Border chaos from Ecuador to Colombia / Interim assessment

Border chaos from Ecuador to Colombia

First, let me give you our interim assessment:

We had a stopover at all these milestones.

Why chaos at the border!

Now you will find out why crossing the border was an adventure. Firstly, the long-distance bus to Cali costs around $150-200, even though it's only a 6-8 hour bus ride. The reason is the customs, where there is unbelievable chaos. The other reason is that it is quite dangerous between Ecuador and Colombia. Especially right after the border in Colombia. The first 2-3 hours are well-known for assaults. Driving the route at night is strongly discouraged by the locals. So, we had to leave as early as possible so that we wouldn't have to travel at night and somehow cross the border without a bus ticket and without knowing if and where there is any transportation to Cali. The bus left at 6:00 from Quito towards the border.

We finally woke up at 4:30 and set off. No one could tell us if there was a public bus. So, we ordered an Uber. Since we were slightly out of town, it took a long time for it to arrive. We waited for 20 minutes and when it arrived at our house, he canceled the ride, for no apparent reason. So, we ordered a new one. We knew it would take us about 45-50 minutes to reach the terminal. At 5:10, a driver arrived. We started driving and he got lost, despite having navigation. What an idiot. I told him to drive properly and pay attention, as we had to catch the bus at 6:10. Suddenly, he started driving correctly. At 6:05, we arrived at the terminal and managed to catch the bus. We departed and arrived at the last bus terminal in Ecuador at around 11:30. We took a taxi to the border. We had already heard that we might have to wait quite a while at the border. When we got there, it looked like a queue for a roller coaster at a theme park, only that everyone had their entire luggage with them.

We got in line and made ourselves comfortable. Muriel then went for a walk to see how long the line was. She was gone for about an hour. When she came back with a big smile on her face and said, "You should take off your backpack and put on some sunscreen." The sun was scorching and we moved very slowly. After a good 2 hours, we finally made it, we were allowed to exit Ecuador. Now we had to make it to Colombia. When we arrived, it hit us hard. We thought the line in Ecuador was long. We saw unbelievable chaos. People were sitting everywhere, luggage was scattered, etc. We only moved about 5 meters in 1 hour. We felt more and more that it wouldn't be enough time to travel before it got dark. Muriel decided to try something and she went to the gate where they let people through in small groups. She talked to the officer there and smeared some honey around her mouth. "Isn't it very dangerous to travel by bus at night? We still have to go to Cali and we're afraid of traveling at night! How much longer will it take?" He just said, "It won't take long. If you're not here by 17:00, come to me and I'll let you through!" She came back to me and told me this. We were anxious. After 1 hour, we had already moved about 20 meters forward. The Colombians didn't have to wait, they were let through immediately, another reason why it took so long. Suddenly, someone came up to us and said, "20 dollars per person and I'll let you through a back entrance!" But we didn't trust him. I observed him for a while and it actually worked for others. Corrupt scum. It was 16:55 and we weren't there yet, not even halfway. We then moved forward and said that we wanted to pass. He actually opened the gate and we were able to go ahead of everyone and stand in front of the counters, we could hardly believe it. It went very quickly after that and we got our stamps. In the end, we waited for a good 6 hours. We then took a taxi to Ipiales, where the main bus terminal is located. When we arrived there, we asked if there was a bus to Salento, which is a bit closer to Cali. She said there was one going to Cali right now and from there we could take another bus. So, we got on the bus and left at 18:15. We actually made it, we crossed that dangerous stretch before it got dark and we were able to relax in peace. However, our stroke of bad luck with long waits was not over yet. We arrived in Cali at 5:00 in the morning and then had a connection to Armenia, a big city about 3 hours away from Salento, so we wanted to take a bus right away to get to the hostel as quickly as possible, as we hadn't really slept much. We wanted to buy the ticket and they said, "The buses will not operate for another 5 hours, we have a blockade in Salento, the roads are closed." Oh no, we had to look for a restaurant and make ourselves comfortable. At 13:00, they said it was okay, we could take the bus. So, we drove for 20 minutes and then it felt like we had to take another detour. Another good hour waiting on the bus. Finally, after 34 hours, we arrived in Salento. You will find out what we did in Salento in the next blog.

Ernesto Y Muriel