Today was a fun day, organized by Cuenca Expats Magazine Travel Club. We met at Parque de la Madre in Cuenca at 6:15AM.  After visiting Ingapirca and taking the Devil’s Nose train, we were returned to the same spot at 10PM tonight.  Fortunately for us, that meeting location is only a 10 minute walk from our apartment — one more reason to love living where we do. ☺

Our first stop was at Ingapirca, the largest Inca ruins in Ecuador. We had a two hour walking tour, led by our guide Wilson, who had lots of interesting information to pass along.  The tour concluded at the Temple of the Sun, shown above in the center image. There were a couple of native women just outside the park proper, in the path that tourists take, making themselves available for photographs (lower left and center).

Here is a sampling of some of those that joined us on this tour, as we wandered the Ingapirca ruins.  Wilson is seen explaining some of the history of the place in the lower-left image.

After returning to the bus, we had another 2+ hour drive to Alausi, which is where the Devil’s Nose train both departs and returns.  Work began on this train track in 1901, and 2000 people are estimated to have died in the construction. Most of the track has fallen into disrepair, but this one section has been kept active as a tourist attraction.  The track winds through numerous switchbacks, including two places where the train stops, switches tracks, and then reverses direction to continue down the steep slope.  At one point, we pass the original train cars, now abandoned and rotting on the hillside (middle-right above), before seeing our final train station destination below us (lower-left).

During the ride, most windows are occupied by passengers with their heads and/or cameras hanging out to catch the passing scenery.  When we stop at a scenic location, the photographers merely switch to the other side of the window (lower left)…

When we arrive, there is a pony and a llama waiting for tourists to take pictures (for $1 per photo, of course), and a lively dancing group for entertainment. After the dancers have shown their skills, they invite the audience to join, and several from our tour take them up on the offer, showing off some pretty impressive dancing skills of their own.  On the way back, we have all pretty much seen the scenery, and most passengers sit and talk, largely ignoring the view outside.

As this was the first trip of the travel club, we were impressed how the organizers handled the details, including ordering eleven taxis at the end of the day to take people home.