Cycling across the border between Colombia and Ecuador

After leaving Pasto, we headed to Ipiales which was the border town at the Colombia-Ecuador border in Colombia. Took the opportunity to visit the Las Lajas Sanctuary, a church built between a valley. Despite the rain, which has plagued the past 7 riding days, and the resulting overcast skies, the view was still amazing. Being close to 3,000m elevation, I could definitely feel my lungs struggling to extract oxygen from the thin air. Walking to get a better view definitely had me gasping for breath and I guess it was a combination of the 700m of ascent, thin air and my general lack of cycling fitness which had me struggling to walk around!

Plaques giving thanks for favors received lined the walkway to the Cathedral.

After the second night, we woke up at 7, had breakfast and headed straight to Rumichaca to cross the border. Getting there was easy as it was generally downslope and it took less than 20mins from Ipiales. Getting through immigration on the Colombian side was easy too though we had to use the pedestrian line (kinda hoped that we could use the car lane as it would have been faster). It was the Ecuador immigration that really took some time. We were queuing up for almost 3 hours before we had a chance to even get within visual range of the counters. There were also a large number of Venezuelan asylum seekers camped outside of the immigration office. I guess it is a good thing I decided not to visit Venezuela after all. The solidarity and camaraderie of the Venezuelans were amazing though and they sang songs to keep their spirits up. Cycling in the Andes has been tough, but I'd imagine waiting outside for days/months without and idea of what will happen and being in limbo ain't easy either! I guess not that many Singaporeans use this particular border as well as the lady took my passport to the back room twice and also consulted 2 other colleagues before returning to the counter and proceeding with the necessary work.

Right after clearing customs, it was off to Tulcan. Needless to say, after the brilliant downhill from Ipiales, there was a climb right from the get go before we could get to Tulcan. It was also odd to have to start thinking in USD which is the currency used in Ecuador.

First meal in Ecuador. 

Based on the recommendation of Oscar from Colombia, we also visited the cemetery in Tulcan before proceeding on the Pan American Highway. It had a topiary garden which made it a really unique experience!

As it was pretty late already we decided to stay at the next town in Julio Andrade as it was only a short 20km away. Asked at the fire station in Julio Andrade, however the station chief directed us to San Pedro de Huaca, a fifteen minute ride away, as it was an actual station and more likely to have space to put us up. Fortunately for us, after one of the firemen consulted the station chief, they let us stay in an empty bunk which had 2 beds. Definitely a lifesaver as it was already dark and none of us wanted to be cycling at night especially with the area being in the clouds it's like perpetually raining!

 

Up bright and early to head Ibarra, which almost a hundred kilometers away, and the first 70km was magnificent. Downhill most of the way and we covered it in 3 hours with speeds close to 70km/h on some stretches. Barely had to peddle at all and before knowing what was up, we were through Valle de Chota and looking for a place to grab lunch! Happiness for me was short-lived though as the last 30km was where it was really painful. Right from leaving the lunch venue, it was ascending all the way. When I reached a crest, I would realise that it wasn't even flat, it was just that the incline was not as steep as before. With some tailwind, I was happy just to be able to keep above 6km/h when i wasn't stationary! The views at the last climb before Ibarra was amazing though and i used the opportunity to take more photos while resting at the same time!

Took a while but finally I made it to Ibarra, a medium sized town, and met my fellow travellers at Hotel Imbabura. The proprietor is a friendy old man who lives with his family and has a massive collection of airline sized liquor from all over the world. Sadly there isn't any liquor manufactured in Singapore so he had to satisfy himself with showing me one from Japan. He recommended Laguna Cuicocha and the town of Cotacachi which was well known for it's leather goods which we visited the following day and also San Antonio de Ibarra which we intend to stop by on our way to the Equator! From the bus ride out to Cotacachi, it looks like getting out of Ibarra to the Equator promises to be a challenge with something like a 400m ascent over the course of 10km. Fingers crossed for my legs!

