Leaving Colombia - Ecuadorian immigration hell

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Trip Start Nov 08, 2010 Previous
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  Chota, Imbabura, Ecuador
Thursday, January 12, 2012

We had been told by a Colombian doctor in Cali that the area south of Popayan was still a little dicey and we should avoid staying anywhere except Popayan or Pasto. We pushed on southwards mindful of the fact that we were soon to be leaving this incredible country that we had both fallen for in a big way…we spent the day relishing every mind-blowing view. We pushed on south down the Cauca valley as it narrows and eventually started the long climb back up to serious altitudes. In fact we made it to Popayan in relatively little time and bypassed it heading directly for Pasto. Neither of us were too keen on Pasto when we were heading north…difficult to navigate in and short of car parking. We were pretty tired and so we aimed for a set of resort hotels we had passed on the way up…just outside the city.  Pretty much the first one we came to was a winner…not at all expensive with it's own restaurant and pool. Hardly in the spirit of travel but after a year of always having to find a hostel and then safe parking…sometimes the out of town roadside hotels are a godsend. To be honest we’re both lost the drive to constantly seek new experiences at the moment…the ground covered is the thing now and the quicker and more efficiently we can achieve that the better. 



Next morning we made a great start and reckoned we could bust through the Colombian  / Ecuadorian border in time to travel the 100km or so extra into Ecuador needed to drop down to the balmy low altitudes of the Chota Valley. We really don’t feel like spending much time at altitude in the rain and cold at the moment. Especially after a month of tropical heat in Colombia. We were well on track and arrived at the border at about 2pm.  It took all of 5-10 minutes to clear the migration and customs on the Colombian side…we got back in the car and crossed the bridge only to discover a horrifyingly long queue for immigration on the Ecuador side.  Four hours of standing in line…FOUR HOURS!!!!  Ecuador definitely win the award for turning visitors hostile before they’ve even had their passports stamped.  All whilst surrounded by 'Welcome to Ecuador’ posters. No apologies…no explanations other than that it was the holiday period (like it had taken them by surprise!)  For a country that takes so much pride in its modernity I was really surprised at how little they appeared to care about the opinions of their visitors. Maybe it’s because it is the border with Colombia… there’s no love lost between the two nations. 



We emerged from the border just as it was getting dark. We passed through a mess of traffic in Tulcan and considered stopping but really couldn’t face staying there again so we decided to push on south in the dark. The roads in Ecuador are excellent and as it was downhill most of the way we actually burned through the 100km or so in no time, eventually arriving just beyond the town of Juncal at half the altitude of the border in another nice roadside hotel with a pool. Again it was pretty reasonable…US$12 a head and a room like a suite. We were starting to wish we’d sought out more of these roadside retreats. 

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Chiva with coffee plants	Chiva	Another Chiva	Typical colombian roadside house
Another Chiva	Hill top towns	Friendly mango skin eating cows.	Southern highlands
Southern highlands	Old genteel border crossing.	Civic breast feeding sculptures

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