Pasto, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador

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We rode out after a good breakfast and headed toward the Ecuador border. Very close to the border (southern Colombia) we stopped at a spectacular cathedral - Basilica Las Lajas, abridging a river in the middle of a gorge. It was amazing from an architectural point of view built in gothic revival style between 1916 and 1949. Why they built it there? Refer to wiki http://www.myconsecration.org/about-the-miraculous-image-of-our-lady-of-las-lajas/.

We continued to the border and exited Colombia with no trouble whatsoever and very quickly; if only the rest could be like this ?. Next we attended to immigration in Ecuador where our persons and bikes also entered quickly.

The riding entering Ecuador was impressive, we seem to be getting quite spoilt with the scenery! I loved the colourful fruit and craft stalls on the roadside along with the many statues and local town decorations.

There were amazing cuts through the hills and stabilisation of the same along the roads high in the mountains, it's tremendous the amount of resources they must be putting into their roading. We had several stops for Peaje (tolls). Rosco wisely suggested a kitty system where everyone contributes into a kitty which I hold (as the only passenger) and we pay for everyone so only one person needs to deal with the toll booth and money and the other bikes may pass without hassle; it works well ?.

We arrived in Quito which is about 10km south of the equator and sits between 2700 and 2900 masl at around 5pm and settled into our well appointed hotel and looked at things to do locally the next day.

After a fabulous breakfast we headed out of town at 8.30 towards Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world). We arrived minutes before it opened and parked free as we were on the bike. It was pretty warm when we got there but as there was only about 5 other people there at this time we were able to see all we wanted to very quickly and easily including the monument, church, statues, park and gift store to get the obligatory 'been there' sticker for the bike.

We finally managed to find a lavendria on the way home and got our bike gear and all our other clothes washed and dried for $11.50. It'll be nice to feel properly clean tomorrow as the last machine wash we used was in Texas. ?

While we waited for our gear we visited the mall and I decided to have a 'real coffee' along with a selection of handmade chocolates and a creme brûlée; apparently Quito is famous for it's chocolate so I felt an obligation to Chocolate Brown and Bennetts of Mangawai to sample their fare. Gotta say it was pretty good but much like our rugby; we win!

Feeling quite caffeinated we picked up our gear and checked in to see if anyone wanted to visit the old town; Deane and Jeff were starters so we ordered a taxi and headed out again. The old town is a UNESCO world heritage site and has been lovingly preserved and / or restored. We visited the Virgin of Quito on Panecillo and the impressive Basilica. Quito is the largest historical centre in South America and is outstanding and vibrant with it's brightly coloured buildings lit up by the sunset.

Having had our fill of culture for the time being we grabbed some takeaways then went for an evening stroll around the not-so-old city before calling it a long but fulfilling day.

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Photos

National basilica
We had a lock-in moment

Comments

[Anna]

Photos
Amazing pictures. Thanks Kim! That church built into the ravine is spectacular especially