Blogs from Pasto, Colombia, South America - page 2

Popayan to Pasto took about 6 hours, we have to haggle for the best price bus company everyone is competing for our fare at the bus terminal in Popayan, we settled to the lowest price and we got a proper bus not a van. The bus was good for a good 2 hours, it actually have a strong a/c then it broke and the heater went on and somehow they cant turn it off so the roof has to be opened to let in fresh air. I was so tired and slept through most of the way. Took a taxi soon after arriving in Pasto to Koala Inn, an old wooden house with 3 floors , right in the middle of things, great location, we walked around braving the rain and looked for post office, lunch ... read more

After queuing for what seemed like forever to leave Ecuador we walked over the bridge and were surprised to find only a small queue on the Colombian side (we're guessing that a lot of Colombians only bother with immigration on the Ecuadorian side). It only took 20 minutes. The guidebook says to be prepared for thorough bag checks and if you don't have a return ticket (which we don't) the officer sometimes overlooks this for a 'fee.' The FCO's (UK Foreign Office) advice is that it depends on the whim of the officer that day as to whether they let you in or not. Well we had the friendliest guard ever who was only interested in joking about how long we'd queued on the Ecuadorian side. Not one 'proper' question and stamp in passport printed with ... read more

Colombia was one big surprise. After hearing all the terrible, horrifying stories about Colombia from the Venezuelans and Brazilians, we prepared ourselves to drive through Colombia in as little time as possible. We were pretty excited to leave Venezuela and Chavez behind, but were also worried about what would happen to us in this country that has such a bad name, and which is so full of criminals, drugs and guerillas. Well, as we should know by now, not everything you see on the TV news, or hear from the mouths of people who have never left their own country, is always true. Colombia surprised us first with its excellent roads, then with its unspoilt, super-clean beaches, beautiful mountains and lakes, colonial towns, and its intriguing history of pre-hispanic civilizations and profound wealth of ancient, breath-taking, ... read more