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Chasing Summer p.021
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Dec 21st - Medellin to Cali
Interactive track here: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1597
Medellin is not really inspiring for me. I know that the culture and gastronomy are great but I would need way more time than I have to appreciate them. The architecture is modern without much charm but I spend a couple of hours this morning visiting recommended neighborhoods.
Then I'm on my way to Cali. The 'main' road is again quite small, twisty and scenic.
In one of the villages, the butcher's truck...
Classic 2-up motorcycle cops.
I can't remember much from that day besides how 'sharp' some of the mountains were...
O yeah, I also remember that I had one more puncture on the front wheel! No drama this time, I just pull on the side and proceed to put one more patch on the tube. Of course a heavy rain had to invite itself to the party but the tube was in the tire by that time. Oh well, at least I got a great shot
With my late start and this additional delay I ended up riding for an hour at night before to reach Cali. Never an enjoyable experience, especially with the rain on and off. Arriving in a big city (2.5 millions people) at night, trying to find an address without a plan is quite a challenge! Finally I get to the hostal and even if I'm quite tired I decide to join on the evening some cool people going out in the party's neighborhood called Juanchito. Cali is very famous for its nightlife, salsa and beautiful women. In Colombia some call it "the subsidiary of Paradise" while others call it "the other Silicon Valley"
.
Anyway, when I came back at 1 AM, the night was just starting for the locals...
Dec 22nd - Cali to Popayan
Interactive Map: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1596
As for Medellin, big cities like Cali can be fun at night but if I have to setup priorities (and I do!) I’d rather be in the mountains, in smaller cities. So here I go for a welcome shorter day of riding to Popayan.
Once guerrilla territory this region is now considered safe. The road is beautiful and more enjoyable than the previous days because of lesser traffic. There are also very few villages, mostly small Indian houses scattered along the road.
If the outskirts of Popayan have little interest, the city boosts a rather large and beautiful colonial center known as the ‘Cuidad Blanca’ because all houses of the center have chalk-whites facades.
Founded in 1537 Popayán became a center of culture, commerce, religion and government in the 17th and 18th. Today it feels quite remote even though it’s the main town on the way to Ecuador.
Arriving in the city mid-day I sit down for eating at a small restaurant. I have the surprise to be served a couple of minutes later with a soup and a fruit juice. I’m surprised because I didn’t order anything but I realize that it’s a unique ‘menu’. I was then served a plate with rice, salad, a few fried potatoes and a small piece of fried chicken. Since then I often stopped in similar place serving ‘amuerzos’ (lunch) for around $1.50.
I find a hostel that is not attractive from the outside but really great and clean inside. There are only a few guests but the welcoming is awesome and I’m thinking that it would be a great place to spend Xmas eve. I meet there another Tasmanian (!) and we walk around the city together.
There are many religious buildings in Popayan
This bridge marks the border between the old town and the new one
Love is everywhere
In Colombia like in several other countries I've been through you see a lot of sign for 'minutos', even in the most remotes places. It took me a while to realize that it's for minutes of call via cell phones. I imagine that some individuals get a 1000 minutes/month package for example and then sell most of them through this system... One of the things I will miss the most coming back in SF is all those delicious fruits, cheap and readily available...
Hard to comprehend for me but a large number of riders wear their helmet with the helmet's chin at the forehead level
For dinner we have a hard time finding a restaurant not solely specialized in chicken! But it’s great to wander around the city buzzing in preparation of the holidays…
Dec 23rd - Popayan to San Augustin
Interactive map: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1595
Early start this morning to go to San Augustin. The bus takes 7 hours (for 130 km!) and I’m not sure how long it’s going to be for me since I’ve heard horror stories on how bad the road is. I’ve asked several times and although this road is in Fark territory there is no trouble right now.
San Agustin is described as the most important archaeological sites of Colombia. The area around the present day town was inhabited by a mysterious Indian civilization which left us hundreds of carved statues. The civilization flourished from the 6th to the 14th century but since they didn’t have a written language and had disappeared or dispersed centuries before the Europeans arrived we know very little about them.
Not sure yet how great San Augustin is but I’m tempted to say that the trip is worth it just for the road itself!
The first 20 km are paved and fun up to the village of Coconuco where I stop to buy water and food. My bike always creates a lot of interest in Colombia. From a distance I can see the incredibility on people’s face, soon replaced by a smile meaning ‘this is crazy!’. Sometimes there is more than half dozen people around the bike (and me!) but it never made me feel uncomfortable. I also like that their questions are more about the trip than the price of the bike.
Then the 'real fun’ begins… Gosh, I think that this is one of the roughest roads I’ve been on! Not challenging per say, just very rough for very long. Nasty potholes, rocks everywhere, it requires a lot of attention to preserve the bike. But the beautiful scenery makes it enjoyable anyway...
Cascades are conveniently just by the side of the road
The road climbs to pretty high elevation and crosses over the Purace NP. There are no villages or houses along the way.
About entering the park it starts to rain pretty hard. The dirt becomes mud, the potholes become poodles, while the ruts become small creeks: not fun!
The rain finally stops and I increase the pace a little. Suddenly it feels like if my front wheel is gone
!
I’ve almost no control on the bike and in my effort to keep it up I go a bit off-road . I’m sure that I will be crashing but by pure miracle I end up back on the road and manage to stop the bike there without crashing
The problem is pretty clear: yes a front puncture again! This time probably caused by the weaken tube being pinched by a rock. There are indeed 2 holes in the tube which explains the tire going flat so quickly. The other issue is that my wheels have Sun rims and those have almost no bead so in this rocky road the tire went completely off.
