On the morning of 7th December I headed to Popayan post office to send off some letters and postcards, and walked back to the bus terminal to get a ticket for Ipiales (the last town before the Ecuadorian border) and also some breakfast. Some things haven’t changed since leaving Central America: the breakfast of choice was still rice and beans…
The friendliness of Colombia continues to amaze me. I boarded the bus and there were only half a dozen people on it. Shortly before departure a girl of maybe 17 or 18 finished saying goodbye to her parents, climbed on, and looked for somewhere to sit. In most countries I’ve been, she would have looked for an empty double seat (of which there were plenty) and sat there. But she looked down the bus, saw me, and with her face lighting up she came and sat next to me, asking where I was from. I chatted with her about her school, college plans, and my travels, all the way to Pasto, the last major city heading south. The scenery before Pasto was spectacular – the forested hills now having given way to grassy valleys with steep sides.
A change of bus to a small local one was necessary to reach the border town of Ipiales. For that trip I again got a young chatterbox sitting next to me, telling me all about her studies. My Spanish was improving dramatically…
The rain was coming down in Ipiales when I arrived but after checking into a small hotel I headed out and found a recommended pizza place, where I got talking to 3 locals and had a beer with them.
I got up early on 7th December, since I wanted to visit the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Las Lajas, an attraction that South America on a Shoestring insisted that I not miss. It was a church, stunningly located on a bridge across a narrow rocky valley, which had been built for pilgrims coming to visit the site of a reported appearance of the Virgin Mary. Getting there required use of a shared “taxi grande” since there were no buses. But it was well worth the effort to get there…
On heading back to Ipiales I changed the film in my camera and found to my dismay that the exposure counter wasn’t working properly. Back in Ipiales, after running into the non-Spanish speaking Germans again, I headed to the hotel to check out. I also had a go at fixing the camera, but had no luck. I may just have to keep a mental tally of how many pictures I’ve taken on each roll of 36.
There was no cross-border bus into Ecuador, so I had to get a colectivo (shared taxi) to the border. Crossing my first South American frontier was simple, in a modern and efficient building, and I was then directed on to a small bus for Tulcan where I had a late lunch. Tulcan looked poorer than what I had seen in Colombia and made me suspect that Ecuador will turn out to be more similar to the Central American countries.
A crowded bus took me the 3 hours to Ibarra, with a strict police check on the way, which caused a bit of delay. In Ibarra I found a bank, but had some hassle trying to change a travellers cheque – they complained that my countersignature didn’t match the original signature. This was potentially a problem, since once countersigned, the cheque has cash value, but has to be signed in front of a bank teller. A pre-signed cheque, not signed in front of a teller, may not be acceptable. After a bit of insistence I had my way and was given some cash.
I had noticed that the signal from the BBC on my shortwave radio had been a little weaker in Colombia, so I bought a length of wire to clip on to the antenna and boost its performance. Then I got a bus to the day’s final destination: the highly recommended travellers’ hangout of Casa Aida Hostal in the village of La Esperanza just outside Ibarra. My plan is to stay here at Casa Aida for a few nights – I think I’ve earned a bit of a break…
There are several backpackers here – some of them me invited me to join in a game of contract whist – a game which I somehow won. Two Israeli guys are talking about going up a nearby volcano in the morning, and I feel that climbing volcanos is fast becoming my “thing”, so I may need to join them…
Really enjoying reading about your trip and the photos are stunning. You are very concise and your style is great, always leaving one wanting to know more.
You’re too kind, Cherry!