3 / 5 - 3 reviews
How to get there
Two and a half hours from Alausi by train
When to go
All year round
Minimum stay
Half a day
Pistishí (Ecuador)
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David Debrincat
Practical information on Pistishí
Reviews of Pistishí
The trip to Nariz del Diablo from the station at Alausi is one of the most famous in Ecuador. Far from it being as wonderful as you might expect, the journey here is in fact something you can skip entirely if you like.
My suggestion:
Lots of tourists flock to Alausi at the weekend and on public holidays for the chance to ride the train to Nariz del Diablo. It's essential to book your tickets in advance at these times.
My review
When I was in Ecuador, lots of people advised me to go to Alausi and do the two and a half hour train trip to Nariz del Diablo. The route there is long, and in all honesty I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with the train ride.
The locomotive slowly zigzags along pulling its wagons behind it for 12 kilometres. I have to admit though, it does pass through some beautiful scenery. So, we finally reached the Nariz del Diablo mountain. For those who don't know, "nariz" means "nose" in Spanish, and the mountain in question is indeed shaped like a nose. But why "del Diablo" ("of the devil")? Just to give you the story, numerous people were killed during the construction of this railway. After various illnesses, accidents and snake bites, one of the engineers, losing hope, said that this mountain could only be passed with the help of the devil.
Perhaps it was just me who was enable get into the spirit of this trip, but I really didn't find this railway journey especially interesting.
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David Debrincat
A railway journey that is an unforgettable experience, in a part of the world where only tourists are crazy enough to hop on a train that races down several thousand metres full of sharp bends!
My suggestion:
Don't miss this one out...Get up early and find a seat on the roof of the wagon (unless you suffer from vertigo!). Check out the train times in advance, as it doesn't run everyday.
My review
I prefer taking the train when I travel and the Nariz del Diablo is the last remaining one in Ecuador. An Ecuadorian friend came along, the only South American amongst a bunch of foreigners. We were on the roof of the train during a breathtaking descent.
It's said that when the Conquistadors arrived in South America, they couldn't create a passage so as to reach and subsequently convert the local population. They blamed this on the Devil, who was trying to prevent them from purifying a demonic population. Hence it's name 'La Nariz del Diablo'...
I kept thinking the train was going to de-rail, but thankfully it didn't. The train twists and turns, the view is vertiginous and the landscape grandiose. Annoyingly it was cloudy so the visibility wasn't that great. But even so, this trip was one of my favourite memories from my trip to Ecuador.
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Dogymho
La Nariz del Diablo (the Devil's Nose in English) is the main attraction of the trip onboard the train of the Andes.
My suggestion:
It's essential to get a seat next to the window if you want to make the most of the spectacle.
My review
Though reputed to be the "the most difficult train in the world", what the autoferro is in particular is Ecuador's most profitable train. When I was in Ecuador, it ran from Riobamba to the place know as the Nariz del diablo (Devil's Nose) – Ecuadorians love to associate everything with the devil – via Guamote and Alausi.
It used to be possible for tourists to travel on the train's roof. That must have been a wonderful experience. However, in the autumn of 2008 a Japanese woman got decapitated and passengers now have to sit in the seats. This makes it a whole lot less exciting.
The last place the train stops at is the now closed down station of Sibambe. Just before you reach there you get to see the famousNariz del Diablo, which is nothing more nor less than a large rock. On the other hand, it is quite entertaining seeing the train reversing in quite a risky location (though it's not excessively dangerous) in order to turn around for the return journey to Alausi. There are much more interesting things to do when visiting Ecuador!
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juliesjourneys.fr
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