Columbia – Part 1

Getting into Columbia was a long process as the border was full of Venezuelans (hundreds and hundreds of them) trying to go the other way into Ecuador, escaping what can only be described as the shit their country is presently in. Once across the frontier into Columbia things started to improve. I am not really a "visit a church"' person but had previously been told about a Gothic church, that spanned a gorge, Santuario de Las Lajas. Really worth the effort with my taxi driver, Alfredo. From there after great food in Pasto (thank you so much Pasto) made my way to the wild west (towards the east of the country perversely) to the town of San Agustin where riding horses seemed to be as popular as motorbikes (in the video shown below I was in a pub - notice the drunk guy asleep on the bar, also, check out the guy dancing by himself in the street in the background near the band. Classic. Really different, place  great). People also visit this area due to a archaeological park close by where cemetery headstones depicting people, some with vampire like teeth, were constructed 5,000 years ago by an unknown civilization.

Sticking with the wild west theme, my next destination was a semi-arid desert area aptly name Desierto de Tatacoa. No horses here, but chuck a few in around Clint Eastwood in his heyday and this could definitely be the location of a western movie. From here it took a couple days to the next destination Salento. This involved quite a few separate trips, including one over the top - even by South American standards - drive through the Andes - overtaking on blind corners anyone? This guy used a CB radio to get information from another driver further up the road and then used this information to make judgment calls on how many of what I would call "faith" corners he could go around before cutting off another car, in the correct lane, hopefully, before the next oncoming car or truck would hit us. One misjudgment and it was 'sayonara baby' for all. I was, pretty understandably, pissed off by this and so when another passenger complained it was all that was needed for all my very limited Spanish to be put into overdrive. With his pride hurt he then decided that if he can't play his game with the lives of the passengers he would go at such a slow speed that we started to get overtaken by trucks. Ahh, the joys of traveling. A 3 hour trip was starting to look like a 6 hour ordeal (I kept wondering what his boss would think when he arrived that late at the other end but then I thought, probably nothing, I'm in South America). Thankfully, after an hour of this, the other passengers staged a verbal mutiny and with a bit of luck not long after the traffic allowed him to go a bit faster and then go at a relatively 'normal' speed (by South American standards) without him losing too much face. Important in this male macho orientated country. It was nice to arrive at the other end.

OK, Back to where my 2 days of travelling took me, Salento. Salento's claim to fame is a nearby valley (Valle de Cocora) filled with Columbia's national tree, the world's tallest palm. Set amongst a cloud forest the setting is both beautiful and eerie at the same time. Enjoyed my time here. Upon leaving our bus hit overhead power lines. Hmmm. Lots of zaps and sparks and delayed for quite a time while a bamboo leverage was made to lift the arcing lines off the bus. Kept things interesting.

Next it was to a big city, Medellin. Medellin's claim to fame was that, at last, I found a pair of sandals. Yer-hah (as they would say in San Agustin). Had to be done, my hiking books were getting an extended work out and my feet were crying out for air (if you get my drift). Medellin is a modern city set in a valley surrounded by mountains on both sides. It has a good train network that links with gondoliers allowing poorer parts of the city access to work in the valley below. Where once it was the murder capital of the world during Pablo Escobar's terror reign, it felt relatively safe, even at night. Went on a night bike ride for 3 hours through the city and never felt like there would be any issue. Also went mountain biking through a national park. Nice to be on two wheels again.

From Medellin went on a 13 hour overnight bus to Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. Welcome to the world of heat and humidity that I am still encased within now. I didn't really find Cartagena all that exciting which is a shame as it was one place that I have always heard about in my travels and was a definite no-miss destination this time around. I guess it doesn't help that I have seen so many colonial towns and their associated buildings and architecture and it turned out that Cartagena was just another one of these. Still, stayed for 2 nights before making my way along the coast to a couple of beach towns, starting with Tolu. Tolu was very interesting. Not because I seemed to be the only non-Columbian there for the 2 nights I stayed, not also because of the transgender girls who seemed very persistent in wanting to talk to me (ah, should of learned more Spanish), no Tolu was so very special because it contained a hairdresser that I trusted to cut what was becoming a mop on the top of my head that I couldn't see through. I have to say a big thanks to my unnamed hotel manager who took me on the back of his motorbike to this hairdresser after I explained in my broken Spanish how important it was that I found a good hairdresser. Faced my demons and not unhappy with the results. Nice...

After Tolu it was off to Necocli for a night before an early boat departure to my present location, Capurgana. More beach time here so I think it is time to change the scene. Panama City tomorrow and the Panama canal (depending on me navigating my way through those pesky immigration and custom checks).