Neither of us slept well last night, and Nina was definitely suffering mild altitude sickness, with head ache and insomnia so we headed for lower altitude and Guaranda. We stopped just east of Guaranda on the road to Riobamba for Nina to sleep for a couple of hours, she was more her normal self after that.
The 60 km from Guaranda back to the PanAmericana was something; something we had not bargained for. A rough gravel and rock road that for most of its length wound along the sides of very steep valleys at altitudes between 11,000 and 13,000 feet. That kind of altitude now seems to classify as low or at least not high. Along the way we got regular glimpses of Chimborazo. It sure does dominate this region.
Back on the PanAmericana we headed South with nothing particular in mind other than to see if Alausi was a place to stay, and see if the famous train the Nariz Del Diablo(the devils nose) was running tomorrow. Alausi proved to be a nice modest sized town built on the side of a steep hill, with the highway running across the hill above the town. We got there about 4:00 pm, spent some time exploring the town on foot, determined that the train does NOT run tomorrow Tuesday, spent some time at the internet.
Then it was time to think about where we would stay the night.
Finding a place for the night in a town where there are no recommendations from other travelers is an opportunity for another travel surprise - at the start of the day we would never have imagined being parked at a restaurant. Fortunately this surprise was pleasant.
Camping
We arrived in Alausi with no idea as to where we would camp for the night. We tried the Europa Hotel but the Tiger would not fit under the top of their driveway arch - missed by about 6". They were going to charge us $1. Down the street, South, we found a restaurant with a small internal parking space, enough room for the Tiger, one truck and four cars over night. Had toilets and showers, The lady in charge originally asked $2 but when she saw the size of the Tiger the price went up to $3. There is a mechanics parking lot next door that stored buses overnight that would also have worked.
