The border crossing was straight forward. The young Colombian lady that took the vehicle details was new at her job and was a bit slow and we needed to correct some of the details after her first efforts. One of the money changers had a calculator that produced the following calculation when I asked to change US$100.
$100 x 1800 = 11800
That did not seem right!
From Ipiales the road north wound through spectacular green mountain valleys. The road was very twisty though other wise in pretty good condition. There was a lot of slow truck traffic and passing them on the mountain road was difficult/hair-raising. Today confirmed for us that the Pan Americana in Colombia was the most challenging highway driving in South America.
Late afternoon we arrived at the town of Patia where we had stopped on our southern journey last year. The Parador/Tourist center was open for business and we settled in for a warm night in tropical surroundings.
Camping
We camped at the same Parador, swimming complex at Patia that we used on our southern journey, see 27th August 2009 journal entry. This time the price seemed to be lower - 6,000 pesos per person.
The news of the day that might be of interest to other travelers however was buying Colombian vehicle insurance in Ipiales. After some searching we found a SOAT office near the town center on Calle 12 between Carrera 6 and 7. The lady that sold us the insurance obviously knew about tourists with vehicles. She told us she was available on Sundays and holidays if needed. Here are the contact details.
MULTISEGUROS Olga Lucia Mejia Gerente OFICINA Calle 12 No. 6-25 Local 03 Edificio Santa Clara Tel 7255852 Cel 317 538 5539 email olgamejia@hotmail.com IPIALES-NARINO
