Day 113 - Higher than Everest

Riobamba

We arranged a driver through our hotel to take us to Chimborazo, which is the highest mountain in Ecuador. Also, its position close to the equator means that the summit of Chimborazo is the highest point on the earth's surface when measured from the centre of the earth.

First order of business for the morning though was purchasing tickets for the Nariz del Diablo train ride tomorrow. We arrived at the Tren Ecuador office shortly after 8:30am, and waited while the couple who'd arrived before us purchased their tickets .... and boy was it slow! We weren't seen until we'd been there almost 30 minutes, and then it was just as slow for us. The guy handling the tickets had no sense of urgency at all, didn't seem to know how to use the ticketing system, didn't know much about the train, and then at the very end told us we couldn't pay today, we needed to do it tomorrow! Fortunately our driver was very patient, and he told us that "it's always like this"!

As we drove up towards Chimborazo the weather didn't look that great, the mountain was shrouded in clouds and there was rain along the way. However by the time we approached the car park at the first refuge at a height of 4850m we had risen above the clouds and could the see part of the mountain.

We set out on foot to the next refuge, walking past the many monuments dedicated to people who had lost their lives trying to climb the "highest" mountain in the world. We started out on a rocky path, and the going was tough as we were back at a high altitude. After a short while the path was covered with snow, which became deeper and more slippery as we ascended.

By the time we reached the second refuge the weather had improved, we had some blue sky and we could make out much of the mountain, though the peak was obscured by clouds. We continued on from the second hut to 5100m where there was a small lake which wasn't that impressive, but much of it was frozen over. That's as far as we were able to walk, as the trail was closed from that point. At this point we were higher than the peak of Everest, the furthest from the centre of the earth we've ever been, and the closest to the moon we'll ever get (while still on land anyway).

The descent was of course quicker and easier but definitely a little more treacherous going down in the snow - difficult to believe that we are only 1 degree south of the equator and surrounded by snow.

After returning we decided to celebrate our successful partial ascent of the world's highest mountain. M decided this was a good time to try the michelada, a beer based drink where things like lemon, spices and chili are added to the beer. It sounds kind of interesting, but what a mistake that was .... the beer glass came with a thick crusting of salt around the rim, and inside was a weird smelling (and tasting) reddish concoction. M added beer to the mix and was only able to drink about a quarter of it before having to admit defeat!