As there is only one reasonable border crossing between Colombia and Ecuador, we have needed to retrace our steps a bit in order to travel south. To avoid another stop in Ipiales (nothing really wrong with it as a town but not especially worth a second visit so soon) we have broken the journey in Pasto.

The town is not a popular tourist stop as it has few impressive sights. Volcanic activity has destroyed much of the city's architectural inheritence so we were quite surprised to find that the centre looks quite attractive in parts. It is certainly a functioning city; There are malls and arcades aplenty with lots of shops and a busy buzz of modern life.

We arrived around 5pm and were intending to set off fairly early the next day so there was little time to really get to know the place before dark. We took a walk out around the central area and the main square and visited the church on the square and the cathedral just around the corner.

We have been trying to follow the Colombian presidential elections, which take place in a couple of days' time. The current president Uribe has overseen many substantial changes but has served two terms and cannot stand again. Many Colombians are keen to see a continuation of his fairly hardline approaches and Santos, who was often seen as Uribe's bulldog, is his chosen successor.

Certainly on a televised debate, Santos' many years in public office helped him to appear very confident. Of the other candidates, the largest popular support appears to be for the genially bearded Mockus who represents the Green Party and there are posters for him absolutely everywhere. He didn't come over so well in the televised debate however, seeming somewhat diffident and frequently needing to consult his notes when replying to questions. Some people have told us that there is a city/countryside split with the urban areas supporting Mockus while the rural areas go for Santos but that isn't exactly our perception.

We visited the Mockus campaign shop here and admired their publicity using images such as sunflowers and bike riding. We were surprised to find some badges with Mockus portrayed (actually quite realistically) as a guinea pig. Anyone who can open themselves up to that kind of self-mockery deserves support so we have our 'Mockus for President' tshirts for the 30th.