After San Agustin we made our way to the Colombian boarder town of Ipiales, passing some of the most beautiful scenery I`ve seen so far... the town itself is just like any other boarder town but it is worth stopping off to visit an impressive neo-Gothic church which stands in the middle of a beautiful river gorge. I`m not normally that excited about churches but this one was worth making an exception for due to its setting. It was built in the early 20C after an image of the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared on the vertical rocks. It is built straight up against the gorge cliff and the bare rocks and an image of Mary make up the the back wall and alter. As you walk down the path to church there are hundreds of plaques that people have put up to give thanks... not to mention endless market stalls selling wonderfully naff virgin mary paraphernalia!

So after a snappy visit to the church we hopped accross the boarder to Ecuador. So much for Colombia being too dangerous to travel in. It`s one of the safest, most civilised, warm, friendly places I`ve ever been in my life... not to mention stunningly beautiful. I was excited to arrive in Ecuador of course but had and still have a pinch of regret to be leaving Colombia... I`ve not had that so far. I`ve always been ready to leave a country and see the next... I really feel like I could live there. I will be going back one day for sure.