Riobamba (San Pedro de Riobamba)

My Lonely Planet guidebook describes Riobamba as “…an old-fashioned, traditional city that both bores and delights travelers.”

My experience here has been both delightful and disappointing.  It has been delightful in all of the city parks and the joy that they bring to the people of Rio.  This has been obvious from my sitting and people watching.  Many times, while I am sitting and relaxing, I have been joined by a local person who begins talking with me first in Spanish and then English.  The people are curious about why I am in Ecuador and what I have been doing while I have been here.

It also seems that there is a market/mercado every few blocks.  I have had many enjoyable and tasty meals at these markets for the princely sum of one to two dollars.

My disappointments may seem trivial to some but I really wanted to visit the Museum of Natural Sciences to see their archaeological displays.  I also wanted to visit the Rio Central Bank Museum to see the gold collection they are supposed to have on display.  In my time here I was only able to visit the interiors of two churches, neither of them being the cathedral or the basilica.

I stayed at Hostal Oasis which is about a four block walk to the center of Rio.  I was assured that I could walk safely in this town day or night.  I have.  The travelers here gather on the patio to relate their days’ activities.  This exchange of information is invaluable to me in planning my next activities and places to go and see.

Rio sits almost in the shadow of the Volcan Chimborazo, the highest peak in Ecuador.  Ecuadorians claim this to be the highest peak in the world, if you measure from the center of the earth, because of the earth’s equatorial bulge.

Parque Maldonado is the center of the city.  It is home to Santa Barbara Cathedral and the Alcaldia or City Hall.  The marble at the base of the statue honoring Pedro Vicente Maldonado is polished shiny by the rears of the many children sliding down over the years.  One man told me how he had, as a child, slid down the same marble as his children were now doing.

Parque La Libertad is the park nearest to the hostal.  The Sacred Heart Basilica is across the street from this park.  The basilica is supposed to be the only round church in Ecuador.  I cannot say as I have never seen the interior of the church.  The park always seems empty except for the few children who may be playing soccer/football or marbles.

Parque Sucre is another park which always seems to be teeming with activity.  The Neptune fountain and university are the highlights of the park area.  Teatro Leon looks as if it may have been the place to go in its day.

In my many wanderings around the city, I discovered the bullring, the train station and Parque 21 de Abril.  April 21 is the city’s date of independence.

As I have said, Mercado La Merced, Plaza de la Concepcion and Plaza Simon Bolivar are home to markets either daily or weekly.  Plaza de la Concepcion is home to the Saturday tourist market.  On other days the plaza sees little activity.

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu, an Irish writer, wrote, “No one likes a straight road but the man who pays for it, or who, when he travels, is brute enough to wish to get to his journey’s end.”