ecuador and carnet - still a problem these days?

**desert soul** · #1 9 Feb 2004

hello out there,

in summer we'd like take our bikes from bolivia all the way north to colombia.

the last time i travelled in the area (1996), there was a lot of rumours going around about carnet problems in ecuador. we passed through without, but that was a long time ago and seemed to be kind of a random thing; the border handling was rather chaotic.

any recent experience on this one?

good luck to everyone

**JamesCo** · #2 10 Feb 2004

I left Bolivia for the last time in September and am in Colombia now. No carnet, no problems. All the border crossings (Copacabana, Macará & Ipiales) were tranquilo.

James

**desert soul** · #3 10 Feb 2004

thanks, james -

sound good! (to me, there's nothing more nervewrecking than trouble on border crossings...)

good luck

**mojo** · #4 10 Feb 2004

Last year (in July/August?) we entered Ecuador from Colombia (Ipiales) and they wanted a carnet. Luckily we were anticipating this and were armed with a letter from the Australian embassy saying that we were in transit, blah, blah... This letter plus a good knowledge of Spanish got us through without a carnet. An American friend of ours was not so lucky - they turned him away at the border (same spot I think).
I recommend getting a document (** in Spanish) from your embassy saying that you're in transit and including all your bike and passport details plus photocopies of all your papers. You should get through OK then.
Good luck!

**MotoDiver** · #5 14 Feb 2004

Crossed into Ecuador at Ipiales couple of months ago. No mention of Carnet.

------------------
on the road(almost)
and lovin' it!!
KLR650-A13 'BURRO'

**tam** · #6 18 Mar 2004

Hello all,
Don't know about the land borders but the customs for air cargo is a hassle!

Just spent two day's in Aduana trying to liberate my bike. All of day one getting the permit and day two running back and forth between the well hidden, warehouse and Aduana. Persuading an aduana official to come to the bat-cave with me to inspect the bike and set me free. It's not bent, it's just time consuming. All good now, mind.

Trys.

**tam** · #7 5 Apr 2004

Having said that,
I have just watched two friends get their bike out of customs in a few hours with a carnet. It cut through all the hassle and inspections. If you have one, use it. Otherwise, it's still no problem, just time consuming.

**Dan 23** · #8 21 Apr 2004

Just crossed from Colombia into Ecuador at Ipiales. No carnet, some problems, not helped by two gringo geniuses on an XT turning up a fornight before and deciding to do one without sorting the paperwork. Customs were double unhappy. Nice work, kids - that border will be awkward for some time now. Twats.

Entonces. Arrive early, and during the week - the main customs office isn't open over weekends - as I found out when I bounced up on Saturday morning, couldn't get the bike in till Monday, couldn't get back into Colombia. The Dakar spent the weekend locked to a lamp post at the frontier.

Without a carnet, you get transit permission. They started at 3 days, I swore and begged and got 8 days and smiled some more and got 15. Since increased to a month in Quito, at the airport aduana, with very little fuss.

None of these problems affect the lucky few who fly in and seem to be automatically offered anything up to 90 days.

No payments anywhere. Slow, but not bent. And beautiful once you're in.

Any more details needed, post here or email me.

Cheers, Dan Walsh