Southward and Ecuador bound we covered a lot of miles, placing us in Ipiales to visit the impressive Las Lajas Sanctuary, built between a bridge and the bottom of a ravine on the site of an 18th century apparition of Virgin Mary. Apparently. Either way, many make the pilgrimage to ask for or give thanks for miracles attributed to the site and the rock walls leading down are plastered with plaques. One even had a boxing kangaroo fake tattoo on it. No, I don’t think it was relevant. The church is new by usual standards, features a sleek charcoal coloured brick with white mortar for a modern style with ornate towers and put me in mind of Disneyland. Fairy tale religion without Mickey Mouse.
I also saw my first guinea pig on a stick. It was all there, hairless, formaldehyde yellow, reminding me of a preserved specimen in a science lab. It certainly didn’t scream “delicious” or “lunch”. As you would expect it didn’t squeak at all and if it did it would concentrate on screaming “Take this stick out of my butt!!”, I’m sure.
We continued through the border crossings, changing pesos for USD and headed for Otavalo. This was my last ride on Magaly so celebrated with some card games and finishing off the rum and coke and beers in the fridge. This of course meant I pleaded with Fletch to get on his hand and knees to poke through to the cockpit and ask for a baños break. Judging by how much everyone wanted to go, I believe I was justified, given my pea-sized bladder. It also gave us the privilege of grabbing a dubious rice and chicken dinner which featured far more skin than chicken which was all the same colour in the relatively dim lights of the truck. Ahhh truck stops, you do keep life on the road…um, interesting…