Feb. 10 – Pasto, CO to Ibarra, EC

Levi slept in, and I read until he got up.  Our hotel included breakfast, and then we had an easy out-of-town.  Road started with a climb into fantastic mountains, but a very tough road like so much of Colombian mountain road.   Just amazing, dramatic scenery.  I have to say, that I am very, very glad that it worked out that we did not skip Colombia.  Some of our experiences was not the most positive, but the scenery was unparalleled, and I would not have wanted to missed it.  What a beautiful country, and although they definitely need to work on their tourist industry to make it acceptable to the average US citizen, it was not an entirely negative experience. 

We stopped for some excellent coffee just short of the border, and then entered the border area.  A wait in line was all that was needed to exit Colombia, and then The Ecuador entry process was time-consuming, but only due to long lines.  There was no hassle, no stress, no fees;  every one was helpful, friendly, and pleasant.  It still took over two hours.  While we were there, we met three Colombians who were heading to Patagonia on their Harleys.  It was fun to chat with them.  We hope to meet up with them again, somewhere along the way.

As we headed south into Ecuador, we soon discovered that the mountains here were even more spectacular and impressive than in Colombia!  Words fail to describe the grandeurand beauty of the scenery.  Soon we were high in the mountains, but now on wonderful, wide, well maintained and well engineered roads.  We got cold, and soon had our coat liners and electric shirts on… temps were in the 50’s and it was raining.

Again, we got confused and briefly off the road in Tucan, but quickly recovered the Panamericano Sur.  We stopped for lunch of  ‘fritata’ at a small roadside comidor, and had a friendly local offer to share his beer with us, and welcomed us to Ecuador.  We finished the stretch into the town of Ibarra before dark.  Friendly, curious, helpful people seemed to be the norm.  We found a decent hotel, and walked to the town center, which was very nice and easy to explore.