Part 9: Northern Colombia
Cartegena, the old city
Day 53 Near Sincelejo
This morning I had a long conversation with a woman while packing the
bikes. She had stayed at the hotel with her two teenagers on a run to town to by
supplies. The sacks, grocery bags and bales of wire were loaded into the farm’s
pick-up truck that was parked beside our motos. She said her family raised
buffalo. The conversation was helped along by her clear and simplified Spanish
designed to accommodate the linguistic fumbler before her.
She became quite interested in our story and asked many questions. She
wanted to know what gear we were carrying, which cases held the camping gear,
the kitchen, and so on. Isabelle happened along and joined in the conversation.
The lady, she was only a little younger than us and I didn’t get her name,
seemed emotional in some way. She was a bit difficult to read. Her manner was
reserved and refined but her body language gave off hints of sadness or regret.
She wished us a happy journey (feliz viaje) then went to her car, her children
having already gone inside. We continued the packing of the bikes but she
returned a minute later with her hands full of home made dried goods and snacks
in zip-lock bags. She hugged Isabelle after giving her the food and again
wished us both a happy and safe journey. This time she drove off.
The first part of the morning’s ride wound its way through the wide, swampy
valley of a flooding river. The water was thick like soup and coloured with a
creamy brown silt. There was a unique and noticeable aroma to it. The humid air
quickly warmed past 35 degrees by 9 am.
The valley narrowed after a while and eventually the high, lushly
covered hills that enclosed it blocked out any breeze that might cool the
people who lived there. Artesian wells were numerous and squirted water in all
directions. We avoided a small one spraying up out of the asphalt. Local people have learned to pipe or hose many
of these water spouts from the hills to the roadside where they run truck
washing businesses. They advertise by decorating the roadside in a series of
liquid arches that reach impressive heights. This likely helps to cool people.
We had the wind from riding to cool us, except when putting along in a wasps’
nest or behind a line of trucks.
The intenseness of the colour green was striking, many different shades
and all of them with such intensity! The smells were all new for us and equally
intense. The Darien Gap is said to exist, in part, to maintain ecosystem
separation between the Americas. Each unique aroma in this new America touched
our noses as we passed through or near its source. Road workers cutting back bushes
and trees released different scents from different species. Other scents
revealed themselves when we were passing a crop in a field, a fresh manure
application or when trailing a livestock truck. The sources of aroma were familiar
and predictable but the aroma characteristics and strengths were a complete
surprise.
Beginning the climb
After the valley ride came the foothills. We were excited by the
beginning of the climb knowing that today’s ride would bring us relief from
weeks of humidity and heat. Most of it was done in second gear because of the
steepness and the tightness of the turns. Long lines of trucks going at sub-first
gear speeds required clutch slipping by us that could cause excessive wear if
we got too close to the truck in front. Very slow speeds also cause balance
problems for motos. You dared not put a foot down to let the truck in front get
ahead a bit because the gigantic rig behind you would complain loudly or would pass
you, not wanting to lose precious momentum.
Lunch stop in the foothills
Through the rest of the day we developed a way of getting past them. Oncoming
traffic came in bumper to bumper lines led by that pack’s slowest truck. These
were followed by equally long clear patches. The trouble for safe passing was
seeing ahead in the constantly swirling track of the thickly forested highway. The
small motos would sometimes, reluctantly attempt to filter past on the inside
track of a right hander but this was dangerous too. The trucks’ rear wheels
trailed deeply into to the tight 1st gear turns, threatening the
vulnerable biker. The trucks were too long and the climb too steep for the
small motos to gain an advantage on a left-hand corner. Their riders simply
didn’t have the power needed to jump ahead quickly, even when given the largest
of opportunities.
Rest break, getting higher!
But I did. Our bikes perform wonderfully in the mountains, even fully loaded.
I would see an opportunity up and around a left-hand corner and easily shoot
forward past the truck. The bike would bark a bit but still have plenty of
power in reserve. I would then be “eyes ahead” for Isabelle, giving her a
running commentary through the headset like, “clear to pass, oodles of room,
nothing in sight…” or, “green truck then clear to pass”. This gave her the
confidence to make the blind pass, and to do it safely. We used this method so
much that some of the small bike riders, seeing its success, tagged along
behind Isabelle on each pass!
Hard to believe, these are still the foothills.
The climb lasted about 4 hours. It had countless ups and down and
reached 2800m at its highest. Isabelle’s confidence and skill levels are
improving rapidly. I’m really proud of her. There were lots of fun twists and
turns, many affording stunning views. I was able to stop a few times for photos
but the road was too busy and dangerous for more. We arrived at Hotel Santa
Rosa de Osos at 4pm and 2600m. The sun is shining and the temperature is 20
degrees Celcius! Our hotel has blankets and hot water. What does that say?
