Colombia: San Agustín to Ecuador

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As we expected it to be quite a long day, we left just before 8:30 to start the arduous journey and, after a slow passage through the very crowded Isnos, we were on our way on the worst road we have encountered since Costa Rica. The road was slow although not so bad in the beginning, but in the afternoon, after we had passed a grader at work, it became truly dreadful. To make it worse, it rained most of the way. From San Agustín to Isnos the road had climbed dramatically, and from then on it rises less sharply but continuously, through cloud forest, until you reach Paletara, the only real town on the way. Here the landscape changes to grassland - the tall trees and palms we had seen in the cloud forest give way to small shrubs and cultivated fields. Some of the scenery was absolutely wonderful, once the fog lifted and you could see it, but mostly we drove through rain in varying degrees of strength. We were quite relieved when we discovered we were getting closer to Coconuco, where we planned to spend the night. We had been recommended Aguas Tibias, a thermal bath complex some 6 kilometres before the town, as a pleasant place to overnight. Unfortunately we had to drive on because they had just re-concreted their bridge and we couldn't get in. We had some problems with directions but finally found the other baths, Agua Hirviendo, nearer to Coconuco. It was still raining on and off but I got into my swimsuit and settled into the hottest water I could stand. Juergen was so exhausted from driving the terrible road that he went to bed. It was 8 hours since we had left Alto de los Idolos, and we had made only fairly brief stops along the way. Thank goodness we hadn't tried to do San Agustín to Popayán in one day!
The next morning we drove the 20-odd kilometres to Popayán on a relatively smooth, paved road. This city is said by some to be the most beautiful colonial city after Cartagena in Colombia. In our opinion, some of the smaller colonial towns we have visited are more impressive (Barichara and Villa de Leyva, for example). We stayed long enough to do some shopping at the market, look around the town centre and use the internet. Then we joined the Pan-American for our drive south to Ipiales and the border to Ecuador.
During this trip through southern Colombia we have climbed as high as just over 3200m and gone down to 400m. The scenery and the weather has changed accordingly. We have spent some nights sleeping under just a sheet (overnight temperature well into the 20s); while on other occasions we have needed the warmth of our feather quilt (coldest night down to 7°). The landscape has ranged from huge mountains as far as the eye could see, with deep drop-offs from the roadside into gorgeous gorges, to fertile valleys with lush green vegetation. The mountains were in places quite barren but very majestic. In others they were covered with a patchwork of fields where, against all odds, the locals were carrying on cropping of vegetables and grains as though the ground were flat!
The only major deviation from the Pan-American we made was from Pasto to Laguna la Cocha, the largest lake in South Colombia, where we had hoped to stop a couple of days and relax a bit. It is a steep climb over the mountains, the peaks of which are in constant cloud, but the view of the lake when we started down the other side was stunning, helped along by being in full sun at the time. And from then on our trip to the lake went sharply downhill, in more ways than literally! In town we stopped to buy a few things and noticed leaking coolant under the car. We refilled at a service station across the road, which had very friendly and helpful owners, and then drove on towards a hotel on the lake edge that had been recommended as a place to camp by two separate groups of travellers we have met. Initially we took the wrong turn, but it proved interesting because we found the dock where the boats go out into the lake. This area is also full of restaurants in very cute little wooden houses, with lots of flowers around. We thought to return there the next day. Back to the main road and we found the correct turnoff to the lake and found the Hotel Sindanamoy - even our guide book says 'camping possible'. There is a rather large military base just up the hill and first we were sent by a man at the hotel to ask permission of the commander. The soldiers were very friendly and were happy for us to camp. On returning to the hotel we encountered a woman this time, who said the man we had spoken to basically didn't know what he was talking about and that camping was not possible.
By this time it was close to 5:00pm and only an hour until dark. We decided to try at Chalet Guamez, just down the road. Here we encountered the friendly military commander again who tried to be helpful. Unfortunately the Swiss owner of the hotel was absent and his employee wasn't willing to give permission for us to stay. We tried to find a flat place the commander suggested, but couldn't work out where he meant. So we drove back into El Encano to the service station and asked permission to sleep there. They were welcoming and the woman even offered to call the Swiss owner of the chalet to get permission for us to camp there - she was sure he wouldn't mind and she seemed to know him well. By this time it was getting towards dark and Juergen was not of a mind to drive further. We spent the night in the service station, which unfortunately for us (but fortunately for the owners) is open 24 hours. Initially we slept ok, but from about 3:00am the bus and truck traffic started and sleeping was over. It also rained most of the night and we decided that the lake wasn't the place for us to stop for a few days of relaxing in warm sunshine. A local mechanic checked out the coolant problem and reassured us there was no oil in the water or vice versa, so it wasn't a major problem and it would be alright to drive back to Pasto. Since then we have talked to a German mechanic by phone and also Oswaldo in Bogotá, and the engine has leaked coolant on another couple of occasions, but we are still unsure as to why.
We reached Ipiales that day, driving through more amazing mountain scenery with patchwork fields and deep canyons. A lot of travellers stay overnight in the car park of the Sanctuary of Las Lajas, just outside Ipiales. We drove into the parking lot and straight out again - there was no opportunity to get level there and it was just too busy for our liking. We headed back to Ipiales and tried several directions, including a road just being built which suddenly ended at the top of a rather steep bit - we stopped just in time... We then drove toward the border looking for a possibility and found the Hotel Mayasquer. After our experience the previous night with an upmarket hotel, we thought they wouldn't let us stay either. But we decided to ask and were pleasantly surprised when they were very friendly and welcoming - yes you can park in the parking lot - you can also use a room to have a shower for 40.000 Pesos (it would have been 25.000 just to park), so I jumped at it and luxuriated in a very long and very hot shower. Our camper shower is fine but you always have to be very quick in order to use as little water as possible. We also ate dinner in the restaurant, which was not that brilliant but I didn't have to cook it...
The border is closed from 10:00 until 6:00, so it was a relatively peaceful night and after using the hotel WiFi in the morning we left Colombia. Crossing was a very pleasant surprise - it didn't cost anything and we were finished in not much more than half an hour. Some things at least are certainly looking up.

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