After five weeks in Ecuador, it was time for a new country – Colombia!! I’d worked my way up from southern Ecuador to the north and a bus border crossing made the most sense for my route.
The most known land border crossing is from Ecuador’s Tulcán to Colombia’s Ipiales. You can get to Tulcán from Quito which makes it a popular choice for backpackers. I did this one and here’s my experience…
Step 1 – Bus from Otavalo to Tulcán
The first leg of my journey was getting the bus from Otavalo to Tulcán. I headed to the main road passing Otavalo and waved down a bus to Tulcán. Having come from Quito, the bus was full save for one seat which I grabbed! It was a 3hr journey from Otavalo to Tulcán and cost $4.
You can go from Quito too. It’s a 5hr journey and costs $8. You can get a bus from either Quito’s north (Carcelén) and south (Quitumbe) terminals. The journey will be approx an hour longer if you go from the south.
I chose to start my border crossing from Otavalo because I wanted to go to Laguna Cuicocha and see Otavalo market and also because it cut two hours off my bus ride to Tulcán.
Step 2 – Taxi to Rumichaca, the border
From Tulcán’s bus station, you need to get a taxi to Rumichaca, the border. Getting my backpack off the bus, I noticed a couple who also looked like backpackers. I asked them if they’d share a taxi and off we went. A taxi costs $3,50 and it’s a set rate.
Step 3 – Exit Ecuador
In Rumichaca, head to the border customs office. There’s an office where you get your exit stamp but you’re not allowed to take your big backpack in.
Being a solo traveller in these situations isn’t fun! No way was I going to leave my bag unattended! Luckily there was another solo traveller and a few other backpackers. We took it in turns. He watched my bag whilst I got my exit stamp and I watched his when it was his turn. It did double the time taken but I was way happier!
Step 4 – Enter Colombia
Once we’d got our exit stamps for Ecuador, we crossed the bridge to the Colombian side to get our entrance stamps.
Before entering the immigration customs building, we were asked to show our passports and whether we were entering/leaving Colombia and if we’d got our Ecuador exit stamp. Saying we were entering Colombia and had got our exit stamp we were told to go desk number 7. This had the shortest queue and we were through pretty quickly.
I’d heard a few things from other travellers about Colombian authorities wanting proof of onward travel upon entering the country. In other words, proof that you were leaving! Backpacking doesn’t make it easy to have proof because a lot of the time our travel is flexible.
This was the case for me, I reckon I’ll be in Colombia for 1-2months but I can’t say definitively when I’ll leave.
At the desk, the man asked where I was heading in Colombia and where I was going after. I said Panama and he then asked when my flight out was. In my head, I panicked slightly since I had no flight booked! I explained to him that I was going to the San Blas Islands and would then cross into Panama.
He seemed to think about what I’d said and then accepted it. He never asked for physical proof of a flight much to my huge relief! Passport stamped, I was in Colombia!
Step 5 – Taxi to Ipiales and onward travel
We then got a $4 taxi to Ipiales which took around 10mins. We were dropped off at the bus station and from there you can book your onward travel to many destinations: Popayan, Cali, Medellín to name a few.
I booked a 7pm night bus to Cali with Bolivariano for 37,000COP (£9 approx).
Step 6 – Visit Las Lajas church
Close to Ipiales is the beautiful Las Lajas church. It’s very easy to visit and makes a travel day more exciting!
I dropped my big rucksack off at the terminal’s luggage storage for 2500COP (£0.60) and then got a colectivo outside the terminal to Las Lajas for another 2500COP.
Note: Entrance to Las Lajas is free also!
It’s a really beautiful church and I enjoyed my visit. I stayed much longer than I thought! I loved how it was built into the side of a hill and valley, it’s kind of hidden away. Walking down to it, I turned a corner and it was suddenly in front of me.
I arrived in the rain which cleared and I had the rest of the afternoon in the sunshine.
Also, on a side note, I’ve been in Colombia less than a day and Colombians are so friendly. Wandering around Las Lajas church, I had multiple conversations: with a little girl who asked me about Paris, an older man who’s lived in Aberdeen but had his communion in the very church we were standing in front of, and a guy from Bogota who was happy to do a photo taking exchange.
Final thoughts
Crossing from Tulcán to Ipiales was a really smooth border crossing, it took an hour in total. I’d heard things about it being dangerous, but like most borders watch your belongings and be sensible and you’ll be fine. This was the case with me. I may have watched my belongings more than usual but I didn’t feel unsafe. Also, cross the border in the day!
Spending the afternoon at Las Lajas church was lovely and I really recommend a visit if you have time between crossing the border and getting a bus to your next destination. I really thought it was worth it!
I spent most of the afternoon there (logic being I’d much rather wait sitting in front of a beautiful church than in a bus station!), but you don’t need long – only an hour!
I’m now getting the night bus to Cali and then we’ll see where next!
