The scoop on Cycling in Colombia & Ecuador

Here we are, it has taken me a while but motivation kind of hit rock bottom after the end of my journey…. you know, the return to work, the English winter weather and all that, it has been somewhat ‘demoralising’… however, below I have scribbled down a few of my thoughts and experiences with respect to the things that are important to the cyclist (as opposed to the regular traveller) in Colombia and Ecuador… before I proceed however it has just occurred to me that I have readers in the US, so given the notoriously litigious nature of that society (and the of UK sadly) then perhaps a small disclaimer is in order… all of the following is purely my opinion and based on personal experience. I’ve been called reckless and stupid, personally I prefer “adventurous and not dull”… If you want to read the horror stories then I’m sure either the British Foreign Office website, or whatever the US equivalent is , will put you off for life…. :o) So in no particular order:

Food: Very important this one… :o) My comments apply to both Colombia and Ecuador so I won’t make any real distinction. Breakfast can be difficult, often in the mornings it is hard to get anything other than some bread and jam… but there are exceptions (see my recommendations below) and anyway a bit of forward planning in the form of a pint of yogurt and some bananas bought the day before is good enough. Lunch is never a problem, there are little restaurants in most villages and along the primary routes doing a set lunch (Almuerzo Corriente) that usually consists of soup followed by a main of rice, beans, fried meat or chicken, fried plantain and often fried potato chips, accompanied by fruit juice and occasionally a bit of fruit or something sweet for dessert. It’s cheap too… usually around US$2-3. You can usually find the same of an evening all over the place though in bigger towns there is more variety available a’la carte… In Ecuador especially there was pretty decent Italian and even Chinese to be found in many places. Southern Colombia lacked that variety but there was still some very good food to be had. It’s hard work doing without Marmite though… There were some fantastic juice bars in the lowlands of Colombia’s Valle de Rio Magdalena… it is hot, very hot down there so to be able to have a litre or so of ice cold fresh squeezed juice (mango, strawberry, orange, you name it…) for around 1500pesos (about US$0.85) was heavenly. Made a pretty good breakfast drink too mixed with milk… yummm!

Food between lunch stops on the bike for this racing snake (being a scrawny git I have little in the way of ’stored reserves…:o) sometimes is difficult… you won’t find any energy drinks or powerbars…. but I managed with bananas, savoury crackers, oreo cookies (yum) and dried fruit. There were bakeries all over the place in Colombia too but I didn’t see so much of that in Ecuador. In Colombia you can get in most shops thick slabs of fruit pulp (papaya and guava I think) sandwiched between thin layers of wafer… they get a bit anonymous but alternated with savoury crackers they do the job….!

Coffee: Also very important (well it is to me..), sadly however in Ecuador a decent one is hard to come by except in a few places. It appears that all the decent stuff is exported leaving the locals with an awful powdered muck masquerading as coffee… it’s usually served alongside a cup of hot milky water and you add as much brown stuff as you like…. it really isn’t very nice at all.. Colombia is a lot better, there is still some rough stuff to be had but coffee seems very much more part of national pysche and it is much, much easier to find a decent brew. It’s not really even worth trying to find a decent mug of that British cyclist’s staple - a mug of tea…. I brought mine (tea and big mug!) from home.

Road conditions: Generally excellent though there are differences between the two countries so…

Ecuador: the primary routes all have pretty good surfaces, the Pan Americana is a toll road (free for cyclists) so gets maintained properly though still has sections of rough or broken pavement… no worse than many UK urban or suburban roads. Away from the primary routes the surface varies from excellent to bloody awful. In general the smaller and remoter the destination the worse the road gets. The dirt roads in the mountains get pretty muddy in the wet but they seem to drain well and dry out pretty quick. 700C wheels with say 32C touring tyres would be fine unless you want to go riding up Cotopaxi (like I did) or off down the Devil’s Nose Railway (I did that too…) in which case a fatter 26″ tyre is a better bet. Traffic on the Pan Americana in Ecuador was heavier than in Southern Colombia (but by no means heavy by western standards, and at times was very quiet) but surprisingly the drivers were all well behaved, expect plenty of waves and cheers from truckers and they always gave me plenty of room and a little warning toot on the horn from behind. Quito was a different matter… fine for riding on a Sunday when the traffic was light but on a weekday morning it is something of a hair-raising experience, especially as the route south out of the city snaked through the narrow streets of the old city. Still, I made it out alive so it can’t be that bad and it’s all good for experience/pub stories anyhow. Quito’s suburbs aren’t very pleasant to cycle through… I didn’t feel threatened at all.. rather it is just a question of terrible surfaces, lots of traffic fumes and not being particularly pretty to look at…

Colombia: The roads on the main routes were brilliantly well maintained, billiard table smooth and, in the south especially, with very little traffic except the last day heading into Bogotá. The smaller mountain roads can vary from smooth asphalt to terribly rough dirt (like the road to San Agustin). The map I used (see below) for Colombia was pretty useful (and accurate) with respect to indicating which routes are surfaced and which aren’t… handy for planning, especially if you are on a skinny-tyred bike. Riding in Bogotá was far more pleasant than Quito. It is still busy but there seemed to much more room on the roads and I felt generally more comfortable in the traffic… which is still pretty crazy in the week so you do need to keep your wits about you but ride with confidence and even a degree of aggression and you’ll be fine… wear a crash helmet! The northern part of the city has plenty of dedicated bike lanes, and Sundays in downtown Bogotá are traffic free. I timed my first arrival into Bogotá for a Sunday and although things were a little crazy on the outskirts actually arriving in and navigating around the city centre was a surprisingly mellow experience.

