Part 10
Day 59 Pereira
We headed out the garage door from the hostel in Medellin during morning
rush hour but it wasn’t a problem because we were leaving town. The going was
slow but things moved continuously. The motos felt good, refreshed after their
servicing. Everything that had been needed
was done to them and all for a good price at Ruta 40 BMW.
South of Medellin the roads became curvy and the trucks were slow. The
speed limits were also very low. Only about 10 km of our route today was posted
above 60 km/hr. There were construction zones with flag stations and blocked
lanes every few kilometers, largely for landslide repairs after a difficult
rainy season. We arrived at the hostel in Pereira at about 4:30 pm. 215
kilometers had taken us a little over five riding hours. Lunch and other stops
added two more hours. Throughout the day the scenery had been gorgeous.
Stopped at a construction site - photo taken through my mirror
And that’s what it is about. The day we crossed the border from Mexico
into Guatemala was the start of 100 km taking 2 ½ hours to cover. Once we
accepted the idea that road travel is and will always be slow here things
become easier. We have learned to enjoy the scenery and all the conversations during
hourly breaks and in the halted wasp nests at the construction sites while waiting
for the go signal.
Colombians are fantastically friendly and inquisitive. They stick their
heads out the car window or steer their motorbike beside ours at every
stop-light or construction zone and start to ask questions. They are thrilled
we are visiting the place they love so much. They want to know our story and
always suggest things we must do and see. Most common questions in Colombia: how
did you come from Panama and how fast will it go?
Coming in from the north we looked down on the city of Pereira from
about 200m above. The city sits at about 1300m altitude so the climate is very
much like the eternal spring of Medellin. The hostel has its lobby/office in
what was the garage of a house. The administrator opened the big garage door
and I helped him move the furniture back. Then I rode both of our motos into
the remaining space, occupying all of it. It required three of us to lift and
slide the back wheel of the 1200 closer to the wall. They will be safe there
tonight.
Bringing the bikes in from the street
Day 60 Pereira
Breakfast at the hostel was simple but did the trick, especially with
Colombian coffee in the mix. Our private room and two breakfasts cost $25. The
low-key rooftop terrace has a bar and some tables and chairs. It was a nice
place to spend yesterday evening as the inside rooms cooled for the night. We
stuck around the hostel in the morning because our coffee tour wasn’t until the
afternoon, then we went out for lunch.
We found a little 5-table restaurante called “Café Mariscal Pereira”
that served a set menu almuerzo for $4.50. It began with a generous bowl of
pork and beans, then came the main dish of sausage, fried plantain, white rice
and a tortilla. Desert was Jello and a drink of lemon and sugar cane juices
with cinnamon. Everything was delicious. He also fixed me a great “café negro”.
The owner and his wife had real pride in their food. He checked a few times
with us regarding the quality of the food. He described each dish well and made
sure we left with a business card for his restaurant.
Mauricio Ibanez
Mauricio Ibanez picked us up from the hostel at 3 pm and brought us to
his coffee finca (farm). He is a small producer like all the others in this
area and every step of the process of coffee production at his farm is done by
hand. The best coffee here grows on steep hillsides to create partial exposure
to the sun. This makes for a tough job clambering around on those hills and
using only traditional hand tools to tend the small trees. A hand scythe is
used to keep the grass and weeds down between the coffee trees. Mauricio hires
local workers at picking time and to do the heavy work. He has at least one
full time employee who is very knowledgeable about farming and local plants.
Some of Mauricio's coffee trees
We asked Mauricio about the “bad times” after he mentioned that phrase.
I asked, “when were they?”. He answered, “Well we had 60 years of bad times but
in my lifetime, it was in the 90’s”. He said that they lost many people, that
it was a lawless time. Corruption was everywhere and many people thought that
they could become rich through the drug trade and they quit their regular jobs.
This led to the disintegration of productivity and the whole system slowly fell
apart. The cities and more specifically the walled and barred homes within them
became the only relatively safe places. The police were too few to protect
those who lived in the countryside from the bandits so most farms were
abandoned. Many farms fell to ruin.
Touring the farm - up and down...
Mauricio told the story of his father’s death. His father was murdered
only 6 blocks from the nearest police station by bandits. He said the police
were, “too afraid to go so they waited until the next day to recover the body.
