Autoferra de Ibarra
Once extending to San Lorenzo down on the coast, Ibarra’s railway now runs from the train station only as far as Primer Paso, a 45-kilometre journey serviced, actually, by an autoferro, a converted bus on rails but it’s best to pitch up about 30min before departure to buy your ticket t06/2950390, wferrocarrilesdelecuador.gob.ec). The train only departs if there are at least twelve passengers or $60 worth of ticket sales – though you can always pay the difference if there aren’t enough people. The ride itself is fun; you can sit on the roof while the train skirts vertiginous drops, clatters over the rickety 120-metre Ambi bridge and disappears into the gloom of at least a dozen tunnels, one with its own waterfall. At the end of the route in the Tulquizán sector, the train pulls in near the faded Hostería Tulquizán, across the river by cable swing, where you can get lunch, swim in the pool for a few dollars and sleep in rustic cabins, although most visitors just while away a few hours here rather than stay the night. You are at the hotel’s mercy once you cross because they seldom take people back over the river until the train is about to depart. The tracks cross the road a little before the final stop (ask the driver to be let off), from where you can take a bus back to Ibarra (30min) or to San Lorenzo on the coast (3hr).
Helados de paila
All visitors to Ibarra should try the wonderfully smooth and flavoursome helados de paila, a sorbet prepared in great copper pans (pailas) kept cool on a bed of straw and salted ice, into which fruit, sugar and water are stirred – found at a number of excellent heladerías throughout town. Other local specialities are sold at the stalls around the Parque La Merced, namely nogadas – nougat-style treats made from sugar, milk, egg whites and walnuts, sometimes flavoured with cinnamon, aniseed or vanilla – and arrope de mora, a sticky blackberry syrup, usually diluted with water or spirits.
Practicalities
Buses to La Esperanza (every 20min, 30min trip; last bus 7.30pm) leave Ibarra from the Parque Grijalva, a few blocks south of the obelisk. Tell the driver you want a hotel, otherwise you’ll be taken to the end of the village about fifteen minutes away. Casa Aída (t 06/2660221; $11–15) is the best, with a restaurant, simple and pleasant rooms, a two-floor thatched cabin, and clean, shared bathrooms and hot showers. Another option is to stay at the nearby indigenous village of SAN CLEMENTE, which runs its own community ecotourism project, called Pukyu Pamba (t 09/9161095, w www.sclemente.com; $22 or $35 per person per day depending on comfort of the house, including three meals and activities, except for horse rides $10 and trips using 4WD vehicles $15). Visitors can stay with families, learn about embroidery, hear local musicians and join in dances, go on hikes or a four-day trek to Nueva América, horseriding with local guides, learn Quichua and generally get to know about the community. Buses leave from the same Parque Grijalva in Ibarra about every two hours (40min).
San Antonio de Ibarra
Just off the Panamericana, 6km west of Ibarra, SAN ANTONIO DE IBARRA is not much more than a handful of streets and a little square, but has nevertheless chiselled its way to fame as a major centre for woodcarving. Its plentiful shops and galleries are crammed with a huge array of subjects and styles, mostly carved in cedar, from saints and angelts to chess sets and life-size carvings of Don Quixote. San Antonio’s best-known artist is Luís Potosí, whose gallery is on the main square, and who seems to have a predilection for nude mothers nursing their newborns. There are many other artists’ showrooms located on the main square and Avenida 27 de Noviembre; prices range from $1500 for large pieces down to $1 for a keyring.