Saturday, August 13, 2022

Day 5 - Holy Lands and the First Border Crossing

After a quick breakfast, we left Pasto and headed south on great roads with your typical dodging of cars, buses, other motorcycles, people, animals.  Always a very good way to wake up in the morning.

Closer to the border with Ecuador, we rode this incredible 4 lane highway that went through impossible mountains and ravines.  A very expensive engineering achievement.

As we were riding today, I realized that our group of 8 riders is extremely a very skilled and experienced group.  We ride together through messy traffic, through fast and challenging roads, through dirt, gravel, and any sudden obstacle without missing a beat.  Everybody is always on time for departure from any place within minutes.  This is a well oiled commando-like unit that gets things done efficiently : )

Our first stop for the day was at the holy site of El Santuario de las Lajas.  A very special site for catholics.  It is about 10km from the border with Ecuador in Colombia.  The Santuario was built on the site of an apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1754.  The construction of the current church took 33 years and rises 330ft from the bottom of the canyon ... an inspiring site indeed.  

There were pilgrims and visitors of all ages everywhere.  It is always a good for the soul to experience how faith in something bigger than one self can bring peace and hope to people.

After a unique and memorable visit to the Santuario, we headed to the Ecuador border only 10 km away.  It is incredible how all borders are so similar around the world.  There are always people everywhere, bureaucracy, forms to fill out, signatures, stamps ... and fear ... fear that something is missing that will prevent somebody from continuing with their travels.

We did manage to figure out all the steps and to finish processing 10 people, 8 motorcycles, and 1 vehicle in around 2 hours. Frustrating as all borders are but pretty straight forward.  I gave it a score of 2 out of 10 in terms of difficulty.

After the border, we stopped in Tulcan, our first town in Ecuador, to visit their famous and unique cemetery and to have lunch.  The cemetery was indeed a unique experience.  Intricately sculpted shrubs lined the internal walkways, above ground crypts everywhere, and a sense of awe at how visitors saw death.

After exchanging our old Colombian pesos for good old dollars (Ecuador's official currency) from a street money exchanger in Tulcan, we headed to Otavalo, our destination for the night.  On the way down, we went around the Imbabura Volcano (16,000 ft high), an imposing sight from the road.  This volcano saw it last eruption 7,500 years ago.  That is a good thing.

After a long day, we arrived to our destination for the night at Otavalo. A very nice eco-lodge looking inn on the side of the volcano with only 17 rooms.  A great, peaceful, cozy, place to to end the day.

Our welcoming committee upon arrival to El Santuatio de las Lajas

On our way down the ravine to see the Santuario

Wow! Pilgrims everywhere.  The Santuario was built over a deep gorge

Our good old rides by the Santuario

Made to the Colombia-Ecuador border - let the border-crossing games begin!

Getting our exit stamp on the Colombian side

Getting our health check and vaccination form on the Ecuador side

Woeter begging to the customs official on the Ecuador side to let our motorcycles in : )

Taking snap while waiting for our import permits

Our first meal in Ecuador in Tulcan

A visit to the one-of-a-kind cemetery in Tulcan - rows of crypts

Surrounded by incredible intricate sculpted shrubs

More shrubs surrounding graves in the Tulcan Cemetery

A view from the road of the Imbabura Volcano next to Otavalo

Our hotel fro the night in Otavalo

Our dinner room at the hotel in Otavalo




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