Then a new president was elected and he started a war with the criminals.
People began to see the advantage of working to make a living and safety came
back to the countryside.”
Peek-a-boo
Mauricio also told us stories about the road that we had ridden the day
before from Medellin to Pereira. One of them was even a ghost story that
featured the sudden appearance of a second passenger that was behind and
pushing on his sleeping wife, on the back of his motorcycle late one night! The
other stories revolved around the physical dangers on the road like falling
rocks, full landslides and included people’s warnings not to drive on that road
at night.
Coffee Trees
We have heard, read or seen YouTube videos of some crash and over the
side plunge stories in the Andes at night. We avoid any travel at night by
motorcycle. Add stray animals, potholes, unfamiliar territory, drunk drivers and
the personal warnings of countless local truck drivers to Mauricio’s stories
and the risks of night driving cannot be justified for us.
Coffee beans ripen at different times
It is abundantly evident that Mauricio loves the business of farming.
Our private tour through the hills, deep valleys and across the streams of his
farm was punctuated by Mauricio picking a wild plant, immediately smelling it
then passing it to us. Next, he would go into an explanation of the medicinal
or cooking uses of the plant. He continues to study plant uses from an
indigenous teacher in the region.
Sun drying is the preferred method
Mauricio showed us the husking and cleaning machines and the
fermentation vats. The fermentation time for coffee in this region is 14 hrs.
Next came the sun drying racks outside. He has a propane powered small drier if
he needs to process a batch quickly but the sun adds flavour to the beans and
is the preferred method of drying. His coke fueled drying oven is not used any
more as it is very bad for the health of the workers. He uses the inactive cavity
for storage of tools.
Cooling after roasting
He roasted a small amount of already dried beans to show us how. Timing
is everything with seconds and degrees C combinations being strictly adhered
to. A light roast is preferred to preserve the aroma and correct acidity. It
makes the best filtered coffee. Dark roast, accomplished by leaving the beans
in the machine for not much longer, reduces the caffeine and aromas. It is best
used in espresso machines.
Into the grinder
Then came the tasting. Mauricio’s wife Jimena served a tasting at the
table in the house. It was delicious. Coffee is at its best when it is ground just
before brewing and lightly roasted no more than 6 days before brewing. Jimena
drove us home and we had a great chance to practice Spanish with her in the
car.
Washing up after the tour
We got to the hostel at about 7 pm and walked down the street a couple
of blocks. We ate some street food then bought some pastries from the panaderia
(bakery) across the street. We enjoyed them with tea on the roof-top patio back
at the hostel. It was another fun day in Colombia.
Mauricio's garden
Geese lifting off
Pastoral beauty
Day 61 Cali
Getting out of Pereira was relatively easy this morning and we enjoyed
220 kilometers of great roads and few obstructions. We even got the motos up to
100 kph for a couple of kilometers before the speed limit dropped again.
Drivers mostly adhere to the speed limits in Colombia. The small moto riders,
however and within their power limitations, do pretty much what they like.
We ride/drive as if our bikes are cars because we are so big. The spaces
need to be quite large if we are going to dare to filter through traffic like
wasps. We usually just try it on the highways near borders, tolls and
construction sites when the traffic is stopped. City traffic is already
incredibly intimidating, there is no need to add to that stress!
Today’s ride mostly took us through a long wide valley. It was at least
20 km wide at the narrow points and was well over 100 km long. It was huge, and
it was full of sugar cane. We passed by a few four and even five-trailer rigs
called “tren de caneros” (cane train) that resemble an Australian “road train”
in the outback.
We arrived through the big front door, literally, of the Kilele Hostel
in a hip area of Cali at about 2 pm and parked the motos in the lobby. It’s a former urban mansion, the back opening
onto a steep hill overlooking the city. It is complete with servants’ quarters
and a swimming pool three levels below the main one. A football championship
game featuring the favorites, Real Madrid was just about to begin. A large
crowd of young people had gathered and the beer was flowing, possibly because
the first one was free. It was a ton of fun to watch the game with passionate
fans. “Futbol” is an obsession with many in South America. Madrid won, thank
goodness!
Preferred parking
After the game and a gigantic hamburger at the hostel we went for a walk
around the area with the clubs and bars looking for a café with dessert choices.
