Cycling The Globe

Distance: 81.97 km
Ride time: 5.42.12
Average: 14.37 km/h
Max speed: 54.36 km/h
Total: 32531 km

It’s nice to have a goal for the day. Today mine was clear enough – cycle to Colombia! I country I have been looking much forward to visit for a long time.

It had been raining during the night so I was waiting around for the sun to come up to dry my tent a bit. With the sun also came the farmer – a little surprised that a cyclist was sleeping in his field, but all welcoming and excited to hear about the trip.

After the long climb yesterday I had reached an area with rolling hills – it was still up and down the whole day, but the climbs were short. And a beautiful landscape it was… reminded me of Lord of the Rings country in New Zealand.

I was getting closer to Tulcán, the final city in Ecuador before the border with Colombia. Ecuador has been a different experience compared to the other countries I have visited in South America. I had a long break down in Guayaquil, but apart from that I have been cycling through the country very fast with only minimal stops. I somehow don’t feel I know the country as deep as Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. Not that there is anything wrong with Ecuador – only a good reason to come back and learn more.

With those thoughts I got stamped out of Ecuador and a few minutes later I was in Colombia. If first impressions count Colombia will be good. Normally people working at borders are not the happiest in the world, but this was different – it was all smiles and “welcome to Colombia amigo” from every official and border guard.

I remember a cold and windy day on the endless pampas in Patagonia a year ago where I was dreaming about being in tropical Colombia. The dream continued ever sine, and now I’m finally here!