One more province to go in Colombia but despite my best efforts to go faster, there would be no time to zig zag around before my visa expires.

my friends from yesterday left me with these nice fruits, i dont know what they are called but they are delicious!

Its time to pump up the tires and hit the tarmac, time to be a highway hero!

As is typical it is nearly impossible to keep low profile in Colombian towns, gone are the days where I was a gringo now it is all questions, mostly about wether or not I have a motor!

There was a nie hotel for $9 but they did not let me wheel the bike in the room. I dont think I have ever spent a night away from the bike.

Luckily the other one did not mind.

And the best part, a pile of fries and game of thrones!

Few hours of climbing and I knew how the rest of the day will look like. Down to 1400m or so and back up to 3200ish.

just over that huge mountain on the far side...

Colombia is working on a strict share-the-roadprogram: "share the road with rocks"

And once on the Panamerican highway I was happy to know fathorse is in good hands while I am not looking.

One could argue about that but on a tarmac, if you can get a hold of a truck its a fair game. Although to be honest, probably not the safest of practices... I zoomed up at least 800m vertical behind an empty truck, moving quite fast.

Highway dogs remind me of mexico, scared and shy and always surprised if you feed them.

This bugger trotted behind me for a bit, a little confused of what had happened.

Roof dogs always have this altitude, thinking they are above everyone else but once I started howling, we were buddies. Then I kind of realized people were looking at me...

It could be the panamerican but you still need to move those cows A to B.

Despite the sundown, I decided to keep going to Pasto. A Burger sounded like a good idea.

I booked it past the no cyclists sign after an army truck at first the soldiers pointing to the guy from the booth who is whistling and chasing me. Then all the soldiers start cheering so I keep pedalling and well without the tunnel I wont make it to Pasto today...

Turns out the highway does a half circle on a hilly route around town and by the time I get there its dark and I truly appreciate the ride, due to safety concerns I have almost never ridden in the dark in Latin America. Its july 19 and its colombian independence day.

Sadly the verdict for the sony camera and the scratched lenes is "better to by a new one" and no luck fixing the gopro lcd screen which stoppedworking after a dip in a river. The sony actioncam is also in bad state and cant be turned off. After I record a video i need to manually open the door and shut it off.

Over 3 days, 4 burgers, 2 papayas and 3 mangoes I manage to finish off the 20th episode for colombia and it is one more day to Ipiales and Ecuador.

I catch a semi out of town for a short climb but no luck on the final climb out of thevalley. The petrol truck was simply weird to hold and dangerous and another gravel one I cought was just too fast. Climb was easy and I had time to record some questions and answers for a new video.

All shipping companies seem to have an outrageous $50 rate to send my old passport back but with some talking we managed to do it for 5 and wrap it in carbon paper so they cant xray it. Bite me UPS!!! Servientrega and Deprisa too!

did you read the fine print? "your packages are inspected for security by x-ray and canine anti-explosive biosensor"
aka, a yellow lab in a police uniform will sniff your box!

(and yes, if you are wondering, he does like the belly rub!)

All done, right? Nope!
At migracion Colombia I get a math lesson. I am one day over and the minimum fine is $150.
Despite what you would expect, it is colombia after all. After some waiting and talking the guy says that they dont have the exact time of the day I arrived at Colombia so technically its okay.
Stamp. Shake hands. Ok. Ecuador!