Comments for The Backpack Diary - A Travel Blog

Comment on How to get from Quito to Colombia (Ipiales, Pasto or Cali) By Bus (2018 update) by Gary

Gary — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 15:30:04 +0000

Hey,

first of all, thank you for the many tips and comments from you.
We crossed the border yesterday. This took about 15 minutes at all. We arrived at the border around 2:30 p.m. There where no lines or ques on both sides.

Regards from Cali,
Gary
Then we took a colective to Ipales and from there we took the bus to Cali. The price of the bus from Ipales to Cali was 50,000 pesos

Comment on Visiting the Totumo Mud Volcano, from Cartagena by Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 02:25:02 +0000

That was seriously great reading! I was in hysterics! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Comment on The Journey to Milford Sound: A Spectacular Road Trip by Oliver Descoeudres

Oliver Descoeudres — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 11:02:56 +0000

Nice post – looks like you had great weather. We saw a lot on our recent one-day trip to Milford Sound although weather wasn’t as good – hopefully can come back and spend a few days exploring the area!
https://hikingtheworld.blog/2019/12/28/best-of-milford-sound-fiordland

Comment on How to get from Quito to Colombia (Ipiales, Pasto or Cali) By Bus (2018 update) by Natalie

Natalie — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 22:05:11 +0000

I made this journey – indirect buses – yesterday but unfortunately ended up paying almost $50 total (at that point, I might advise just springing for a direct bus, as it wasn’t the most pleasant journey). I was traveling alone during apparently a low season, and encountered no one to share taxis with. I also couldn’t find any colectivos at any point, and after crossing the border, like another commenter, there was not a single yellow taxi to be found.

Taxi to Terminal Terrestre Carcelén: $10
Bus to Tulcán: $6
Taxi to border: $3.50
Border took about 45 mins, quick on Ecuador side but long line to enter Colombia. Not many migrants in lines at this time, but a lot of people hanging around the border.
Taxi from border to Ipiales terminal: $10,000 COP. Oops! I hailed what appeared to be the only yellow taxi headed this way, but I’m now doubting it was official, and was overcharged. I was too exhausted from the whole process to haggle, and didn’t feel super safe hanging around with my luggage, so I just got in.
Overnight bus to Cali: $70,000 COP. Way too much, it appears. I bought a ticket from the first booth I saw that said “Cali” – a company called Super Taxi. I’m fairly sure they charged me their normal rate, but it seems like it was way too high. I’m super bummed as it was not a particularly nice bus (and I’ve been on many throughout S. Amer.) Very windy and slow, bus stopped randomly for 30+ minutes at a time in the middle of nowhere… Took over 13 hours. Anyway, I’d only recommend doing this crossing alone to seasoned travelers/hagglers who have done their research thoroughly (so if you’re reading this and not scared off, you’re probably good to go).

Comment on A Sobering Visit to the Phnom Penh Killing Fields by Rick St

Rick St — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 16:37:09 +0000

This looks exactly my type of travel itinerary item both because it has this sad vibe to it plus it is history. If ever I am in Cambodia, I will make sure I visit it. Thanks for writing about it.

Comment on How to Get (From Bogotá) to Villa de Leyva By Bus by Mc tran

Mc tran — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:28:50 +0000

Just in case anyone goes to Villa de Levya 4 hrs away from Bogota, Colombia..
Yesterday, we took the bus to Tunja at 1515 from salitre thinking we would take the connection like a lot of blogs were instructed. There was so much traffic and a lot of accidents that we ended up getting to Tunja at 2130 instead of a 3 hr ride. When we got there, there were no more buses heading to Villa de Levya. Taxis don’t go there because of restrictions with their papers. We were about to stay at the hotel in Tunja. This guy came up and said they had an espreso. We finally took the expreso for 120k that happened to show up out of nowhere. It was kind of scary because they had to switch cars in the middle of the mountain in the dark to get a car that wouldn’t get stopped by the police. If anyone goes and decides to connect in Tunja to double check when the buses stop running to go to Villa de Levya before embarking on it vs taking a direct bus later.

Comment on How to get from Quito to Colombia (Ipiales, Pasto or Cali) By Bus (2018 update) by John

John — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 00:04:56 +0000

It said on one site that the Columbia Ecuador boarder is one in the world you should never cross. I zoomed in to have a look at the road going through it on google maps and it does not look wartorn like some of the borders in the world otherwise at all and it was as easy to cross as many of the European ones

Comment on Get from Santiago Airport to Valparaiso, Chile by max

max — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 17:52:53 +0000

17. Feb 2019, Terminal Alameda – Valparaiso terminal Rodoviario (Condor bus) 4’200

Comment on Get from Santiago Airport to Valparaiso, Chile by max

max — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 16:07:21 +0000

17. Feb 2019, Airport Santiago to Terminal Alameda 1’900

Comment on How to get from Quito to Colombia (Ipiales, Pasto or Cali) By Bus (2018 update) by Mario

Mario — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 17:25:21 +0000

We did the trip as a couple yesterday to Cali.
Everything went well and we spend about 25 dollars per person. The buses are nice
Took from color house hostal at 8am the bus up to Carcelen bus terminal (0,25$).
There the bus at 9am to Tulcan (6,1$) arrived at 2pm.
Took a cab to the border with some locals (1$ per person).
Crossed the border and been at ipiales bus terminal at 3:30pm (2$ probably could have been cheaper as a collectivo with other travelers)
Booked a bus at 7pm bc didn’t want to arrive to early in cali (arrived at 6 am) (40000 pesos; two travelers we met paid 5 min. Before us 45000 pesos for the same bus company at a different counter) with them we took a cab to the sanctuary and back (5000 pesos per person could also have been cheaper).
All prices are per person.