If you've done your research you will know that flying between countries in South America comes at a great cost. None of those budget airlines that we are so lucky to have in Europe! Whilst budget airlines are available (and very cheap!), you will only be able to fly regionally. You will notice flight prices can go up by at least x10 if you want to cross a border into another country. So with flying waaaay out of our budget, we needed to cross the border by land.
Having finished our time in Colombia in Salento, around is 707km from the Rumichaca border into Ecuador, we were going to have a long few days travelling.
We left Salento early (after another freezing cold shower, hot showers were not a thing in Colombia!) and took a small bus to the nearest transport hub, Armenia. From here we got straight onto a larger bus that took us to the town famous for salsa dancing, Cali. I think it could have been really fun to stop here, but with the Galapagos Islands in mind, we continued our travel to the colonial town of Popayan. We spent about 9 hours on a bus that day.
After a night spent in Popayan, we were on to day 2 of buses with just 370km to cover. Our destination was the Colombia border town of Ipiales. Now the roads in Colombia are not great, you spend most the bus journey being thrown around as the bus makes its way over potholes and there is no such thing as tarmac, just a mixture of sand, dirt and gravel. I know I'm really painting a picture but it wasn't all that bad. Every so often locals would hop aboard the bus selling cold drinks and snacks like fresh fruit and corn, sometimes people would get on and sing or dance in hope of a tip. It was all quite entertaining.
It was on this leg of the journey that we ended up with a puncture in one of the tyres. After a loud bang, the driver pulled over to check it out. He continued driving for another 5 minutes before he pulled over at a makeshift garage, where we all got off whilst the driver, his crew and a the owner of the garage all changed the tyre and off we went again. I was having visions of us being sat on the floor outside the garage for hours, but it only took 10 minutes! I think they must be used to it...
We reached Ipiales late afternoon after another 9 hour journey but nothing seemed to be open. With only a few Colombian Pesos left, I'm pretty sure we had crisps for dinner that night. One thing I can say about Ipiales is that is was freezing. We didn't sleep very well due to being cold and decided to leave for the border really early as we had heard that the queues could take hours.
We took a taxi to the Colombian border office. There were 3 lines, one of Colombians, one for foreigners and one for Venezuelans. It was here that the Venezuelan crisis was hard to ignore. We were wrapped up in all our layers and had been freezing in our hotel, but there were hundreds of families sleeping rough at the border, waiting in hope that they would be allowed entry into Ecuador. Some families said it was taking days. There was a Red Cross stand and they were being given hot tea but I simply couldn't imagine how cold they must of been. It made us feel really grateful for the passports that we had.
It only took 20 minutes or so for us to be 'stamped out' of Colombia, and we simply walked across the bridge into Ecuador. There were no queues to enter Ecuador so we quickly got our passports stamped and took a taxi to Tulcan, there nearest transport hub where we got straight onto a bus bound for Quito. We were in Ecuador!
During all of these bus journeys, we were pulled over by the police several times. Most of the time they just wanted to check ID and search for anything suspicious in the luggage compartments. On our bus to Quito, the police actually asked all passengers to disembark and to show them which luggage belonged to them. Except us! We were the only westerners on board and they didn't seem bothered about us at all. It was all really bizarre.
After another 10 hours on a bus, we made it to Quito. I remember how delicious the pizza was we had that night and how comfy our hostel beds were!
Tips for bus journeys in Colombia/Ecuador:
- They will be much longer than they say they are - poor road conditions, popped tyres, traffic in big cities and so on....you won't get there on time so make sure you plan for that!
- Overnight buses are a great way to save time and money but check what is recommended online first, as we headed closer to the border of Ecuador the advice online suggested to take these buses during the day for safety reasons.
- Whilst your luggage goes in the compartment underneath the bus, keep your valuables with you. I kept my bag on my lap at all times, so if I did fall asleep it was still safe and would have been obvious if someone had tried to take it (we had no problems with theft on buses but met lots of people who did).
- There is often a toilet on the bus, but doesn't mean it's working or that there is any toilet roll.
- Some buses say they have wifi, they don't.
- More than often, the buses will play a film. It will always be something involving guns and things blowing up, so if you don't wish to listen - bring headphones!
- Apparently the border offices like to take a couple of hours for lunch around midday, so maybe don't try crossing around then if you can help it.
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