Ecuador

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We left Pedregal knowing we had one day's riding to get us to the border town of Ipiales. We had heard that there was a back road that was a good option. We managed to find the turn off onto it shortly after leaving town. It is the old route 25 and it is quiet but not deviod of traffic. It works its way up a valley and is cut into the steep sides. This creates stunning scenery. 

We stopped for ages at this waterfall as it was so amazing and there were several others like it. 

The shot below, looking back, shows just how the road follows a little ledge on the hill side. 

We loved the ride even if there were no eating options. This meant we arrived at San Juan starving. Thankfully there was a restaurant right in the junction and we could stuff our faces while watching lorries negotiate the sharp corner. This was much more entertaining than you might imagine especially as there were motos parked all around the corner and the owners seemed unaware of how their vehicles were making life hard for the lorry drivers. 

We got into Ipiales and met up with Andres who runs Recrear Ipiales which is a mix up of a casa ciclista, a warmshowers host and a B+B. We showered, ate, had a yellow dragon fruit for pudding then crashed out. The previous three days of climbing had taken it out of us. We spent two nights there. 

Also staying there were Rafael and Luana from Brazil. The next morning Andres interviewed them for his promotional material and we enjoyed watching the whole process. 

We watched them set off and I had fun riding Luana's bike as it was tiny and looked like a kids bike with me on it. 

Later that afternoon we went to visit Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Las Lajas. It is a long name but worthy of it given how magnificent it is. See Rachel's Instagram post for more details. 

We got the cable car back up to the top and it was a great ride. Not only were there super views of the sanctuary, we got to look down on the canyon and the river that flows through it.

It rained all night and was raining in the morning when we set off for the border. We waved bye bye to Andres and set off with Elani, another cycle tourist who has stayed the night (who we had also met in Costa Rica as their friend had brought us new tyres).

It was a short ride downhill to the border and we quickly got stamped out of Colombia. 

We then had to get into Ecuador. There has been a lot of civil unrest in the country and to stop undesirables from abroad entering there had been a rule that anyone entering via a land border needed a certified police check to confirm they didn't have a criminal record. This rule was rescinded at the end of May as it was replaced by a computer check. However the official we encountered at the border seemed unaware of the change and didn't want to let us enter. 

We tried pleading and showing them a copy of the Ecuadorian government webpage to no avail. They didn't want to let us in. 

Finally we said that we knew that a fellow cyclist had entered two days ago without trouble. This prompted them to disappear into a back room and emerge a while later with a surly expression. They stamped our passports for 90 days and waved us on.

I can't begin to explain just how relieved we were. We were into Ecuador, our 12th country of the trip. The rain dried up as we entered the country which we consider to be a good omen.

This was just about the first sight that greeted us over the border. What an amazing old car. In reality most of the cars we saw were nice modern affairs. 

Tulcán is the first town on the Ecuadorian side and it is famous for the cemetery with incredible amounts of topiary. Apparently someone realised it was the perfect type of soil for these trees and planted lots of them and sculpted them into all sorts of shapes. 

There was an odd mix of people there to visit deceased relatives and sightseers.

We were glad to see that Simon Bolivar still features in public spaces. He famously rode a white horse and was renowned for having an iron butt due to his ability to spend long hours in the saddle.

Lots of the bus shelters were painted with polka dots. We wondered if they were in honour of when Richard Carapaz wore the King of the Mountains jersey at the Tour de France.

The landscape was a patchwork of small fields and it really reminded us of our home in the Lake District despite being at over 3000m.

We ended our day in San Gabriel absolutely thrilled to be in Ecuador and ready for the next few days riding. 

Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/p8J9ERd7iN2bGiZy9

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