Queen of all she surveys

Including Volcán Chimborazo, this time from the opposite side.
Having accidentally discovered the possibility of a more desirable way of getting to Riobamba than cramming into a ute with a dozen other people to get back to Guaranda, then finding a bus ... and so on ... we set out to negotiate the unusual.
The first ute driver insisted that the road I was showing him on the map didn't exist, but I knew it did, because there was a motorcycle tour group staying in our hotel and their guide (who spoke unmistakeable Boston English) told me about it in some detail.
However, one denial does not an impossibility make and the next driver to come along, after I had clarified three times (in Spanish, with much pointing and pausing): "One, two, only. No other people. This road, not that road. Price?" came up with what amounted to "Okay, $40".
We thought that a fair price for the distance and time involved and considering he was unlikely to get a fare back. (It did occur to me that perhaps we shouldn't have accepted his price so readily, because he was sure to find a reason to increase it later, as indeed he did.)
It was a lovely trip. For the better part of an hour and a half, we drove around three sides of the volcano in perfect, clear, sharp, 5,000 metre air, with the road to ourselves. He obligingly stopped several times for photo ops (another reason for "no other people") and when we got to Riobamba, spent some time finding the hotel we were after (incorrectly placed on the Lonely Planet map). This was his excuse for asking an extra $20 (we didn't come at that, but we did fork out a bit extra).

I got some wonderful shots of the mountain, but reckon the vicuña (a wild relative of the llama) gives it the proper context.