Colombia to Ecuador

View from the bus

 We spent three nights in Medellin, not doing too much, before heading out to Ipiales in southern Colombia, which was a 22 hour bus ride away. I’ve never been on a bus for so long, and it’s definitely not the best, although we did stop twice. They blasted AC, but we planned ahead and brought a blanket. We passed the time trying to sleep, reading, and trying to understand the couple of Spanish movies they played. The one positive thing about the bus ride was the country side, it was absolutely beautiful. The whole trip was winding through lush green mountains.

In Ipiales, we took a quick taxi ride to a large cathedral in the area. Another beautiful sight and a way to break up the trip, although we had to lug our backpacks around. From here we took a taxi to the border, and then a 6 hour bus to Quito. We ended up getting to Quito at 10 pm, after traveling for 32 hours. Needless to say we were exhausted and starving, having not eaten since Colombia. We took a 30 minute cab ride to our hotel, but unfortunately when we got there all the restaurants were closed so we had to pass the night hungry. It was nice to sleep in a bed, but my body felt so stiff from sitting in buses for so long that it was hard to get comfortable.