Into Ecuador

Dec 19, 2013
Medellin to Salento, Columbia 250km
Salento is roughly the halfway point to the border.  Its a small town off the beaten path. It's a staging area for treking in the area.  It's also famous for having the tallest palm trees in the world.

Stayed at Tralala hostel, we were thankful to be out of the big city.  We could hear horses walk by our room on the cobblestone streets.

Since it was a short day of riding we explored the small town and came across a cross looking lady with  a gun in her lap licking a big lollpop.

We played Tejo that evening which was tons of fun!  Small packets of gun powder stuck ontop of a steel ring surrounded by clay. The discs get stuck in the clay if you throw it correctly which is good for one point. If the disc hits the gunpowder its worth three points and an explosion!  Tons of fun

The bar owner played a few rounds with us until some other travelers showed up.

Dec 20, 2013 580km.
Left Salento and made some miles down to Pasto for the border into Ecuador tomorrow.

We passed km's of parked cars and trucks, often for construction but in this case there was a dump truck in the ditch.  We just went around.

 We always went to the front of the line for the construction stops.  They were only for a few minutes then we would have several miles of traffic free roads. 

Beautiful views.

 We saw a number of these dummies.  Some locals told us they burn them on new years.

Found a hotel downtown Pasto and ended up meeting the owner later that night and had a round or two with him and his friends.

Dec 21, 2013 Pasto, Columbia to Quito, Ecuador.  350km.

Down to the border and met Zach again and a polish man that was on his way around the world. Took about 4 to 5 hours to get through.  Everything was quick except for the vehicle import line. There was one lady doing it and it took about 1/2hr per person.   Only costs here were the $5/ bike for insurance.

Another country... another kind of beer.

 

Spent a good while looking for the equator monument as well but to no avail.  We took some random dirt road up to a park off the Panamerican.  The sign said latitude 0.   Still pretty cool milestone to cross the equator.
Pulled into Quito and stayed at a place for 6 dollars a person