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27.01.2020: Ipiales
There were three other motorhomes parked at the teleférico so we weren't alone. It was raining all morning so we didn't drive back into town until 3pm. We went to find Western Union first to see if we could pick up cash there (yes) but it meant driving up another extremely steep road and then parking illegally!! The office had moved so it took awhile but we finally got back to the supermarket only to find out that the vehicle insurance system was still down!!
We checked on iOverlander but then just walked along the main street. Several places wouldn't sell us insurance because we're foreigners. We were about to give up and drive back to the border to check there when we finally found someone. We paid $70 US cash for 3 months insurance and we can extend it by Whatsapp and pay at any shop that accepts GIROS payments. We just go in with our electronic bill and hand over cash. Super!
We drove back to the teleférico for another night in the rain. I checked out various things on iOverlander to work out a plan. As ever we were totally unprepared and checking things out as we go along!
28.01.2020: Las Lajas
The teleférico costs 14,000 each ($5 US) and goes, very slowly, down into the valley to Las Lajas and an important pilgrimage Basilica. There's no parking or at least limited parking in the tourist village but we had found a hotel where we could park and get a room for only $6-50 per night. Our room was only small but we could use the electricity and have a hot shower. It was really cold in the room and, oddly, the toilet didn't have a seat! Apparently that's normal in Colombia!
We packed a small rucksack and went off sightseeing for 3 hours. It is believed that a miraculous event took place at the Sanctuario de Las Lajas in 1754. A woman called Maria got caught in a storm here along with her deaf and mute daughter Rosa. An apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared on a slab of rock (Laja means slab). The daughter spoke saying that the apparition was calling her. A miracle.
Now it is a pilgrimage site from 15th to 18th September every year. The first shrine was built in the 18th Century. The current church took 33 years to build from 1916 to 1949. It is 100 metres high with a 50m bridge and is built into the rock. It was given Basilica status in 1994.
I needed my little red umbrella because it rained most of the time. There were 824 steps and we also paid $1 each to go into the interesting museum.
We returned later in the evening for more photos because the Basilica was lit up with kaleidoscope patterns. Another 400 steps!! Keeps us fit! We used our room to work on the website and had nice, hot showers. The hotel shuts its doors by 10pm so we moved back into Winnietwo at 9-45pm for the night. It was worth the money for safe parking, hot showers and electricity.
29.01.2020: Las Lajas to Chachagüí
We drove back into Ipiales for shopping and to get money from Western Union and then headed out north. The road was very windy and we got stopped 3 times for roadworks. That meant driving through some very muddy stretches but then it poured with rain that washed most of the mud off!
30.01.2020: Chachagüí to Remolino
We parked at a Mobil petrol station for the night but the internet reception wasn't very good because it was the internet from a different petrol station across the road! We wanted to watch our football team playing against our friend Uwe's football team the next day so we needed to drive over to the other petrol station for a better reception. We won 4-1 so we were happy but Uwe wasn't!! At least he forgave us and he's still our friend!
We decided to drive further north rather than stopping for another night but it was almost 5pm by the time we left. So we only managed 50km. It took us 1.5 hours because the road went from 1652m down to 847m, back up to 1450m and down to 629m. Quite a rollercoaster.
We stopped in a truck park in a small town called Remolino for the night. It was really hot and sticky because we were down at only 629 metres altitude. So as we came into the village we pulled over and Kirsten dashed out to look for something we could eat for that evening. She came back with more cake - I think she's gone cake mad! We'd already bought cake from the supermarket yesterday where she'd bought enough cake for a week! Usually I'm the one with the sweet tooth but now Kirsten's bought even more. Now we have orange cake, cheesecake and she's added some custard slices to our hoard. We've got cake coming out of our ears!!
The truck park wasn't too bad. Beside a few trucks driving in it was relatively quiet for the night - just way too hot. It was still 29°C at midnight!!
Amazing cemetery in Tulcán & Fantastic church in Las Lajas.