Day 54 Beautiful Medellin
Everyone from Medellin that we have ever encountered has told us how
beautiful their home city is. The ride from Santa Rosa de Osos, 82 km to Medellin
took us through some of the most stunning scenery we have ever witnessed. The
photos we took are disappointing. They don’t portray half of the region’s
beauty. It’s no wonder the people of this region seem to be among the
healthiest and happiest looking we have seen. The crops and even the livestock
we see are healthier looking than that of Central America.
Walking through the neighborhood
The closer we got to the city the more difficult traffic became. The
phrenetic buzzing of thick clouds of wasps, other traffic and navigating took
all of our attention during the ride into the city so we haven’t really seen
anything of the actual city. We plan to spend a week in Medellin. I stripped
down the bikes after getting settled into our hostel. Tomorrow we will ride
them to the dealership where they will be stored until being serviced a few
days from now. Today is the Friday before a long weekend. We will be
pedestrians for a while.
Looking north up the Medellin Valley
We walked to an area that was recommended by one of our housemates and
had a nice dinner. It has been a wonderful day filled with great scenery, fun
riding and numerous encounters with warm people.
Looking south down the Medellin Valley
Day 55 Medellin
We rode the bikes to Ruta 40 BMW for servicing. The 700 needs new rear
brake pads, a new rear tire and the upper crash bar mount repaired. The 1200
needs a new headlight bulb and the engine bash plate repaired after an
encounter leaping down from a hotel sidewalk to squishy grass. The young man,
Luis, who served us was friendly and he spoke English well. He spent some time
with us describing things to see and do and restaurants to try. He took Isa’s
Whatsapp info and sent her restaurant names and promised to answer any questions
she might have about Medellin this week.
A small part of North Medellin from the cable car.
We took the Metro north to the end of the line. It is all above ground
or raised up even higher so you get a good view of the city and surrounding
mountains. We passed the cable car line and decided to come back to it. We got
on the first train back and found that the cable car line is part of the Metro
and our ticket was still good. We rode it to the top above the barrios
(neighborhoods). These barrios cover the steep slopes that surround both sides
of the Medellin valley. Richard, one of our house-mates, tells us that the
lower socio-economic groups are at the top and the higher ones are at the
bottom of the valley. We saw the slow changes in the neighborhoods as we passed
over them.
Further up the mountainside
At the top of the city the Metro part ends. You can continue for several
kilometers over the top and across the highland plains nature preserve, ARVI,
for another small fee. We continued and were rewarded with a fun visit to the
park. There was a small market with very clean street food stalls, where we had
lunch. We also had an excellent espresso. There were displays that explained the
surface geology of the region, some of the history of local indigenous people
as well as the flora and fauna. We were unprepared to hike one of the many
trails. They looked too tough from the cable car ride for our street shoes.
Perhaps we’ll come back.
The slow descent of the 3000ft slope in the cable car delivered striking
views of the city of 11 million people. We took the metro further into the
centre of town to Plaza Botero and saw the famous sculptures by Fernando
Botero. His sculptures in the park number around twenty and are fun depictions
of people and animals in everyday life. He seems to have been fascinated with
rounded forms and joyful moods. The final Metro ride to our neighborhood was
followed by a quick trip to the grocery store before heading home. That rounded
out a really fun day.
Day 56 Medellin
The day began with a great breakfast comprised of local fresh fruit and
yogurt. The yogurt here comes in bottles and has the texture of table cream. We
topped the parfait with some artisan granola and completed things with bodum
filtered Colombian coffee. It was delicious. By 11 o’clock we were walking
towards the Metro.
The first place we went was a neighborhood called El Poblado. We had
been told that this was the hip region with all the really popular bars, clubs
and cafes. We began our visit with the Sunday morning farmers’ market. It is
situated on the edge of a linear nature park that follows one of the many
tributaries that run down from the mountains and into the Medellin. Couples of
all ages, many with children were enjoying their free day.
In the club zone in El Poblado
The linear park ended and we began our tour of El Poblado. There were
great looking cafes and restaurants that were punctuated by hip looking hostels
every couple of blocks. We could only imagine what the place looks like at
night. The area was huge and covered many blocks in each direction. We were
looking for a restaurant recommended by Lius, our contact at Ruta 40 BMW,
called “Mondongos”. They serve traditional Colombian food in a modern
atmosphere. The place is large and popular but we got lucky and were given a
table on the street side right away.
