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Atuntaqui, Ecuador
November 14, 2022
First, in case you're curious, my wanderingsaround all the towns I am visiting are visible on my Stravaprofile. There's a link to it in the column to the right, or ifyou're on a phone or small tablet it's probably below these blogentries. So far, the towns are Buga, Popayán, Pitalito, Mocoa, and Ipiales in Colombia, and Tulcan, Ibarra, and Atuntaqui, in Ecuador.
This afternoon I left Ibarra and headed for Atuntaqui. I took a bus that cost only US$.45 (45 cents) for a 20-minute ride of about 11 kilometers. Yeah, a whole 45 cents.
Read MoreIbarra,Ecuador - Pretty but a bit on the chilly side
November 13, 2022
First, in case you're curious, my wanderings around all the towns I am visiting are visible on my Strava profile. There's a link to it in the column to the right, or if you're on a phone or small tablet it's probably below these blog entries. So far, the towns are Buga, Popayán, Pitalito, and Mocoa. In each of those town I walked between 20 - 25 kilometers (12 - 15 miles) exploring them.
This morning I left Ipiales and headed for the border of Ecuador. I walked as it was only about 3 kilometers. On the way, there are people, mostly taxis, parked alongside the road wherever a bit of water flowed down from the hillside, and they used to wash their cars. I thought that was interesting, I've seen that before. But, apparently, it's something normal for them. I reached Rumichaka, the border crossing, and I must say it was with a little bit of trepadation—my entry stamp was long ago expired. At the immigration center I told the guy that I wanted to self-deport, we talked a bit, and he said we needed to meet again at 2 pm (it was a couple of minutes before 12) when he would be back from his lunch break. Yeah, lunch breaks here are 2 hours, that's the norm for Colombia (I don't yet know about the other South American countries). So, during his break he and I talked a lot about many things, he's a really nice guy and very helpful. He said the process for me to get a legal exit stamp would take 3 days, but with the weekend, that meant staying until next Wednesday. I suggested passing a little extra under the table to get the stamp today, and he agreed. He talked to another guy and the two of them got me a legal exit stamp with no deporting problems. I just had to pay the fine for the expired entry stamp plus a little extra for the two of them. And now, all is well.
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I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.
I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.