Roof-riding the Devil's Nose Train

The train was ready to rumble early on Sunday morning from Riobamba. We weren't quite ready for it, but a late dash for tickets and cushions and we found ourselves on top of a train ready for 6 hours of bum numbing views through the Ecuadorian countryside. The early rain cleared which allowed us to bring out the camera and enjoy the ride.

It isn't called the Devil's nose for nothing - the journey ended with a 1,000m drop with a number of switchbacks to keep the crew busy.

We threw sweets to the locals but weren't so game to try the local fare ourselves.

Cotopaxi

From Latacunga we hired a local guide (Christian) and took his pipsqueak of a 4WD into the stunning Cotopaxi National Park. The park itself is massive but its centrepiece which attracts the tourists is the Cotopaxi volcanoe - standing at just a few pompadoms below 6 000m.

We took a stroll around the wetlands in the park, from where we had a perfect view of Cotopaxi and the hills around.

Don´t be fooled by the photos below, in truth we drove most of the way up (to 4 500m) and walked the remaining hour to the refuge at 4 800m. The walk was reasonably difficult in pretty chilly winds and there was a noticable lack of oxygen at that altitude.



We had a funny old lunch of chips and banana chips and then strolled a bit higher to get a better view of the valley below.

The Equator

While we were in Quito Hamish and I headed out to the Mitad del Mundo - the Middle of the World. The equator was originally calculated a little incorrectly (not bad for a few eightenth century Frenchies looking at the stars though), so the main monument is not on the equator. However thanks to GPS we did discover where the actual equator line is (about 200 metres down the road).

Hamish made his first journey into the northern hemisphere!

While we were at the real equator we were able to take part in some pretty cool experiments that can only be done there:

We attempted to balance an egg on a nail - unfortunately Hamish and I did not qualify for the certificate for that one as we both failed!

Did some resistance testing which showed that you have less resistance while standing over the line of the equator.

Also saw how the water goes down the plug holes in different directions depending on which hemisphere you are in, or straight down the plug hole if you are right over it.

The museum also had some native culture exhibits. We had explained to us how to shrink a head. It was as small as a fist, still had hair but the face looked like a guinea pig!

Then we had a headdress put on us and used a blow pipe to blow a dart stick that was meant to emit a paralysing serum. I even managed to hit the target!

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

The Lost City of the Inkas - Machu Picchu - lived up to its reputation as a marvellous spectacle. The perfect detail in the buildings and the sheer magnificence of this location will remain etched in our memories for a long time.

The start of our four day trek was low key as we meandered along the Urubamba river to our lunch site. The food is one of the clear highlights of the trail and we were not disappointed as we were waited on by our porters with a seemingly endless supply of tremendous tucker. And if I thought I was a fit young man these porters put me to shame as they danced along the track at break neck speed in their sandals with 25kg strapped to their back.

After lunch on the first day we climbed to a campsite at 3800m - the same height as NZs heighest point: Mount Cook. Unfortunately Gabrielle suffered from a mystery stomach bug - something that filthy, smelly squat toilets and below freezing temparatures did not assist in curing. Thankfully in the morning, with the aid of Gatorade and some pills from our guide, she made it to the first pass of 4200m.

From there we made our way over two smaller passes over two days as we descended into Aguas Calientes for a well deserved soak in the hot springs. The trail was challenging but there were plenty of snow capped mountains, strange trees and colourful flowers to distract my attention from the stone pathway. Luckily, none of my uncoordinated trips proved fatal.

We walked the final 3 kms along the railway track to Aguas Calientes - I felt like I was in a scene of Stand by Me as we had to jump off the trail to avoid trains plenty of times. We also watched a giant male wasp paralyse a taranchala and them drag it off the trail to where his female partner was waiting - brilliant!

On the fourth day we rose at 4am to climb the final 350m to the famed Machu Picchu. And it really was breathtaking in every way.

We climbed the 250m to Wayanpicchu (the very steep hill in the background of the signature photo of Machu Picchu). It was very hard work and Im sure the steps were not designed for size 13 Merryl shoes. But the views from the top were worth it and really hammered home how amazing it is that a city this precise could be built here over 500 years ago.