Riobamba (2750m) y el Volcán Chimborazo (6263m)
Day 4-6 (07.-09.11.22):
Riobamba is a popular spot for excursions to the highlands, which is why we initially planned to stay at least 3 nights and not spend any nights in Baños.
And to get things in motion we went to the local mountain-bike operator Pro Bici shortly after our arrival at the hotel Montecarlo.
Due to the limited income tour operators had to endure during the pandemic, most went into non touristic full-time employment with more reliable income. E.g., Galo, the owner of Pro Bici was working full-time in a fabric store. So when we arrived, he had customers to attend to and we agreed to meet again that evening. On our tour wish list was a guided downhill bike ride from the Volcán Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador, but also the Rutas de las Cascadas from Baños to Rio Verde, which we wanted to do on our own.
Unfortunately, Pro Bici no longer offered bike rentals. And Galo also recommended us to do the tour from Baños directly as the round trip Riobamba-Baños-Riobamba would take too much time.
Said and done, we booked the Chimborazo downhill tour for the next day and cancelled our third night in Riobamba to add 3 more nights in Baños to our travel plans. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
There was only one thing we were a little disappointed about: We weren't expecting new bikes, but the bikes we had to choose from were really, really, really old and worn. Galo told us that during the pandemic he lost most of his freelance staff, a tour guide and a mechanic. Due to the limited selection of bikes, we were asked to choose four bikes, two as our first choice and two others as alternatives in case there was a problem.
Nevertheless, we decided to book with Galo because his dedication to get us the best trip experience possible was amazing. He shared very detailed information for the Chimborazo tour: which route we should take and why, how the soil conditions were, which drinks and food to bring, what to wear etc. His high altitude survival trips would also help us in upcoming adventures :).
He explained that we would do the tour on our own, while a guide in a jeep would accompany us along the way and carry most of our gear. We could always meet at intersections and would be given a walkie-talkie in case we needed help.
And what we liked best was that the first part of the tour included a brand new bike path that was not shared with cars and was offered only by Pro Bici.
The next morning we got picked up at our hotel at 6.30 am, got our breakfast at a local bakery and drove up the Chimborazo National Park with our guide Luís.
Luís was a super nice guide who also gave us background information about the national park and the region, e.g. that nowadays most people's income is based on raising cattle for milk production, as the once rich soil has been completely depleted of its nutrients by excessive farming. And farming today, he said, is only possible if the soil is treated with fertilizers and chemical additives. He also told us that the vicuñas (vicuñas are small camelids and related to llamas) living here on Chimborazo were once extinct in Ecuador. They were donated by Chile and Bolivia and they were able to repopulate them in the National Park as well.
The first part of the tour included a short hike of 1km length from the first Refugio Carrel at 4850m to the Refugio Edward Whymper at a little more than 5050m, which is also the highest accommodation in Ecuador. According to Google Maps it takes 20min for the 1km. Maybe if you take Reinhold Messner as a benchmark.
Along with the mountain bike part, Helge made a short video that perfectly describes how it went :).
At the first Refugio (left, middle) and the view after some meters uphill (right). Some very attentive friends and family from Baden-Wuerttemberg will surely recognize the fancy promotional sticker on the Refugio's window: Nett hier.
The second part was even more fun even though the bikes offered little traction at times due to their condition. But since the trails weren't too difficult overall, we really enjoyed the ride. And when do you ever have the opportunity to ride 2000 meters downhill?
The views and scenery were beautiful. We saw many vicuñas and drove through different types of soil and rock layers. Only the volcano we could not see so well, it was too cloudy. The last kilometers we went downhill on a small road through some villages until 10km before Riobamba, where Luis loaded the bikes back on the jeep and drove us back to the hotel.
Needless to say, we were exhausted and happy after the day and hope you enjoy the video of our trip.
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