Ecuador to Colombia

After hiking the Quilotoa Loop I spent a couple of days chilling in Cotopaxi National Park at the most amazing hostel tucked into the mountains, no phone reception, no wifi, just amazing food, incredible views, a jacuzzi, massive hammocks, and a tonne of hiking and adventure activities if you so desire.

The Aussies who built this place did an amazing job; everywhere you are you have incredible views of Cotopaxi and the other mountains and volcanos in the area. Even the toilets and showers have been built so that you take a few stairs up and then while you’re showering or on the dunny you look out to these amazing views. I didn’t get up to much whilst here except lay in the hammock, talk shit, play cards, eat my body weight in banana bread (it was unlimited and FREE!!), and drink far too much wine and beer.

1 day old baby llama - CUTE!

So, following a few blissful days there I arrive into the BIG SMOKE in Quito with really low expectations. Big city, and I’ve heard pretty shit things about it from most people so I’m expecting the worst. I rock up to my hostel which has a rooftop with a hammock and the most amazing view of Quito city, and I run into one of the guys who I hiked the Quilotoa Loop with. I’ve been out of phone range for days, and so am completely out of the loop. He brings me up to speed with the Venezuelan crisis and the subsequent protests that are happening on the border crossing to Colombia. The roads have been ripped up, there’s tear gas, people slashing tyres etc etc. People are being stranded at the border for 3 days unable to get anywhere, or walking and hitchhiking in the back of trucks hoping the protesters don’t stop you and slash your tyres. So the options are, 1 - stay in Quito until this resolves, 2 - fly for a ridiculous amount of money, or 3 - attempt the jungle crossing which is usually not recommended due to safety.

View from the hammock at Secret Garden Quito. I pretty much sat here and snoozed / drank for the entire time I was in Quito.

For me the decision was simple, I’m never a fan of hanging around big cities, there was no way I was forking out $200 - $300 USD for a flight when the buses are like $20 so I throw myself into a vortex of online research to try and figure out how to cross this other border crossing, and convince Adrian to do it with me, because safety in numbers?? Lonely Planet says “the area is notorious for smugglers and guerrilla activity” which we decide sounds like an adventure, and a local who is at the usual border crossing has informed us today that if it’s not resolved by Wednesday they will likely make it national. So in the interests of not being stranded here any further we’re off to the bus station to take an overnight bus to Lago Agrio and attempt the border crossing at La Punta (Ecuador)/ San Miguel (Colombia).

It’s amazing really that there is no official info on how to cross the border here, so I am relying on blogs from other travellers and word of mouth to know where to go and what to do. Some amazing travellers have made a Facebook group for sharing info and as it turns out there are a few others going to try the jungle border at the same time. A couple of hours before we’re due to go to the bus station someone posts in the group that the taxi’s between Tulcán and the border are back up and running and it all looks good again so rather than voiding my travel insurance by going full narco jungle style we decide to stay an extra night in Quito and attempt the Rumichaca Bridge hoping that things don’t spark up again in 24 hours.

Getting to Tulcán is uneventful, just one burning car on the side of the road and the usual rubbish typical of mainland Ecuador. Other than that there are no signs of any unrest that consumed the area for the past week or so. We taxi to Rumichaca with no troubles, expecting mega lines and are surprised there is only about 5 people ahead of us in the immigration cue to exit Ecuador and it’s straight to the counter on the other side of the bridge to enter Colombia. EASY!! What is super interesting though is that it’s so easy to walk between the two countries without going to either immigration office so it’s no surprise the locals have been protesting over the lack of immigration control.

Literally standing here wondering where TF immigration is to leave Ecuador - asked a few people and eventually found it tucked into the back corner of a building behind us to our left.

After taking a collective to Ipsiales bus station we decide we don’t wanna arrive in Cali at 4am so opt for an 8pm bus and then venture out to Las Lajas to check out some church that is supposed to be worth seeing in the area. And it is totally worth the 10 min taxi each way; what a beaut church, and only like maybe half a dozen other tourists.

So at 8pm we’re getting on an overnight bus to Cali and this is where the fun begins. Barely 30 mins from town we run unto a road block merely 3 cars ahead of us… burning tyres and the like which takes a good hour and a half, or more, before the police get there are clear it out for us to continue our journey. The bus is turned off in this time, I start feeling like I wanna throw up; combination of having been unwell for the past couple of days and the smell of the toilet on the bus no longer able to be drowned out by aircon. So I try to throw up but the bathroom on board is so gross I can’t even bring myself to do that… so instead I sit on a bus for 15 hours trying not to spew while the dude sitting behind me keeps digging his knees into my back like he’s pedalling a really fast drum solo. So not only is my stomach churning, but I’m being jabbed from the other direction too. Add to that, the Colombian bumpy and windy roads and the bus driver pelting over potholes and around corners and I literally feel like there is an off milkshake being blitzed in my stomach. I make it all the way to Cali, check into the hostel and lo and behold, it’s run by an Aussie who has Vegemite in the cupboard!!!!! So I throw some antibiotics down with a Vegemite sandwich and hopefully I’ll be fixed. Welcome to Colombia…. finally!