Street art along the edge of the linear park
Isabelle had a type of chicken soup with potatoes and onion in a large bowl.
I had an “almuezo typica” (set menu regional lunch) that began with a bowl of
pork and beans. Then came a plate with three sections; finely ground beef, then
white rice with an egg on top, and finally a long roasted plantain half with a
long square piece of deep fried back bacon beside it. Everything was great but
expensive. My lunch closely resembled one we had in the mountains a few days
earlier that cost about 1/4th the price. The location and hip, modern
atmosphere of course made the difference and that’s OK.
Almuerzo
A short ride on the Metro took us to Pueblito Paisa, a reconstructed
village atop a steep hill that is typical of the early settlements along the
Medellin River. We hiked up the stairs and path huffing and puffing our way
through the forest. The valley floor is elevated to about 5,000ft elevation. It
wasn’t bad, it just took a few more breaths than expected. Our bodies will
adjust slowly to the altitude as we ride higher in the coming days. We will
spend the next 4 months at altitudes that are quite high.
Pueblito Paisa
The summit affords revealing 360 degree views from near the city centre
that are stunning. We hiked down the other side and back to the Metro. We
finished our walking day with another visit to the store to buy fresh fruit for
the morning. It was another fun day off the bikes.
Day 57 Medellin (Comuna 13)
Economic polarity still exists
We rode the Metro and walked about 30 minutes to the area known as
Comuna 13. This place had the reputation of being the most violent area in
Medellin. The last ten years have seen great efforts at improving the community
including the installation of a hillside escalator series designed to make it
easier for people to get to work in the city centre. Street art is encouraged
and protected in Comuna 13 as part of the rehabilitation project, to help give
a sense of ownership and responsibility to the people who live there.
One of the escalators in Comuna 13
Below is just a sampling of the tremendous street art we saw in Comuna 13
Day 58
It was a slow morning. Isabelle went to have a mani/pedicure and I
stayed in to work on the blog. We went back to El Poblado for lunch
and saw the hip area on a business day with all the bars and restaurants open.
There weren’t many people around though and we had no trouble getting a table
overlooking the park plaza. We had excellent coffee and desert at a café around
the corner before a slow walk through the liner park back to the Metro.
Tomorrow afternoon we will pick up the motos and ride them out to our
hostel. We’ll leave the city the next morning. We have really enjoyed our time
in Medellin. It has been a refreshing and renewing break. We’ve spent some time
seeing and getting to know the city. We’ve had the chance to learn general travel
tips as well as things specific to Medellin from other English-speaking
travelers at the hostel. We’ve met and
interacted with people who live here and have formed some of our own
interpretations of the place.
Medellin has put a great deal of effort into its rehabilitation. Let’s
begin with the police. They are ubiquitous, almost always in pairs. They are
armed of course but only with a holstered pistol and a night stick. Gone are
the shotguns and assault rifles of Central America. Officers make eye contact,
give a smile and greet you at every opportunity. They are quick to help if you
ask a question. They have permanent posts in every Metro station and city park
and they can be seen on foot, on a bicycle or on a motorbike (DR650’s) on
pretty much every block. They clearly have a mandate to connect with people in
a positive way.
Looking at Comuna 13 as a microcosm of the impoverished barrios one can
see the positive effects that have come about. Hillside escalators, at a cost
of 5.6 million dollars (cheaper than a new street) allow easier mobility up and
down steep slopes to jobs and shopping and have been decorated extensively with
street art that draws in tourists. Community beautification, facilities and
organized sports, youth centres along with a heightened but positive police
presence add to the security of the residents. The garbage gets picked up.
Businesses flourish, people have meaningful jobs and are able to get to them
more easily. Everyone pays taxes that help the whole system work.
Community and sports/recreational infrastructure
There still exists a wide polarity between the rich and the poor but there is
clear evidence of a healthy and growing middle class. Our hostel is in one of
many flourishing middle class zones in the city. This past long weekend
saw the streets here filled with people at all times. Couples with and without
children, young people and old and people of many different colours enjoyed the
sunshine and closed off streets. They cycled and strolled and went to cafes and
bars and family events.
The streets are clean and the Metro system is immaculate, in the poorer
zones too. Violent crime has dropped off dramatically. Petty crimes such as
pick-pocketing still exist so zippered pockets are a good idea. Medellin is
hip, modern, clean (you can drink the water from the tap) and much safer
feeling that some of the places we have been in recent weeks. Medellin has
shown positive change after experiencing extreme despair. We will miss this
city.
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