Ecuador/Colombia Border - Day 122-127

We were excited to move north again and spend time in Colombia which we've heard so many good things about. We bussed up to the border and found it a little strange that we seemed to be the only ones crossing into Colombia. At the border, we were warned that there was a chance we weren't able to go to certain cities due to some problems. Thinking it wasn't a big deal, we decided to cross. What no one told us was that every road going north had been blockaded due to protests for the past 7 days and that no one had a clue when they were going to reopen! We waited at the bus terminal all day for a chance to catch a ride, and realized no one was going anywhere. After spending the night in the border town, we luckily were able to get a ride in a van up north to a neighboring city called Pasto. This is where we got stuck for 5 days. Pasto was not a fun place to be stuck in and to top it off the weather was cold and rainy the entire time. We thought about flying to the north coast, but soon learned the airlines took advantage of the situation and jacked all their prices up out of our price range.

The coffee farmers went on strike to demand more subsidies from the government. Due to price decreases, flooding, and mold, they actually lose money while producing their crop. The government did not have enough money in their budget to meet the high demands. Negotiations continued for 12 days until a settlement was finally reached!

We stole these first two photos from the Colombian news website. All we did for 5 days was continually check news updates and watch tv.

Because the coffee farmers were receiving so much news worthy attention, other industries wanted to jump on the band-wagon. Truckers also went on strike, gas station owners shut down their pumps and raised prices, the airlines followed as well, and even the high school students in this photo while we were in Pasto decided to protest!