Pasto

We arrived at the terminal de transporte in Ipiales and found the only way to get to Pasto was by collectivo / small minivans, sometimes referred to as microbuses or megabuses, depending on the size of the vehicle. We had eyed-off a transport company that had buses that were bigger than a matchbox car. But as we have become accustomed in South America, you never get what you think you are getting and we ended up squashed into the back of a “megabus”. The megabus was supposed to hold eight people but the child sitting on his grandmother's lap didn't count as a passenger.

After about two hours of driving around mountains, watching the constant flow of Venezuelan refugees heading to the border, we were dropped off at the Pasto terminal de transporte. Pasto is the capital of the Nariño department, with about half a million residents, but surprisingly with very little on offer by way of tourist attractions. Our intention was only to stay a night to break-up the northbound journey and to take a pause from the endless bus trips around the Andes mountains.

Next stop: Popayán.Read more