The major trip from Riobamba is to Chimborazo, 6,310 m [2,1031 ft], known to the local indigenas as Taita [father] Chimborazo, which is paired with Mama Tungurahua. First climbed by the English mountaineer, Edward Whymper in 1880, the ‘Big Ice Cube' attracts numerous mountaineers during peak climbing season in December and from June to September. Only serious and experienced mountaineers should attempt this peak. Full ice and snow climbing equipment, and a good guide, are required. It is easy enough, however, to reach the first refugio at 4,800 m [16,000 ft] by car or jeep from Riobamba, though acclimatization is necessary. The agencies in Riobamba have various places to stay close-by. Then it's about an hour's slow climb to the second refuge at 5,000 m [16,665 ft] where the views are stunning. Here you can stay the night for about US$10 if you have a warm sleeping bag. Climbs to the summit begin around midnight and take about 10 hours, with four hours for the return trip. Many hotels arrange reasonably-priced day trips to the refugios for small groups [about US$20 per person] while a serious climb can be arranged with agencies listed under general information above.

Alternatively, you can contact the community of Pulingue San Pablo on the road up to the refuge. The community, with funding from the Canadian government, has set up a grassroots ecotourism and sustainable agriculture project just on the border of the Reserva de Produccion Faunistica Chimborazo, which is run by the Ministerio del Ambiente. The locals have organized themselves into a guiding cooperative, offering trekking, climbing and horseback riding tours around the area. They have also re-introduced environmentally-friendly alpaca to the area [the re-introduced vicuna are already thriving], as well as setting up trout farms. You can stay in simple cabins nearby. Entrance to the reserve [i.e. to the refugio] costs $10* per person.

If you have your own vehicle, you can make a great day-trip by looping round to the town of Guaranda and back.

For the less energetic, there are plenty of other attractions around Chimborazo. Journeys to neighboring villages on local buses provide an insight into the traditional Andean way of life, and a backdrop of superb scenery. A few kilometers north of Riobamba, rug making is a specialty of the village of Guano with various handicrafts for sale in its numerous craft shops. Santa Teresita, a bit more to the north, boasts its own thermal baths a short walk from the bus stop.

Punin Cemetery
A 30-minute drive from Riobamba brings you to this cemetery, famous for its Pleistocene animal fossils and the human remains found in Chalan gully which date back to 8,000 BC. There is a museum here and a sanctuary to Senor del Chuypi.

*The prices are approximately

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||

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