Andes to Amazon, 700km loop with Lucho el sastre :) La Ruta del agua-The water route

The route.  Down to the Amazon and back up via Ecuador

Leaving Pasto

Maria and Lucho

In the cool Paramo around 3300m?

Leaving Narino into Putumayo

Tio Modesto comes to greet us.

Lucho and Carlos feasting at Tio Modesto and Tia Vilma's place in Sibundoy, where we spent the first night.

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Spent the night at this roadhouse back in 96.  I think it's seen better days.

A small part of the road down to Mocoa

From diapers to the military

The view stretching off into the 'flat' Amazon.

Rio Pepino

Lucho admiring the famous Amazonian egg bush.

Rio Guamez

3rd night with Prima Lily in La Hormiga.

Oil country.  The reason Clinton was spraying the coca

Rio San Miguel.  Border b/t Colombia and Ecuador

.....What really makes the world go 'round.

The road back up to the Andes.  Turns out the road was closed, as you'll see in the next photos.  We were the only ones to get thru, thanx to our humble form of transportation.  Even motorcycles couldn't make it thru the deep flowing stream.  Made it to La Bonita...about 1/2 way up from Lumbaqui...about 70k I think.  Then to Las Lajas the next day.

Basking in the salubrious Amazonian evening.

Captain plastic.  'Dry' but sweaty.

Leaving the jungle to climb back up into the Andes.

Lucho spending the local currency: USD

Travellers clearing rocks so they can drive thru.  The rocks kept falling.

We just zipped thru.

There were MANY landslides.  This was the biggest.

Good luck keeping the mtn in the background from crumbling in the future.  Seems the culvert won't be much use anymore.

Lucho can't swim; hence the bucket back-up.

.....and the spotters

he ain't' likin' this!

Oh what fun to be a kid again!  My mommy said that I was allowed to get my feet wet.

Waiting for the road to be cleared.  Note the little Canadian pin.

Unofficial border xing....as suggested by a local in the area.

...and pushing up the other side, back into Colombia

Nice lookin' retirement home on the hill.

Didn't quite make it to our evening destination of Las Lajas before dark, after 2 days of climbing up.  

Stopped by to visited Lucho's dad on the last day.

An adventure worthy of a trophy :)   Not bad for a couple of dudes approaching 60!