Day 895
Adios Pasto
So finally our time in Pasto has come to an end. We had grown rather fond of Pasto. We made good friends at POC, teachers Louis and Sandra took us out for a goodbye meal, Tom braved ‘cuy', or guinea pig to you and me! I ate popcorn. We were lucky enough to meet three fellow cycle tourers, Helene, Arnaud and then Sylvan. Helene stayed with us for a few days whilst she recovered from the shock of an attempted robbery. We were very glad to be able to support her. Then we met up again with Wouter, who we had met in San Agustin. He is backpacking his way around South America. Our social life here was getting very busy! Our final night arrived, and the team at POC hosted a farewell party. Everyone brought along traditional dishes of Colombia, thankfully no cuy. We brought Coronation chicken sandwiches, which received polite comments but I don’t think they’ll become a POC favourite!
Then we were off on the recently updated Pan American Highway. Uphill. For miles. It was tough but not as painful as we had feared. After 10 miles and a 3,000 foot climb, we had a fantastic descent. We now had a choice, another 2,500 feet of climbing or stay put. We decided to stop for the night. We had promised our family and friends we would be sensible and take it as easy as possible, and as we were both exhausted it was an easy decision.
In the morning we returned to the Pan American Highway, with it’s super smooth tarmac and wide hard shoulder but only for 4 miles then we left it to ride the old road. It wasn’t too bad, and actually was not as hilly as the new road. We could see the new road’s bridges high above us. We were riding along a canyon carved out by the river running below us on the valley floor. We rode for about 3 hours, more hills, and both of us felt pretty weary. The town we had stopped in was a bit grim so we decided to stick to our original plans and head for Las Lajas. Just ten more miles. Uphill obviously and to add to the fun, on dirt. Rough and rocky. We both struggled, I walked a fair bit. Finally we had only 3 miles to go. As usual when we are at a low ebb, we were thrown a curve ball. Our way ahead was barred by a green fence. The road beyond had been dug up. Locals reassured us we could walk through however they forgot to mention we would have to walk the plank, four times! Finally we were through, the last three miles were up a steeper hill than Komoot had warned us about but then sanctuary arrived, Las Lajas lay before us.
