alausí

many years ago, a train ran all the way from quito to the coast, and before the construction of ecuador's highways, was the economic lifeline of the country. ecuador is extremely mountainous, and one of the most treacherous aspects of the railway's course - el nariz del diablo, or the devil's nose - is a zigzag down a steep mountainside, a technological marvel at the time whose construction cost the lives of over 2500 people.

these days, the train is only open from alausí - the town just above el nariz del diablo - to a small station below, and is a tourist magnet. up until recently, one was able to enjoy the ride by sitting on the roof of the train, but the death of one or more foreigners put an end to that. rumours about what actually happened abound, but from all the stories i heard it seems clear that the tourist/s were japanese, and that either two of them fell off the train together and died in the chasm below, or a single japanese tourist was decapitated by an overhanging object as the train sped past. i prefer the decapitation story for the sheer drama.

i took a bus up on a thursday afternoon for an early friday start. the bus didn't enter alausí, and i was unceremoniously dumped on a highway about 1.5km above the town. some local kids showed me a secret short-cut path down the cliffside, and i realised straight away that i was going to have a good time.

the town itself is small but pretty, with colonial-type architecture and lots of beautiful people who had no problem posing for my camera. i was in photo-portrait heaven.

i spent most of the two days with a german dude from my hostel. a mechanical engineering student with a speech impediment and a penchant for play-station gaming, i had a nerdgasm as soon as we met, and knew that he would make great company.

the train took off at 0800am and thundered down the mountain at a top speed of 15kph. i can't deny that it was fun. the views were great, and at times the train seemed to be clinging to mere centimetres of terrain on a steep mountainside that dropped precipitously into the river below.

we arrived at the station at the bottom, and in a large shelter off to the left, there were a group of people dressed in traditional costume and dancing. i always have quite a visceral reaction to this sort of thing - it's so contrived, and puts me in mind of a coin-operated band or a dancing monkey. our tour guide commented: 'these people are from the communities that own the train line. they are not professionals, they just love to dance'. (ROFLMFAO).

i was trying to keep my distance from the dancers, but when i ducked in to get a good photo, i was seized by one of the ladies and hauled into the shelter for a bit of a boogey. alright, i'll admit it: as gimmicky as it all was, i lost myself to it, and spun that chick around the dancefloor like there was no tomorrow. she spun me around too, and before i knew it i had been bucked to the side in favour of someone else. i simply couldn't keep up with these people: they just loved to dance.

so i'm definitely giving the thumbs up to the whole nariz del diablo train ride tourist trap experience, and if they start letting you sit on the roof, i'd give it two thumbs up and call it unmissable. the mountains are glorious, the townfolk are wonderful, and the train has a rustic charm. one thing you do need to watch out for however is the group of indefatigable locals at the bottom of the train line: they just love to dance.