29th of June until the 5th of July - Crossing the border to Colombia
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The first attempt to leave Quito ended after 8km. While driving I felt that the back tire got soft again. We had to return to Gerd and luckily we made it. On Sunday all shops are closed. Well, then on Monday.
I demounted the wheel and we drove to KTM for getting a new tube fixed.
2nd attempt on Monday around noon. Yes, the new tube works. Target for today was Ibarra more closer to the Columbian border. People said in Tulcan (which is directly at the border) one should not stay overnight.
Ibarra downtown.
The next day we got up early and had a quick look on the lake just east of Ibarra. Somewhere on the other side Felix and Dana stayed and fixed their motorbikes, we heard afterwards.
Two - a bit exhausting - hours we needed for the border crossing. Copies of the passports and entry stamps, because at our remote border crossing into Ecuador our data was not entered into the system...copies for customs. Families pushing to the front... One of the things we don't like in South America that people cannot wait until others are finished. Always with blablabla trying to push other people aside.
Right after the border one can go from Ipiales to Las Lajas, a pilgrim's site. Veeery touristy.
And all of a sudden one is in Neuschwanstein :-) But this is a church built in 1926, relatively new.
We still wanted to make it to Pasto the same day. Many people warned us to not driving into the night in Colombia. Between Ipiales and Pasto one drives more or less thru or aside a Canyon. Very beautiful but we had no time for taking pictures. Military posts showing thumbs up beside the road, bridges and outside of bigger villages.
These pictures we took the next day between Pasto and Popayan.
Even though this is the Panamerica it is quite demanding to drive here. Bumby roads in the mountains up and down with potholes, a lot of traffic, many trucks...
In Popayan we checked in at the Hostal Colonial, a nice building but unluckily with a lot of noisy people in the morning. At around 5:30 to 6:00am the people get busy. And often they come in groups...no way to sleep longer.
Ok, early start for us as well.
The KTM guide at KTM Cali :-)
No brake disc for us in whole Columbia. They checked around by phone for 2 hours. The 690 model is rarely sold here. Whether it is the 200 Duke or the new 1190 Adventure but nothing in between.
So we went further. One guy from the KTM shop recommended Darien at the Lago Calima. And indeed, beautiful up here on a height of approx. 1.800m. And a better climate compared to Cali with it's 40°C.
Preparation for the big game: Colombia - Brazil
Here still happy
Even though Colombia lost the people partied
...and threw flour on each other. We got also a pack from a passing motorbike :-)
« Back to journal
The first attempt to leave Quito ended after 8km. While driving I felt that the back tire got soft again. We had to return to Gerd and luckily we made it. On Sunday all shops are closed. Well, then on Monday.
I demounted the wheel and we drove to KTM for getting a new tube fixed.
2nd attempt on Monday around noon. Yes, the new tube works. Target for today was Ibarra more closer to the Columbian border. People said in Tulcan (which is directly at the border) one should not stay overnight.
Ibarra downtown.
The next day we got up early and had a quick look on the lake just east of Ibarra. Somewhere on the other side Felix and Dana stayed and fixed their motorbikes, we heard afterwards.
Two - a bit exhausting - hours we needed for the border crossing. Copies of the passports and entry stamps, because at our remote border crossing into Ecuador our data was not entered into the system...copies for customs. Families pushing to the front... One of the things we don't like in South America that people cannot wait until others are finished. Always with blablabla trying to push other people aside.
Right after the border one can go from Ipiales to Las Lajas, a pilgrim's site. Veeery touristy.
And all of a sudden one is in Neuschwanstein :-) But this is a church built in 1926, relatively new.
We still wanted to make it to Pasto the same day. Many people warned us to not driving into the night in Colombia. Between Ipiales and Pasto one drives more or less thru or aside a Canyon. Very beautiful but we had no time for taking pictures. Military posts showing thumbs up beside the road, bridges and outside of bigger villages.
These pictures we took the next day between Pasto and Popayan.
Even though this is the Panamerica it is quite demanding to drive here. Bumby roads in the mountains up and down with potholes, a lot of traffic, many trucks...
In Popayan we checked in at the Hostal Colonial, a nice building but unluckily with a lot of noisy people in the morning. At around 5:30 to 6:00am the people get busy. And often they come in groups...no way to sleep longer.
Ok, early start for us as well.
The KTM guide at KTM Cali :-)
No brake disc for us in whole Columbia. They checked around by phone for 2 hours. The 690 model is rarely sold here. Whether it is the 200 Duke or the new 1190 Adventure but nothing in between.
So we went further. One guy from the KTM shop recommended Darien at the Lago Calima. And indeed, beautiful up here on a height of approx. 1.800m. And a better climate compared to Cali with it's 40°C.
Preparation for the big game: Colombia - Brazil
Here still happy
Even though Colombia lost the people partied
...and threw flour on each other. We got also a pack from a passing motorbike :-)