Maps: For Colombia I used the IGN (Istitut Geographique National) Carte Touristique Colombie . At a scale of 1: 1 500 000 it shows plenty of detail for the touring cyclist and has a good indication of which roads are surfaced and which are not.
For Ecuador I used the 1: 700 000 map from ITMB . The scale is fine for touring use but it doesn’t give any indication of surface type. There is an IGN map for Ecuador but it is not such a useful scale. I also found one or two errors on this ITMB map, most notably the fantastic, well surfaced road that heads across the southern flanks of Chimborazo to join the main Ambato-Guaranda road about 30km north of Guaranda… it’s not shown at all.

If you are after road maps then Stanfords is a good place to start. For town maps I just tore pages out of the Footprint guide, and where there was no map then the locals are good for directions anyway.

Dangerous things: Not many… don’t worry yourself silly about bandits and robbbery and stuff, that kind of stuff happens in any country and the reality is you’re less of a target on a bike than in a bus. I met nothing but friendly folk everywhere. That’s not to say you should wear your $$$ on the outside of your clothes.. just be discreet, use some common sense and keep your eyes open in crowded places. The only real danger to the cyclist is dogs… and only in Ecuador, there are a few aggressive buggers around but a stick and/or some rocks will sort them out. Don’t let them put you off. Next time I’ll take one of those little ultrasonic gadgets and hope I don’t meet any deaf mutts.
I suppose I should say a word on the guerilla and drugs problems in Colombia, after all this where the terrible reputation comes from… The guerilla forces are still active but the reality is that, as a traveller without political connections, you’d have to be very very unlucky to have any trouble, that is even if you came into contact with them in the first place. Ask locals for advice, stay clear of remoter areas in the south and around the Ecuadorean border (the Pan Americana is fine) and you should be OK. Uribe’s current government has made enormous progress in improving the security of the country. Apparently holdups do occasionally occur on the roads at night, but that’s not going to affect you as a cyclist and heck, it’s not exactly a unique problem… I suspect Ecuador, Peru and so on have a bigger problem. As for drugs, well just stay out of the way of all that and you’ll not have any trouble I reckon. So there you go, head to Colombia with an open mind and prepare to be won over.

Places to stay: In short… loads! Plenty of backpacker type places in Ecuador, and refuges in the national parks. Standards vary but you can find some really nice places for just US$5 with private bathroom and a decent hotwater system. Fewer ‘baclpacker’ places in Colombia but just about every town or village has at least one hostal to cater for local travellers. Standards vary as you’d expect from very basic with just cold water to real luxury (and still relatively cheap, say US$10-30) which every once in a while is a real treat when riding hard. I didn’t bother camping, didn’t seem a lot of point unless I had planned to head out in the wilds, for example, of Sangay national Park in Ecuador. The very few places I arrived in Colombia without a hostal weren’t a problem either, just find a cafe, sit tight and make it known you need somewhere to stay… you’d have to be very very unlucky not to end up with a room.

People:The people in Colombiaa re exceptionally friendly, if you show up on a bicycle in the less-travelled south of the country you can expect even to have folk stop in the road to say hello, find out where you are from and so on. That is all I can say really, just wonderful people. Ecuador is a little more ‘hardened’ to the tourist I guess though away from Quito the people were really very nice also, without exception. Quito is a little different… I wouldn’t say it is unfriendly, but it is a big city and it does have it’s fair share of unpleasant folk…

Bikeshops: Hard to come by in Ecuador, bicycles seemed to hardly feature as a mode of transport so it would be hard to find spares for a modern bike I suspect… Colombia is nuts about cycling so there are bike shops all over the place. Outside of the biggger towns the bikes and spares available are pretty basic but once you get closer to the heartland of Colombian cycling then you can lay your hands on pretty much anything available in the US or Europe… including Campagnolo parts :o)

Cheating (aka “the bus”): It does happen… you could get sick, change your plans entirely, run out of town or want to connect distant areas in one go… you can also get to watch some pretty awful, and usually bloody, movies regardless of time of day.

