“I’m off, on a great adventure,” wrote the lyricist Larry Fecho. Kirk and I would often sing that before leaving on, well, you know. And today is day one of the first of my monthly trips within Ecuador.
I took a bus from Cuenca to Riobamba. It was about a five hour trip on the bus — 7am to around noon. Very comfortable bus, good WiFi, and the usual action movies dubbed into Spanish. Today was Overdrive, a flop from 2017. The other was some French movie based on Speed, except it was a family in a car, and it was a comedy. Odd choice for a bus ride but whatever.
My hostel in Riobamba is Casa de Marmol, which I like very much. Very nice NYC sized hotel room with a private bath, but unlike NYC it’s $22 cash per night. I’ll take it. The host is very kind and helpful — WhatsApp-ed me many things to do, and gave me a slice of homemade almond flour bread with dried fruit. She also hooked me up with a tour of Chimborazo tomorrow. Uphill in a vehicle, stopping at sights along the way, and then the downhill option on a mountain bike. We’ll see.
It’s Monday and both of her recommended almuerzo (lunch) places were closed, so I winged it. Looked for a place that was busy, local, and cheap. Very nice lunch – soup to start, rice with beef and a fried egg, some salad and avocado, French fries, strawberries and cream for dessert, and tamarind juice. All for $2.50 which is about $1 cheaper than the Cuenca equivalent. And the older couple running the place was adorable.
I spent the afternoon walking around Riobamba. Much like Cuenca it has a large and great historic downtown. Unlike Cuenca the streets are not narrow and one way. The mostly wide two way streets make Riobamba feel more urban, and I like that. Street lights are sporadic and traffic is chaotic. Also there are far fewer crosswalks for drivers to ignore. So it’s every vehicle and pedestrian for themselves. I like the vibe quite a bit.
I had a rompenuca at a mercado, which is an iced drink with fruit. The twist is that the ice comes down every day from the glaciers of Chimborazo. There used to be a lot of people that brought the ice, but now there’s just one guy left. A very old man. The rompenuca lady was sweet and gave me yapa (a little extra for free).
If you like old cars Ecuador is a paradise, and Riobamba is no exception. It amazes me how many people’s everyday transportation is a vehicle that in the States would sell at Barrett-Jackson’s car auction for immense prices. Just today I spotted an Avanti, an International Harvester jeep, and several JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Datsuns and the like.
Lots of parks, green spaces, churches, upscale shopping and restaurants, and crowded streets with people patronizing them.
Riobamba? I like it.
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