Ipiales: the church and the border crossing

Ipiales is Colombia's border town with Ecuador.  It's not much of a sight, as most border towns aren't...If you end up in Ipiales at a decent hour, I highly recommend taking the 10 minute cab ride to Santuario de Las Lajas.  It's an amazing cathedral spanning across an enormous gorge, with a river running below it.  The entrance is free, as it is a functioning Catholic church.  The cab only costs a few bucks from Ipiales, and you can leave your bags at the bus station.  We spent about an hour checking out the church, walking around the trails to all the different view points.

After finishing up at Las Lajas, we jumped back in another cab, which cost 4 bucks for the 2 of us, back to Ipiales (bus station).  We retrieved our bags, and jumped in another cab to the actual border crossing, which was 2 bucks a piece.  

Once at the crossing, we walked to the Colombian immigration office, got our exit stamps, and began walking across the bridge to the Ecuadorian office.  The process was very simple, didn't cost anything, and we were in another cab to the bus station in Tulcan in no time.

 

The border crossing