Cali to Pasto

When I got on the road at 10, it was already scorching hot. It was another beautiful ride, tough, I think Colombia is one of the most beautiful, diverse countries I’ve ever been to. The ride to Pasto was mostly through the valley, mountains on both sides. After a few hours it turned into mostly desert. At times it felt like I could be in Southern Colorado or the Southwest. The mountains, again, were huge and dramatic.






Just past Popayan, I hit a big pothole at about 100 km/ hr. All the sudden my muffler got real loud. I pull over and the whole thing managed to fall off. The area I was in has been notorious for banditos, so I didn’t want to stop long. I strapped the pipe to the back and rallied into Pasto. Now there was no rolling through town unnoticed, the bike was f’ing loud!





I got into Pasto and found a sweet little hotel with a garage. Definitely the nicest hotel I’ve stayed in during the past 2 months. First shower that wasn’t just a pipe sticking out of the wall and it actually had hot water! Total luxury. All for less the $25 us a night, not bad. The hotel was a real treat.





My bike, especially the seat, is really not made for long touring and this was my longest ride so far. 7 hours on the road with very few stops. By the end of the day I was sore. And exhausted. And sleeping in a nice bed with good sheets after a long, hot shower was so well needed.





The entire day had been brutally hot, but jut before getting to town it totally cooled off with a rainbow going right into town. The city is surrounded by rolling green hills. Kind of reminded me of Boise. Really pretty little town. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the women of Pasto. They definitely are not the same caliber as those in Cali. Actually, I didn’t see one attractive woman the entire time I was there, but they were very nice, great personalities.