed to the Geotours. We were about to go white water rafting!!!! It was a good deal for $30 each for a half day, that actually ended at 4pm after an almuerzo (set lunch).

The fact that there was a family from guayaquil (the largest city in Ecuador and situated on the West Coast) who included three young girls, in another raft doing the exact same route as we were doing, kind of made us feel less brave!

How we good we all looked in our gear !!!! NOT !!!! Alan decided to take the pictures so as to not be in any of them... bugger !

Our guide decided that Alan, two of the irish girls and myself were up for getting soaked and after asking us if we could swim made us flip the boat (sneakily telling Alan and Caroline to jump to mine and Niamhs side of the raft).

Somehow I ended up underneath the raft !!!

Alan saw a little hand appear from under the boat and yanked it bringing me bouncing to the surface.

We were all safe and sound, soaked and laughing very loadly! Our guide, not being satisfied with only a single soaking, proceeded to get us stuck on a rock....... Caroline and Alan fell out ha ha!

The Guide also through my camera (in waterproof case) to the other raft, it ended up in the water moving swiftly towards the rapids but was rescued! Hmmm

But he was a nice guy and watched out for us all the way down the river (which took some 2 hours!)

Later that evening Alan, myself and the irish girls headed to an Argentinian restuarant (directly behind the hostal) for a gorgeous steak and posh vino tinto. It was a little more expensive but really really tasty and the Chef was great value!

It was our last night in Baños and of course it wouldn´t be complete without a visit to the Leprachaun bar.

Not quite as drunken as the first night though .....ha ha!

Unfortunately the evenings were a little cloudy which meant the $3 trip to see the volcano errupting was a complete waste of time, so we didn´t bother. We had heard that it was rubbish anyway as you were really far away (although some people might prefer that)!

Well the next morning the irish girls left for Cuenca while Alan and myself headed off to Riobamba on an even bumpier bus ride!!

Que Risa (What a laugh en Espanol!).... we´re getting better by the day !

We´d booked to climb the mountain through Happy GRingo in Quito, who then sub booked us through a small little outfit around the corner called Condor Treck!

They were a decent enough looking outfit and having arrived there two guys who´d just returned from the mountain said it was great and the gear was all good!

This sealed it and so the next day, we´d head off early in the morning (having tested all our gear for the climb in the shop already)

It was a 2 hour drive to Cotopaxi National Park but a pretty one.

We dumped our bags and headed out with provisions for a four hour EASY walk to acclimatise, making climbing cotopaxi easier!!!???

The walk started at a lake and was very gradual towards the summit of Rumiñahui (4712m). It was all going so well, there were no problems with altitude and then suddenly thunder and lightening appeared in the distance. Ok carry on!

Just before reaching the top we had to quickly turn back as the thunder and lightening was much closer.

So we decided to walk down the mountain via a valley........ very sensible to walk high in open spaces during a lightening storm.

I don´t think I have ever walked so fast with my head down and thunder crashing right above!!!!

To put the cherry on the cake it hailed.......... HARD!!!

It took us an hour less than intended to race back down the mountain to the hostal. We arrived soaking wet and were glad of the huge open fire where we all huddled amongst the wet items of clothing draped eveywhere!!

After a very nice meal it was an early night.

The next morning we headed to the refugio at the base of Cotopaxi. It was an hour from the carpark with backpacks but fairly easy. We reached the refugio at 4800m.

After a few hours rest and plenty of coca tea (with no other side affects much to Alans dissapointment!) we hiked to the glacier for a wee practice session complete with crampons and icepicks!

The session went quite well, we felt quite comfortable with the ice and were raring to go!

Back at the refugio, which now had about 7 other climbers and 4 other guides, we had the obligitary spag bol, before TRYING to sleep for a few hours!

I´m not sure whether it was the excitement, apprehension or the altitude that induced insomnia but I hardly slept at all, Alan slept a little!

Cesar, our guide, woke us up at 11pm to get dressed in all the regalia and have some brekkie. Having breakfast at 11pm was weird to say the least but it was important to eat something!

12 midnight we stepped into our harness´ and headed off ............ to climb Cotopaxi!!!!!!

It had snowed heavily during our rest so we started off with a trek through a couple of inches of snow before even getting to the glacier.

Once at the glacier we were attached together with a rope (first Cesar, then me and finally Alan). We slipped the crampons on and stomped along the ice. It was a little tiring but bearable.... so far so good.

As we approached the sand (now snow) I managed to slip down a crevace (later finding out it was tiny BUT in the dark and with my frantic imagination it was a huge never ending drop AND I was going to die!!!!!) I didn´t die and with the help of Alan and Cesar pulling me back with the rope we plodded on.

Plodding was definately the style of choice for us both with the snow being extra soft!

We reached a small glacier as we plodded up the Volcano and it was a tricky maneouvre to get up and around it. This involved using our ice crampons much more than we´d done so before and sticking our toes into the ice to climb vertically up the ice !

This was getting dangerous!!!!!!

I was definately out of my comfort zone and I don´t think Alan was too far behind me.

We successfully negotiated the ice ridge and continued to plod ever upwards through the increasingly slippery and soft snow!

We were really tired (me especially) so Cesar made a tiny ledge to sit on and rest. Plunging the ice picks into the snow and wrapping the ropes tightly around them made it more secure..... kind of !?!

It was a short break and onwards again. Cesar did mention at this point that this kind of snow often caused avalanches..... very reassuring.

One of the guys a little further infront of us came past us as they had decided to turn back, deciding it was too hard.

Hmm ??????????

A little further on I was completely shattered again (Alan not far from it also) and needed another precarious rest on the edge of a volcano.

It was at this point 5400m up that we decided enough was enough and to turn back. I was gutted to say the least (we both were).

Descending the mountain was by no means easy.... harder in some ways.

Alan had the difficult part of leading the way as it was a complete reverse. The snow was just as hard to negotiate on the way down.

It was great fun as we hit the ice patch again, Alan handled it pretty well on 2 feet but I had to resort to all fours......... practically abseiling on the rope. Very attractive!

We made it back to the glacier and over the huge (not) crevace.

We even made it back to the refugio where we unloaded our gear and climbed back into our sleeping bags........ defeated!

In the morning we found that nobody had made it to the summit that night and that only one french guy had made it further than us, having to terminate the climb just 90m from the top due to the dangerous conditions!

After a coca tea we made our descent to the carpark where we were driven back to Quito.

We were completely shattered. I felt a mixture of failure and pride as we had tried so very hard.

Maybe we had bitten off a little more than we could chew this time.

Cotopaxi was yet to be beaten and possibly, for us amateurs anyway, a Volcano too far !!!