Ecuador Road Trip | Tulcán

Feb 17

The Pan-American Highway passes through Tulcán, over the Rumichaca bridge and on into the Bolívar province of Colombia. We had planned to visit the closest Colombian town to the border, Ipiales, but things were a little shaky the week of my visit so we decided it best to alter that part of the trip. David did want me to see the busy border crossing which is full of activity and money-changers on both sides of the border. (Ecuador uses the United States dollar, but Columbia uses the peso). So… I spent 3 minutes in Columbia, crossing the border, and then right back to Ecuador.

Since we didn’t stay in Columbia, we spent two nights near the border in Tulcán, the capital city of the province of Carchi, Ecuador. In Tulcán we visited an elaborate 3-acre topiary garden cemetery. The cemetery was created by by José Maria Azael Franco in 1936. The story David told me was that José, the groundsman at the cemetery at the time, wanted it to be a happy, pleasant place to visit so he began making the sculptures from the trees and shrubs. Eventually it became a popular place for visitors and the tradition was handed down through José’s 5 sons.

Sr. José Franco, the creator is laid to rest in the cemetery and left a written ode “In Tulcán, a cemetery so beautiful that it invites one to die”.

From there we drove to Gruta De La Paz – Grotto of Peace. The people of Ecuador have very strong faith, primarily Roman Catholic. There are beautiful old churches everywhere, but this site was by far one of the most unique. Peace Grotto, near San Gabriel is a natural cave made up of stalactites and stalagmites. Today this place is called the National Marian Shrine, and is a place of natural beauty.