Ecuador to Colombia Border & Insurance
 

Just in case anyone is going to cross this border.

I did it today - a good 4 hour ride from Quito to Tulcan. The queue for the border was over 1 km long. I don't know if this is normal but I was told at the border that Tulcan/Ipiales is the only border between the two countries.

give youself time but don't be too depressed when you hit the queue. on a bike you can filter through and cut the waiting time but you will still get stuck.

There was a decent queue at the exit imigration from Ecuador but the queue does move. The Aduanas is next door and was very quick.
The Columbian side immigration was a bit of a queue but ok. The Aduanas was very quick once he got back from lunch.

I was told to buy my SOAT Insurance in Ipiales at the Alkostas Supermarket. It is in the middle of town, was easy to find (I just parked outside, the police drove by and didn't mind). the Seguros desk is at the back of the store. It took 10 mins and cost 31,000 pesos for 1 month. (About $15).

I then drove to Pasto which is not a bad town.

I hope this helps.

Hi,

This boarder was one of the fastest for me. I did not get stuck went right in front with the bike and was out of the mess in no time. The only interesding thing was that they really checked the frame number of my bike on the columbia side.

Travel save, Tobi
Motorbike trip around Southamerica: Chile and Argentina part 1

The best thing to do would be to get to the border in the early morning and avoid the queues of traffic.

There is another border crossing farther East that sets up up perfectly for hitting Mocoa and the route Trampolina de la Meurte that crosses back over to the PanAm the only problem is the Immigration and Aduana are in different locations and it takes a little footwork and is a much more remote border crossing the the above mentioned for those of us that like to get off the beaten track more:thumbup1:

Each time I've crossed at Ipiales crossing it was very easy, sometimes a bit of a lineup but easily solved starting the day early during the weekdays.


John