McKelvey Travels--Ecuador and Galapagos 2019: Day 16 Simon Bolivar, the man, the legend, the bedroom

The indigenous people have been farming this land for millennia. Due
to continual rainfall, it remains green year around.

A bus ride to Alausi to ride the 'world-famous' Devil's Nose train. Briefly, it is a small remaining section of a Trans-Andean Railway built in 1908 to link Ecuador's capital Quito with the port city of Guayaquil. Devil's Nose was one of the most difficult parts of the railway to build due to the narrow canyons and near vertical walls. Indeed, several 'switch-backs' where the train would stop, then back up through the switchback, then go forward again.

Here is Devil's Nose. I'm not sure which way the Devil is facing.

Quite an engineering feet over 100 years ago. Most of the labor came from the Caribean islanders. They were promised wages when the work was finished. Few were ever paid, many never lived to finish their work. Over 2,000 died during the construction of the railroad.

When we arrive at our destination a nice little tour of the indigenous culture, lifestyle
and some dancing.

We then continued on to Riobamba. This large town is surrounded by extinct volcanoes. One, El Altar, the Spaniards named it so because it resembled two nuns and four friars listening to a bishop. I could only see two nuns and TWO friars.(!) It is similar to Mt. St. Helens in the US. The top and side were blown out around 1460. Geologists have calculated that prior to this explosion/eruption, the top of the volcano was 30,400 ft. Making it the tallest mountain in the world.

The other amazing volcano we could see from the hacienda was Chimborazo. It last erupted in 550AD. It is 20,548 ft. in elevation. Due to the equator 'bulge' of the earth, although it isn't the highest peak above sea level, it is the farthest point on the Earth's surface from the Earth's center. Take that Mr. Everest!

Now, Simon Bolivar, (we all read about him in grade school history classes), the man, the legend......the bedroom.

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco was his given name shortened to Simon Bolivar. Also known as El Liberator, was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led the secession of what are currently the countries of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama from the Spanish Empire. This was huge!

Also from grade school history, the Spanish Empire conquered (read--destroyed) the Incas in 1572 by disease, poisoning, and gunpowder. Those that survived were converted to Christianity......By the early 19th century the Spaniards, now "South Americans" by many generations, wanted autonomy from the mother country. (See the Amerian Revolution in the late 1700's).

Simon Bolivar was born into a wealthy, aristocratic family and, as was common for the heirs of upper-class families in his day, was sent to be educated abroad at a young age, arriving in Spain when he was 16 and later moving to France. While in Europe, he was introduced to the ideas of the Enlightenment, which later motivated him to overthrow the reigning Spanish in colonial South America. The war lasted 13 years ending in 1821 culminating in the country known as Gran Colombia. Indeed, Bolivar was the president of Gran Columbia from 1819-1830.

But holding such a vast territory together represented by many different cultures comprised of fully integrated ex-Spaniards as well as the many, many indigenous peoples proved too much to keep Gran Columbia intact. After Bolivar was ousted, the six countries we know today resulted. At least they named Bolivia after him!

Defeated, he died in December of 1830 of tuberculosis at the age of 47. Oh, his bedroom. Our hacienda tonight is the Hosteria La Andaluza in Riobamba. Parts of it are over 400 years old, the building we were in, around 240 years old. We were told that the owner of the hacienda is a wealthy art and antique collector. It shows. I've included a few photos. Now Bolivar's bedroom. Although reserved for the night, our tour of the hacienda included a quick look in the Presidential Suite. Bolivar would stay here when in the area. Very nice.