Spanish lessons in Mexico City

So on my second week in Mexico, I decided to sign up for Spanish language lessons. This was a 3 week course and I had decided to do it in Mexico City itself with the wish that I would reap the benefits for the rest of my journey through Mexico as well as the rest of Latin American.

I joined the University of Lasalle as the timing was right. It started right as I was returning from my short trip to Guanajuato, and it was only 3 weeks long. The other course I had shortlisted was 6 weeks long with UNAM, the local university. All in for the course with Lasalle, I paid 5200MXN, approximately 130sgd. This included 15 hrs of classes weekly from Monday to Friday in the morning and an additional hour of group conversation on Wednesday afternoons. I have to admit learning spanish has not been quite as easy as I'd anticipated. The grammer is totally different from english which is a pain when you think in english and try to translate directly by simply replacing the words into español. Thats before we even get into the aspect of masculine and feminine terms and the multiple conjugations.

Prior to starting, I was thinking it would be smooth sailing and I would spend half a day in class and the other half exploring the city of México. Lets just say that in the past 3 weeks, between class and homework, going to the supermarket to get groceries I pretty much the most exploring I've done. I keep forgetting words ive learnt and on multiple occasions in the same day, I may have checked a words definition upwards of twenty times only to forget it minutes if not seconds later. I did manage to go for some meetups though. Especially friday nights where I'd join a local language exchange at a cafe in Condesa, one of the districts in Cuidad de México.

Well now that the course is over, I still struggle with Spanish. My ear isnt tha great and I generally can't catch what is being said. I can ask questions,  but even though I may know the words in the reply, I generally can't catch them all! Most likely in a few more stops,  I am going to have to sign up for another course in spanish.

5 days Myanmar

This was a very short trip as firstly, I realised how expensive accommodation would be and secondly, while booking my flight tickets,  I forgot that February only had 28 days. Anyway during this trip, I spent one day in Yangon, 2 days in Bagan and finally 2 days in Inlay. All in I spent about USD 200 not including flights. My flight from Singapore cost SGD 140 on Tiger airways including taxes. And my flight out from Yangon to Phnom Penh via Bangkok cost USD 220 on Bangkok Airways. I was lucky to be able to join other travellers too which allowed me tostill hire a car and be at thesame price as renting a bicycle. I will just give a breakdown as I'm still on the road. Update in detail later. 

25th Feb Yangon
-10USD cab to hostel (MYANMAR BACKPACKER) 2pax
-4USD cab to Shwedagon Pagoda
-8USD entrance to Shwedagon Pagoda
-3USD cab to hostel (I dropped early at the market and walked back while Liz went straight to hostel)
-16USD for one night (forfeited as realised not enuff time in Bagan)
-16000Kyat for bus to Bagan (purchased from hostel as cheaper than travel agency nearby)

26th Feb Bagan
-25USD cab to sunrise then to hostel (Ostello Bello Bagan) 4pax
-20USD entrance fee for Bagan (managed to sell it for 10 USD as it was -5 days long and I had only used 2 days)
-35USD hired car from 9am to 6pm 4pax
-21USD for one night in hostel

27th Feb Bagan
-34USD car hire to Mt. Popa.
-11000Kyat bus to Inlay

28th Feb Inlay
-1USD ride to hotel (Joy Hotel)
-1000Kyat bicycle rental til 9pm (A Tun travel, beside smiling moon restaurant)

1 Mar Inlay
-15000Kyat boat tour of Inle Lake. 3pax but can take up to 5pax (Sun rises from behind a mountain so it is still possible to catch it if you leave hotel at 6am. Might miss a bit of the hues though. Otherwise youd have to be on the water at 530)
-18000Kyat bus to Yangon (13000Kyat if you take the standard bus)

2 Mar Yangon
-8000Kyat cab from terminal to Airport 2pax (I reckon it could be pushed down though another guy who had offered 9000Kyat was shouting at our driver. Distance felt shorter than hotel to Shwedagon Pagoda)