We made it to the next town where (again, luckily…am I being a little too optimistic here???) the street was lined with mechanics. We pulled up at one and he sent us to another and we tried to explain the problem using handsignals, making noises and utilising the worlds worst Spanish dictionary. The guy called the mechanic from the hill and went to work back under Peggy’s engine cover.
He rolled about under the van for a while and went back and forth to his cupboard and then he waved at Alex to join him under Peggy. There he showed Alex what was causing the problem. The new fuel pump was connected to a fuel cable that resembled a steady hand buzz wire game from the 80s. There was no wonder that Peggy couldn’t make it up a hill, the fuel could not defy gravity!
The ever resourceful mechanic made a replacement cable as he didnt have one and fitted it in a straight line so that the fuel could actually get around to the right places. He gave the carburetta a clean and by 8pm we were on our way. We set off waving at our new friends and made it as far as the petrol station before we stalled out again. We turned around and tried again. The choke cable had become tangled and the engine was turning over too slowly to keep Peggy going.
That fixed, we yet again tried to carry on. It was late but we hadn’t even made it to Cali and that is only 300km from Bogota…we HAD to get there that day to even stand a chance of making it to Ecuador in time for the wedding. As got going the rain started, just another thing we had to fix before we could cover some miles. The rain cover on the sun roof of Peggy had been badly damaged and water was pouring in. Alex went up on the roof and selotaped a bin bag over the lid, that would have to do until we got somewhere to fix it properly.
We set off on our long road to Cali in the dark just happy that Peggy was finally sorted and we could get stuck into some serious driving.
We stopped just before heading into Cali at a petrol station for a few hours sleep.

When we woke up and stepped out of Peggy it was like we were in a different country. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch us go to get a coffee, we definitely stood out! We were as white as sheets and everyone else was very, very dark skinned. It was a total change from the rest of Colombia. Everyone watched us with slack jaws as we drove away and carried on towards Popayan and eventually to the border of Ecuador.

We were doing well and enjoyed a parade as we drove along one of the roads, we made it 100km and were just entering Popayan when we broke down for the third time!
We stalled in the middle of the traffic and she just would not start again. Here in South America every driver has actually had his little finger replaced with a car horn so you only have to look at someone for a horn to be blown at you. We sat in the middle of the din and even joined in by honking continuously back at everyone as they tried to get around us. Finally Peggy sputtered back into life enough for us to roll into a garage…(luckily ???? we were close to one when we stopped) and we started our series of grunts, hand movements and basic Spanish in way of explanation of the problem and the engine cover was off again.

This mechanic cleaned out the carburetta with a hoover. In there he found a whole dragonfly (the size of a small sparrow), half a butterfly and several bugs. We made an air filter out of a piece of mosquito net and secured it around the neck of the air intake and hoped that would prevent the problem happening again.
By now we were $150  lighter than when we had left Bogota and we had paid alot of money for the original work to be done. This was a complete nightmare. Our nerves were tattered, we were shattered and we still had miles and miles to cover, a border to cross and Ecuadors largest city to navigate all in one day!

We decided to have some lunch in Popayan as we had been told it was a
beautiful city and that we must stop there…we needed to eat anyway so why not. We looked in the rough guide for a recommendation and off we went. We ordered a chateaubriand to share. It was really cheap and we were really hungry. we asked for it rare and sat in anticipation for our lovely treat. When it arrived it was the size of my thigh and completely raw. I think the cow may have sunbathed once in all of its life and that was as cooked as it remained. It was covered in a sauce so could not go on a grill and it completely turned my stomach. Alex however decided it was lovely and proceeded to trough through the whole thing…there must have been a whole pound of raw meat in front of him and he cleared the lot.

I by this time couldn’t eat a thing so we got back on the road and I think we actually prayed that we would at least make it 100km before we broke down again. We drove forever and ever, up and down mountains, round mountains and back over them for a millionth time. It was dark in no time but we had to power on through, we absolutely had to make it to the border or as near as damn it that day to stand a chance of making it for the wedding. We drove into the night and dodged the mopeds that appeared from nowhere in the pitch black night. Very few of them had lights and I think the reflectors they wore if any were actually fire flies strapped to their backs! We drove around cows, sheep, pigs and kids and were making good time when the rain started.
Of course the windscreen wipers had blown off their rail and in seconds we were blind and had to stop. We pulled over and in the lashing rain fixed the wipers. I tried to film this bit and of course the video camera battery ran out!Alex asked at a nearby house for a coffee and we set off again into the black abyss.

As we were planning on crossing the border into Ecuador and due to all of the repairs we had paid for we had very little cash left and of course we needed fuel to carry on. We stopped at the next station  in the middle of nowhere and handed over the last of our Colombian cash in exchange for a little fuel and as we went to set off we were told by a local not to stop for anyone, for any reason… and to be wary of bandits!!!!!

That was it, we were petrified. We had no choice but to carry on as we were apparently already in the middle of bandit territory and didn’t fancy a sleepless night parked anywhere…we would just have to drive untill we found somewhere safe to stop for the night. I armed myself with pepper spray in one hand and a torch in the other with my fingers poised over the buttons. My plan was to blind my attacker with the pepper spray and blind the other with the torch and then switch my weapons and fire again! The road was so dark and windy and through the mountain tops. I have never before noticed how many hiding places there are on road sides! I silently wished and hoped that we would not break down again, that we would not be captured by bandits and that the road was not long. We played Queens greatest hits really loud to keep us awake and alert and drove and drove and drove. Signs warning of bandits
flashed in our headlights and my fingers cramped around my weapons.

The road was 160km long and we drove for hours trying to see into the enveloping darkness for shadows or shapes moving where they shouldn’t, trying to stay close…but not too close…to another vehicle on the road and
avoiding being on bridges at the same time as a car coming the other way. If we thought our nerves were frayed and our bodies and minds exhausted prior to this road, we had no idea!

Finally after 4 hours we found a 24 hour garage guarded by two men with guns. We asked if we could stay the night and gave them our last 2 beers in the hope that plying them with the little alcohol we had might make them want to protect us more if nescessary. We collapsed on the bed at midnight and set the alarm for 6am…we only had one more day to get to Quito and it was still a border crossing and 280km away. We were shattered to the point of exhaustion and our nerves were as raw as Alex’s steak…
Where we going to make it in time for the wedding??

Find out what happens next on our travelling wedding adventure!