Colombia Forum

CAtoMDE
Joined 2016
Posts: 420

5 years ago

Quito road trip done! Back hiome in Medellin.

5 years ago

A quick summary of my trip:

Traveled 9 days and 2,830 km in both Colombia and Ecuador (only as far south as Quito).

Tolls - had a total of 39 tolls, 10 were in Ecuador and 29 in Colombia. All the tolls in Ecuador were $1.00 each or 3 mil in COL pesos, the tolls in Colombia ranged from 8 mil to 12 mil each. The grand total value of all 39 tolls are 294,300 pesos.

Checked off the following must see places during my road trip, general road trip route:

Pereira

Salento

Armenia

Tierradentro

Parque Arqueologico San Agustin e Isnos

Mocoa

Pasta

Ipiales/Las Lejas

Quito, Ecuador

Mitad del Mundo

Popayan

Cali

Cartago (spent one night)

Return to Medellin

Hotels - usually paid 40 to 50 mil for smallish hotel room in Colombia but splurged in Quito Ecuador as the hotel had secure parking (my Colombia full theft insurance does not cover me in Ecuador) and paid $70. USD or 210 mil per night (breakfast incld).

Saw some great sights that I can now check off my must see places but more importantly are the handful of great unexpected experiences and discussions I enjoyed with meeting fellow travelers.

My poor Kia on some of those roads ( like the 4 hours from Mocoa to Pasto) but she got me through some real hairy situations, about 15 to number with 5 of them being somewhat dangerous. I can never overstate what an incredible car she is.

Side note worthy to mention - came upon the aftermath of 2 pick up trucks head on collision on Route E35 about 10 km before Ibarra in Ecuador. RIP to the 5 killed instantly, I have seen some bad crashes in my life but have never seen 2 full size (newer Ford 150's) pickups smashed half way, literally half the size. Out of respect did not take any photos of this horrific scene. Waited 1.5 hours for the remains and vehicles to be removed from the road. Prayers to the family and friends of those lost.

Glad to be back in my home in Medellin, my very friendly neighbors whom I now cherish even more, my hot shower, my comfortable bed and can cook my meals again. I feel like James Stewart at the end of It's a wonderful life,
movie, jajajaja

Now where to head on my next long road trip?

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