Colombia is amazing. The people here are so generous and friendly, and I am still constantly impressed by all the random acts of kindness that we encounter on a daily basis.
So, where did we leave off? Cali. We stayed at a Casa de Ciclistas run by Hernan and his family - Sixta, Arturo, Daniel and Paulo. The real head honchos, however, were the two canine companions, Tobi and Nacho. Yes, Nacho is a real name. Nacho is even nacho-colored. Nacho, Nacho man... Anywho, we had a wonderful time with the family sharing cups of hot chocolate and tea, munching arepas con queso (corn tortilla-type flat breads with cheese and butter. Go arteries go!), and baking oatmeal cookies. We were lucky to get out of Cali alive, however, because we were addicted to the local bakery. It´s goods weren´t even that good, but our stomachs always won out against our brains´ better judgement. At Hernan´s house we also encountered our 3rd cyclist of the trip! Carl, a Swede with the raddest touring bike we´ve ever seen, was just finishing up a 10 month tour of South America. Freaking amazing! Kudos to him - his stories are just making us all the more excited to keep going!
Y ahora un poquito en Espanol...A todos que hemos encontrado hasta ahora en Colombia - mil gracias! Se nota que a la gente de este increible pais que le importa que los demas tengan una verdadera imagen de lo que es Colombia. Es verdad que a todo el mundo llegan malas noticias del narcotrafico, de los guerrilleros y FARC y tambien de los paramilitares. Es verdad que pasan cosas horribles en este pais, pero ese no es lo que defina la cultura Colombiana. Seguimos en este viaje como embajadoritos llena de ganas de informarle a todos que Colombia es unos de los paises mas encantadores del mundo. Muchisisimas gracias por toda la hospitalidad y amistad que nos han brindado!!
After a tearful goodby at the Casa de Ciclistas de Cali we were back on the road with newly tuned and greased bikes and panniers full of clean clothes - I even washed my sleeping bag! Just outside of the city Eric got a flat tire, and as we were fixing it a car pulled over. The couple inside introduced themselves as Johnson and Nelly and asked if we´d like to stay with them at their home! We got their cell numbers to call them when we made it to Popayan, and they zoomed off toward Cali (meaning they had seen us and turned around to offer us the invitation :c)
That evening we arrived at a little town called Mondomo and began the search for a place to stay. We landed just on the outskirts at a cute brick home where we were invited to pitch the tent. Rosalba, Gerardo, Maria Socorro, Alejandra and Manuel received us with open arms, and we spent half of the evening talking about our stove - they had never seen such an odd contraption before in their lives! They graciously offered to lock our bikes up in their kitchen and let us each take showers. An unexpected addition to our campsite was a 5 week-old puppy. It took an immediate liking to us, even though we kept shooing it away, and it wound up sleeping UNDER the tent by my head. We hope we don´t have fleas. I´m serious. Eric, stop that itching!!
The next morning we set off into the ups and downs of the region and arrived in Popayan in the evening. That story we shall leave for the next blog - it´s that good!
Internet is also being picky, so we´ll try for photos next time...
VERY determined puppy! It must be your aura!
ReplyDeleteMom
I get the impression that you generally feel safer in Columbia than anywhere you've been since leaving the U.S. Even just in terms of how the traffic deals with bikers, the attitudes of the local people, etc. Is that true?
ReplyDeleteRoads in Colombia were much nicer, in general, so having a shoulder really increases our sense of safety when we´re riding. Plus, people just don´t drive nearly as fast. More like 60 kph instead of 110. And in terms of people, yeah, it was great. Colombia was one of the only places we felt comfortable (because it was recommended locally) going up to random houses to ask for a place to pitch the tent. And most of the time people would insist that we stay in their home :c)
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