We decided to ride out of Pasto with Joe and Vern this morning because: they knew the way out (or had a GPS that would get us out), they were going to the church at Las Lajas and Joe, having seen it before and not feeling like walking back up the hill, was going to sit with the bikes while Vern went down, and Joe had been through the border crossing twice before. While the South American border crossings are widely reported to be cake it’d been so long since we’d crossed a border we…

Today started off with a chance encounter with a couple of travelers from Oregon. They’ve traveled through Central America in their RV, spending some time in Mexico along the way, and now they’re headed toward Argentina where I think they intend to make a new home in their retirement. Spent longer than planned chatting so we got on the road a bit late, alas.

We knew the mountain crossing from Ibague to Armenia takes roughly three hours, so we got up early today and hit the road at a respectable time. We were on the bikes shortly after 8AM, stopped for breakfast and gas and got really “on the road” at 9. Made good time to Ibague and found a road that bypasses it so we wouldn’t have to go through the city. But it was starting to drizzle. Or rain.