Colombia Information

2013/06/03 06:26

• ADDRESS EDIFICIO ARISTA 7º PISO
• AV. COLON No.1133 Y AMAZONAS
• Quito
• Ecuador
• PHONE LOCAL: (02) 222.2486
• INTERNATIONAL: +593.2.222.2486
• FAX LOCAL: (02) 256.7766
• INTERNATIONAL: +593.2.256.7766
• EMAIL equito@cancilleria.gov.co

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• Consulate of Colombia in Quito, Ecuador
• Contact Infomation
• Av. Atahualpa 955 and Republica
• Building Digicom, Floor 3
• City: Quito
• Phone: 593 – 2 – 458012
• Fax: 593 – 2 – 460054
• Email: embcolom@pi.pro.ec

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589,500.00 COP = 309.899 USD

required for pensionado is three (3) times monthly minimum of $309 - around $900 x month

January 9, 2013

On 28 December 2012, the Government issued Decrees 2738 and 2739, the first one by which the monthly minimum salary is increased to COP589,500 (previously, COP566,700), and the second one by which the commuting allowance was set at COP70,500.

The new minimum salary and commuting allowance are effective as of 1 January 2013.

from Ernst & Young

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Saturday announced a 9 percent increase in the minimum wage for private-sector workers for 2013, a move that may help consolidate his February re-election bid that polls broadly show him favored to win.

The leftist Correa, who has won strong popular support for a range of measures including expanding access to health care and improving roads and highways, hiked the minimum wage to $318 per month from $292 per month. —

Yes, you can cross into Ecuador and return to Colombia a week later. About a year and a half ago my sixty day visa was set to expire. I crossed the border into to Ecuador and spent about four nights in Otovalo before returning to Colombia; had no problems on re-entry. You should be fine.

So are you asking about the bus trip from Bogota to Quito or from Pasto to Quito? I know there are buses that go direct between Bogota and Quito. You should expect about a thirty hour trip each way.

The trip from Pasto should take about 8 hours to reach Quito (maybe more depending or road and border delays). You will have to take a van from the Pasto terminal to Ipiales (20,000). From Ipiales to the border you will have to take a taxi or collectivo (1,500 collectivo). Do your business at the border and take a taxi or collective to the terminal in Tulcan (1-2$ taxi). A bus to Quito should cost around 6 dollars.

agree with #1. Only that the taxi from the border to Tulcan (Ecuadorian border town) costs 3 dollars, but if you take a van it's like 0,80 or you can share a taxi with others. The bus from Tulcan to Quito costs $ 4,80 and takes 5 hours. Careful with the money changers at the border, there are some crooks. You may want to stop in Otavalo to visit the town/market. There are some nice places to visit around Otavalo like the Laguna Cuicocha, the walk around the lake is very nice and takes about 6 hours. You get there from Cotacachi, another nice town to visit. Otavalo is about half way between the border and Quito.

From QUITO you can travel to :

1 - border Tulcán - Ipiales, then take transportation to Pasto and from Pasto you can go to Mocoa or going up direction Popayán Cali (travel at daytime) 2- border Lago Agrio - San Miguel, then take transportation to Mocoa. From Mocoa you can go up north to San-Agustín etc… (border crossing only at daytime)

If you are interested to get a touch of the amazons, see beautifull nature escenery, take a look at Mocoa http://www.casadelriomocoa.com

I think its so late my answer, if you are in cali i can recommend you a hotel, is of my friend:

http://www.lordstarhotel.com/

We arrived at about 7 pm and I jumped straight in a taxi for $4000 to the Koala Inn hostel in central Pasto. I’d hoped to meet other travellers there, but it was quite deserted. I didn’t care. At $18,000 COP, with WiFi, a private room with double bed and TV, and a hot shower, this was a bargain. It was just a shame I had to get up so early again the next day.

If you do stay here and you need some dinner, turn right when you leave the hostel and take the first right to find a couple of restaurants serving food until 9 pm. One is cheap with local almuerzo dishes, and the other is a pizzeria with a massive menu.

Day Two:

The next morning, I left at 6 am and caught a cab from the corner. The bus terminal had plenty of companies with shuttle buses to Ipiales. I chose SuperTaxis for $7000. You have to wait for the shuttle to fill up with passengers before it sets off, so I was sitting around for 30 minutes. Pulling out of the station, we were met by a glorious sunrise.

Try to avoid the back seats as they have less space and you will end up squished into a corner with no headrest, clinging on to the ceiling as the driver swerves like a maniac round all the bends.

The journey to Ipiales takes roughly 1 hour 30 mins. I arrived at 8 am and decided I had enough time to detour to the nearby Las Lajas cathedral. It’s a stunning building that spans a massive gorge and it’s well worth stopping at for an hour or so if you have time.

I got back to Ipiales at 10 am and hopped in another cab to the border for $7000 COP. I was there by 10:30 am.

You have to get an exit stamp before walking across the bridge and then queueing to get your entry stamp for Ecuador. It would be easy to miss one or both because no one would actually check if you strolled straight over and got in a cab. Make sure you don’t have any food or drink with you. They didn’t check me, but it’s better to be safe than detained.

I was in the queue for 1 hour 30 mins. Keep a book or iPod handy. Check they stamp you in and that it has enough days for your planned trip, then hop in yet another cab to Tulcan for about $3.50. I shared with a bunch of Colombians who’d also just passed through immigration.

My bus to Quito left Tulcan just after I arrived there at 12:30. It cost $4.80 and took just over 5 hours. From the bus terminal, it’s one final cab to the city centre.

I wasn’t sure whether to stay in the new town, where the Mariscal district has many hostels, tourism agencies, and bars and clubs, or the old town, which is prettier and a better base for sightseeing. Having heard that robberies are quite common in the more touristy areas, I chose a sociable-looking hostel called Secret Garden. It has fantastic views of the city and they offer plenty of travel advice – both local and further afield. They also serve meals and drinks and have WiFi.

Arianwen Morris says: December 10, 2012 at 1:21 am I was in the same situation. I’m pretty sure a bus ticket is sufficient as proof of onward travel, but it’s annoying having to decide a date to leave the country and risking losing money if you don’t end up catching that bus. Another option, which a lot of people do, but sounds quite dodgy, is to pretend you have a flight out of the country. If you go through the booking process with Copa Airlines (ie, book a flight from Bogota to Quito), you get sent a confirmation email before you’ve paid. You can then edit the email in Photoshop so it no longer says you still have to pay. This way, if they ask for proof and they check the flight number you can be sure it exists and you should be ok. They didn’t check any proof when I flew there from the UK via the US. I don’t think they enforce it as strongly as a lot of countries, but it’s good to have a backup plan. Good luck!