Alausi and El Tambo are two cities about which it is difficult to find information. I really expect this to change with the changes to the train system in Ecuador.
Alausi is an interesting town all on its own. It is small but in speaking with several local people I was told that there were five features of their town that I had to see. At this point, I am proud to say that I had already found and seen the features that were pointed out to me.
The main square with its church and statue was one of the features mentioned.
The others included the statue of St Peter which was high on a hill overlooking the town. There is a public clock about which I was unable to determine a “why” for its existence. They had also mentioned the Puente Negro or Black Bridge. There must have been a story associated with this as well but it was not related to me. The final item mentioned was a street which I had already walked.
The Nariz del Diablo, or Devil’s Nose, train had originally began in Riobamba but has now been re-routed to begin in Alausi. I did not find the train ride to be intimidating after some of the roads on which I had traveled in buses in various countries in my travels. The train descends over 500 m, about 1650 ft, between Alausi and Sibambe, the terminus of the train ride. The distance between the two towns is only 12 km, a little over 7 miles. This was quite the engineering feat when completed in 1901. Three switchbacks are used in the descent/ascent of the Devil’s Nose.
My next destination, El Tambo, was chosen for another train ride. This ride is called the Banos del Inca, or Inca Baths. The train ride is only 3.5 km, about 2 miles, and the trip is accomplished in a bus converted to a single car train use. The featured round turn-table that reversed the train for the return trip reminded me of the method used to turn the cable cars in San Francisco, including the use of the manual labor.
The Inca Baths were believed to be used for ritual purposes by the Canari people and subsequently the Incas. It is a small archaeological site, but combined with the train ride made it very interesting to me.
The main square of El Tambo was again a pretty park with a statue and a featured church.
Ingapirca is the largest and most important Inca site in Ecuador. It too was a joint Canari and Inca archaeological site. It seems that sometimes the Inca thought that it was easier to co-exist than to conquer.
The star feature of the site is the Castillo which was built in the Inca manner of mortar-less construction.
Amit Reddy, the Indian travel writer, wrote, “The road never ends…only our vision does.”
seniorbackpacker 
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