Trips & Tours: Andean Highlights on the Chiva Express

We start the adventure in Quito with a bus ride to the station of Tambillo, where the "Chiva Express", a colorful one coach train, like a bus on tracks, is ready to depart. 

A highlight of the trip is to 'ride the roof' with a panoramic view of the stunning Andean region of Ecuador. We will leisurely enjoy the ever-changing scenery as the "Chiva Express" advances along the ancient tracks. We stop for a snack at a dairy hacienda with cows, horses and llamas.

Then the Chiva advances up and down the slopes of Cotopaxi volcano and the fertile Valley of Latacunga for a visit to a rose plantation and a taste of the products of the land. Continue by bus to Riobamba, and at the foot of imposing Chimborazo volcano, visit a Tagua workshop and warm up with a canelazo by the fireplace. Dinner and overnight at Riobamba
 

After an early breakfast, we will be transferred to the train station to board the "Chiva Express" for an astonishing ride, twisting and turning over the Andes, along bridging ravines and river gorges. 

We stop at Guamote, an Indian town, for a short visit to an Educational Centre for Adults’ Development and Sustainability. We continue aboard the Chiva to Alausí, where a snack is served, and prepare to go down the Devil’s Nose switch backs, one of the most impressive feats of rail engineering in the world, and back to Alausí.

We continue south along the Andes by motorcar to Cuenca, visiting the Inca Ruins of Ingapirca to arrive at dusk.

Accommodations and all meals at the hotel in Cuenca.
 

Today we will enjoy a full day to discover, at a leisurely pace, the beauty and charm for which Cuenca has been recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site. 

Its red tiled roofs, cobblestone streets, flowery plazas and museums make it very special. Lunch is served at a cosy restaurant
 

We start the day with a ride along the Santa Ana valley and then high in the mountains, through very scenic landscapes, which change at every turn. 

Stops are made at the small towns that produce a variety of handcrafts, such as artistic handmade guitars at San Bartolo and alongside orchards and sugar cane plantations, on to Chordeleg, famous for gold and silver jewelry.

We pass the village of Gualaceo, follow the road along the banks of the Santa Barbara River, lined with weeping willows, to Bulcay where shawl and scarves are woven with the ancient technique of Ikat (tie dyed warp to form specific designs, on ancient shuttle looms.

We will visit lovely orchid gardens with over 2500 species and then lunch at an attractive hostel, surrounded by flowery gardens, close to the Paute River.

After lunch, we return to Cuenca in time to catch a return flight to Quito, or you may choose to continue your trip through Ecuador from here.