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Andrea in Ecuador |
Claudine and I had to bundle up because it was a very chilly (and early) morning. The train left at 7 am and we had to be there about an hour early to get our seats on top of the train. For $1 each, we bought cushions to sit on and wiggled in between the other Gringos. I think there were a total of 4 Ecuadorians on the top of the train and two of them were selling, coca cola, beer, suckers, croissants, gum, etc. Claudine and I were joking that we should ask for Zumir in la funda (basically vodka in a bag) like we saw at the soccer game. There were many tourists from Germany and some Quebecans. It was pretty cool (literally and figuratively) to ride on top of the train. It gave us a great view of the countryside but we had our doubts when we started getting goosebumps, though we were thoroughly bundled up. You should have seen the look Claudine gave me when it started to rain...I can still see the look of disgust...but then it cleared off and the sun came out and it was very warm and beautiful. The scenery reminded me of the Snake River valley in Idaho but with a smaller river. I thought we would be going into the snowy mountains but these were very dry and steep hills intermixed with pastoral scenes and country people going about their business. The children would always wave at the train in hopes of getting chupetes (suckers with gum in the middle) thrown out to them. Here are some pictures from the trip.
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