Ecuador: Easy to put to bike on even the express buses. The smaller rural buses all have roofracks and are used to carting odd loads around, a fully assembled bike is no problem at all. The luxury express buses also had really big luggage compartments that will take a fully assembled bike and trailer… really useful for an easy life getting to and from the bus station. No charge for a bike either it seems though on the couple of occasions I used the bus in Ecuador I tipped the driver’s mate just to smooth things along with regard to the extra effort required to look after it.

Colombia: I used one bus in Colombia and it was a pain in the arse with a bike. The buses are very modern and have tiny, suitcase-sized luggage spaces so wheels have to come off, you may need to turn bars round too. The trailer was a difficult squeeze and you may get an earful from the driver (assuming you can persuade him to take the bike in the first place, a few $$$ may help..) for swallowing up all the luggage space. Smaller minibuses also run on a number of routes, these didn’t appear to have roof-racks in general so you may have a problem. Of course there is always a way to get you and your bike from A to B, even if it is just a case of persuading the owner of a truck that he could do with earning a few $$$ extra on the side…

Travellers I met invariably moaned about the night-buses in both countries… apparently the air-con is usually set so cold you’ll risk frostbite without some warm clothing..

“Security” forces: Can’t really comment in Ecuador as I didn’t really encounter any. In Colombia, especially in the south where guerilla activity seems to be concentrated, there wa s apretty heavy military and police presence on the roads in the form of soldiers stationed at strategic points such as bridges, and a lot of police/army checkpoints on the roads. I wasn’t stopped once, the usual routine seemed to be a smile and nod of the head in return for a hello from me… and that was about as hard as it got :o)

Miscellaneous: I’m sure there’s other stuff but at time of writing I can’t think of anything… but if there is anything you want to know feel free to get in touch via the comments field below and I’ll be able to mail back.

….. ah I forgot to mention beer didn’t I… what a shocking oversight. I’m not a big beer drinker at home but the brews available in both countries have that particularly light, refreshing and always cold quality that so appeals after a day on the bike…. In Ecuador it comes in great big bottles for not very much, in Colombia the bottles are smaller but it still costs relatively bugger all (Club Colombia was my favourite..). The roadies that accompanied me on that final climb to Bogotá were shocked to find out just how much a pint costs back here in the UK. At least they were asking the right questions!

Now for a few recommendations…

good places to stay and eat that I particularly enjoyed.. not intended to be comprehensive, rather just a few favourites.

Latacunga (Ecuador) - for a place to stay the Hostal Tiana (website) is great. New, super friendly owners, great beds, lovely building, good food and coffee and a great place to base yourself for trips to Cotopaxi and Laguna Quilotoa. I really felt at home here. For food there is a brilliant Italian restaurant on one corner of the main plaza. I can’t remember the name of it but the pizzas, pasta and salads are great. You’ll find it no problem.

Baños (Ecuador) - I stayed at the Princesa Maria (corner of Rocafuerte & Mera, Tel: 03 2741 035 ). It’s a blue building, very very friendly and helpful, use of a kitchen, lovely rooms for just $5… all bright colours and polished wood. The hot water system is ace too… and to cap it all you can use the kitchen. Highly recommended.

Guaranda (Ecuador) - For a place to sleep I thought the Hostal de Las Flores, corner of Pichincha and Rocafuerte was really nice. It’s a lovely old colonial house that’s been beautifully renovated. Rooms are around a covered courtyard complete with flowers and canaries…! I had a pretty good spaghetti bolognese in Guaranda on the west side of the main plaza.

Ipiales (Colombia): The hotel Los Andes was a bit of a treat really (I needed it this night), it’s a very classy joint and seemingly out of place (however Ipiales is very busy with cross-border trade…) but very friendly.. and still only about US$15… so just for one night of living well it was perfect :o)

San Agustin (Colombia): For a place to stay and eat I reckon it would be hard to beat the friendly Finca El Maco. Situated just outside town in lovely gardens the food is superb, and in the mornings there is usually a mountain of good, fresh bread hot from the oven… :o) It would have been very easy to stay here a long time doing nothing much at all beyond swinging in a hammock and listening to the birds (day) or watching the fireflies (night). They have a website here.
Good eating in town too at El Fogón… lots of atmosphere, open kitchen, very good food and the staff are fun too. At time of my visit there was a parrot or two to be spotted hopping around up in the rafters.

Neiva: In the centre of town the Luna Verde was, on the face of it, an unremarkable place to stay but the reception I received sticks in my mind, and it was spotlessly clean and comfortable so it gets a mention.

Villa de Leyva (Colombia): I stayed just outside town at Colombian Highlands (aka Casa Renacer). I’m getting tired of saying things like very friendly, very helpful, beautiful etc etc but it’s true! The garden is nice, there’s pleasant outdoor seating/swinging (in the hammocks) with BBQ/firepit and use of a kitchen too. Highly recommended. Website here.

I’ll stick some photos on this page to brighten it up once I get all my images processed… so if you are reading this sentence then I guess I haven’t got around to that yet… in which case apologies for the enormous, unbroken expanse of text above…. :o)