Pasto to Quito

October 19th Pasto to Quito
I couldn't get warm and had a fitful sleep and was awoken by barking dogs in the early hours. I'm finding that i can only sleep for 6 hours before I wake. I did eventually get back to sleep after writing yesterday's blog. I awoke at 7pm and realised I'd had nothing to eat or drink for 24 hours. There was nothing here unless I liked the taste of rubber. I had a knocking at what looked like a tiny cupboard at the rear of my room (about 4ft tall and 2ft wide). The next thing I know the two young women popped through it and into my room.They were in their hotel uniforms and wanted paying. I paid them £15 and it was worth every penny. On reflection and reading between the lines, I don't think it is a brothel, but in the Americas lots of married men have lovers and there is a demand for places like this. The young ladies' surprise was that I was alone and wanted to stay.

I was on the road just after 8am and it was still quite cold, so learning from yesterday I had a thermal vest and my bike jacket on to start the day. I anticipated taking this off as it warmed up, but as it turned out the weather did not quite reach the temperatures I'd grown used to. I still can't get my head around the mild climate. The scenery is awesome and so different to anywhere else I have been. The mountains almost seem sculptured and the cultivated fields are so pristine, they look like a tapestry woven in their orderliness. I reached the border in just under 2hours which is hard to figure out as it was only 40 miles away. The roads are slow and my average speed must be around 25 miles an hour. Lorries, buses and  twisty, steep roads being the main culprit.

Today was the first day that I went completely solo without any assistance at customs. Clearing Colombian customs was the biggest hassle as they insisted on the original documents and not copies - apparently the importers gave me copies and kept the originals. There was much tutting and shaking of heads and passing this message down the line. Eventually the main man appeared, shook his head  and appeared to say 'What's the problem?' and waved me on. Then to Ecuador Immigration and customs, where I joined a small queue and duly had my passport stamped. Next to Customs where I was eventually directed to the 'Import window'. The young lady took my documents but then proceeded to serve and stamp all the lorry drivers documents. I figured out that she didn't know what to do and which boxes to fill in what information. I gave her a copy of my Panamanian one which gave her the confidence to tackle mine. With just a few questions she had input the data gave me what I needed. I think this was my record through any customs - between 1.35 and 1.40 hours.

I filled up with fuel at the first petrol station $2.20 a gallon which  is around £1.80. As I drove the landscape this part of Ecuador was just so English, very green with small hedged fields, immaculately maintained. This more gentle landscape soon gave way to more majestic scenery that was breath taking in its magnificence, huge mountains and deep gorges. It also became drier, dustier and windy. The temperature increased to around 32 degrees which with the wind was very pleasant (still had my jacket on). My journey was a long one today, in terms of time, as they are undergoing a massive road building programme which is astounding in its scale. They are tearing through mountainsides to build a two lane highway all the way to the capital Quinto.

The start of extensive roadworks

A little bit of England in Ecuador

By the time I reached Quinto it was 4pm and Tinks was playing up again, she had no data for hotels in any part of Ecuador and her directions were so basic they were of no use. I drove around the City - which is absolutely enormous looking for any hotel. I popped into one that looked nice, but they had no spare rooms, though they let me use their wifi to look one up on Expedia - they also gave me a drink of orange, which was so welcome. I would normally do all this the night before, but with no wifi it was not possible. I soon found one at an extortunate price, but it was the cheapest available. After a 15 mile drive through the busy evening traffic I found the hotel using Google maps.
The City is surrounded by snow capped mountains and I'm more keen to drive through them than exploring an enormous city.