There are a couple of houses here and I must have entertained the few kids playing around with my erratic swerving
. Now it’s time to repair. Problem is that I’m literally in pig shit and I can only put by wheel on my seat to try to limit the damages. This time I got the message and I replace my old tube for good. The group of spectators increases progressively.
As usual in Colombia they are very friendly and make every effort to understand my broken Spanish. We have actually quite a good laugh even if I try to concentrate on not making mistakes on those muddy conditions.
Some interesting load here
After 100 km of dirt, the road becomes paved again in San Jose for the last 10 km. For once I’m pretty happy to see the pavement again. I arrive in San Augustin, a nice village with a very distinct atmosphere, after about 3 ½ hours of riding.
When staying in hostels travelers take business cards of hostels in other cities. That’s how I’ve picked most of my destinations and this time again I go to a recommended finca (El Maco) that has a few rooms to rent. But first I need to find it which I did thanks to this guy...
...and then climb a very steep and rutted dirt road to access it. Hey, I thought I was done for the day! It’s a really nice place and I end up alone on this very cool ‘tipi’.
Since it’s still early on the afternoon I then go to the main attraction here, the Parque Arqueologico that features several ancient burial sites, a lot of statues and a small museum.
San Augustin is the first archaeological site in this trip where there are no ‘walls’, no buildings. However, the site is very serene, with a special atmosphere, even if I’m not the only visitor. The statues are grouped in different locations (where they were found) and so it’s 2-3 hours of walking from one to the other which adds to the experience for me.
Some statues are alone, others are placed in front of tombs to ‘guard’ them presumably.
My new friend doesn't smile much but we never argue
This may not look like much but it is really nice: in addition to the sculptures, the sound and the movement of the water makes it look ‘alive’.
Try to find those on the picture above
I also like very much the Bosque de las Estatuas (Forest of the Statues) were 35 statues found in the surroundings have been placed along a footpath. Few people go there and it’s tortuous and lush enough for you to be able to imagine discovering the statues yourself, hidden in the vegetation.
OK, I'm sure that you're all fans of statues but I will stop here, if some are interested there are plenty more in my Colombia gallery...
Let's switch to San Augustin, the pueblo. In that I've done like most guide books who only speak about the archaeological site, but I like the town too. It has a different feel, being secluded in the mountains and it's quite lively too, probably because Xmas is coming...
There are plenty of those machines to 'process' sugar cane in this part of the world
To get around you can either take the 'horse taxi' (not a tourist attraction!)...
... or for longer distances the 'picop taxi'. Not sure which one is the most comfortable...
Like everywhere in the world (it seems), even in the smallest towns, most teenagers heavily use cell phones and text messages
While the older mens play pool
Making dulce, then served on those little ice cream cones
As usual, even the small bikes are used for every kind of work/load
A last image of San Augustin to close a rather full day...
On the evening I opt for dining at the hostal’s restaurant and the mere 3 tables available. It’s pricier than in town but it’s quite good and the location is really great and quiet. Before dinner however I have discovered that my rear tire has a slow puncture! Murphy, would you let me go, please?!? So I get to it more willingly now that I have a full stomach and since the rear wheel is off I also change the rear break pads that are almost down to the metal.
Dec 24th - San Augustin to Popayan
There are several other archaeological sites worth visiting around San Augustin so you can buy tours in Jeeps or horses for some destinations. Why bother with tours when you have a KTM
. So I make a list of the most interesting sites and here I go. The scenery is still splendid.
If I have no problems with the jeep trails I’m only able to reach one of the ‘horses tour list’ and it was not easy!
There were down hills where I hesitated going down, not too sure if I would be able to go up again in that mud. I had images of myself waiting for a tour to come and have a couple of horses pulling my bike up the hill…
Mud is what stopped me on my other horse trails and I dropped the bike once in it. You would think that without the bags the bike is easier to pick up (much lighter) but in fact it’s the contrary! Without the bags the 950 falls flat on its side and with the mud suction and the boots slipping it took a lot of sweating and swearing to get the bike up and out of the mud.
Speaking about the mud it's well put to use in the local houses...
After that I headed straight to the Alto de las Piedras, a site with tombs lined with painted stone slabs. Pics on the way...
In a town where I'm supposed to turn to the site there is a big sign 'road closed'. I ask a guy coming back from it on a small bike if it's OK and he tells me that yes, it's fine for bikes and so I proceed... until a few kms further I reach that
Elsewhere I imagine that the workers would have yelled at me that I should have obeyed the sign but not here. They told me to approach and put a rather small and narrow plank above the deep trench. I wonder if it will hole the weight of the bike but it does and here I am on the other side.
The happy consequence of this is that I was absolutely alone on the site and that was awesome :mod. This site is a bit different having many big tombs...
... and some unusual statues
No drama this time on the way back to Popayan. With a scenery made different by the weather and clouds.
The rain was patiently waiting for me at the same place but was not as heavy as yesterday.
Did I mention that I love this scenery?
Arrived in Popayan I call my family, all reunited in France and it’s at the same time awesome to talk to them and sad to not be with them
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At the hostal everyone is in the same situation and that obviously creates links. I have the pleasure to find out that the few people I’d met there 2 days ago were still there plus some new ones. We go buy appetizers and drinks and have a good time together in this Babel environment. We tour the churches’ masses, we’re invited by locals for shots or aguardiente
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