We had to look a while to find a simple café. Most establishments were themed
restaurants or disco bars where people dance salsa all night. Cali is the place
for that, we are told. I can hear the mixed beats and DJ’s through the open window
as I write this. It’s Saturday night and we are in the middle of the party
zone. Things are continuing, albeit on a smaller scale, here at the hostel too.
It’s fun to be here tonight. Yes, we’re old and will go to bed early as usual,
but it is still fun. We are especially buoyed by the news today that our
daughter Gabi booked her flights and will join us to ride for a few weeks in
Peru. We are overjoyed!
Cali from our room in the hostel
Day 62 Hato, outside Popayan
Getting out of Cali was lengthy and traffic filled even on a Sunday
morning. The rest of today’s ride was on good roads that wound through river
valleys again. We were waved though military check points. When things got
hillier we saw numerous pairs of soldiers posted at the side of the road. We
also saw a few sandbagged firing points that were manned by more soldiers. Some
bridges are well manned and have sandbagged or concrete hard points at either
end. These sightings grew fewer and stopped altogether as we moved more toward
Popayan. The last hour and a half was a gentle climb.
We are at a house in the country outside Popayan owned by Elizabeth.
Riding on the rough dirt road in from the main one was worth the effort. The
tranquility of this beautiful place is reflected in our host, Elizabeth. She is
kind and serene. The farms in this area are small and very close together.
People work the land by hand and grow enough for themselves and perhaps a
little more to sell. Coffee grows here too. We saw no farm machinery. There
were a few small trucks on the road but mostly people and goods are moved
around on small motos. We saw a few signs on the country road for cheese. Our
stay tonight cost $17.
Elizabeth is a retired pharmacist
Elizabeth and I talked while fixing dinner in the kitchen upstairs.
Isabelle’s knee was giving her grief again so she stayed downstairs in our
spacious and hospital clean room. Elizabeth gave Isabelle some herbal remedies
to put on her knee. Elizabeth said she wants to learn English. She is taking
lessons from someone in the village. She would like to study in the city,
Popayan but she said it is very expensive and then there is the problem of
getting there each day.
We disturbed one of Elizabeth's neighbors, can you see the raised eyebrow?
Isabelle and I walked through the village of Hato earlier, probably making
her knee worse. We noticed how immediately open and quick with a greeting
people we met on the street were. Also, there is a distinct lack of walls and
fences and locked gates. I told Elizabeth some of Mauricio’s stories about the
dangerous times in the 90’s and how his father had been murdered by bandits
just outside Pereira. I asked her if things were ever dangerous here. She said
in the days of Pablo Escobar that all the trouble was farther away, nearer
Cali. She said that this place is different from Cali. People just went about
their everyday lives here.
The atmosphere in this region of small family farms is charming. Today
marks the second time, the first time being in Panama, we have ventured off the
beaten path and been rewarded with pastoral tranquility. The elevation is
1900m. The night air is fresh. The hypnotic sound of rain gently falling
outside the open window is all we hear tonight. This place really is a world
away from Cali.
Day 63 Pasto
The city of Pasto sits at 2700m and the climate is wonderfully cool. The
ride from Popayan to Pasto is mountainous. Isabelle is getting much better at
sharp turns and is putting some actual wear on the sides of her tires now! We saw
a few different ecosystems along the way. Some of the differences in ecosystems
are caused by local rainfall or the lack of it. Rain seems to fall mostly on
one side of the mountains. Crossing from one side of a mountain to the other
can bring you from desert cacti in 38 degrees to lush cultivated land a few
degrees cooler. Pasto is a city with about 800,000 people nestled in a shallow
valley.
View from Elizabeth's back porch
News of landslides, flooding and the terrible loss of life in Peru and
southern Colombia this past and difficult rainy season reached us at home on
the TV news. Our trip planning puts us in the mountains during dry season. Tomorrow
we will cross the frontier into Ecuador.
Up until now it has felt like a mad dash that started with the first clear
roads at home (04 Apr) and will end tomorrow with our arrival in the high Andes
at the beginning of dry season.
Breaktime in southern Colombia
We have made our two deadlines: the pre-booked sailing to Cartagena and
Ecuador at the beginning of dry season. Things can slow down now as we spend
the next four months in the three countries of the high Andes, Ecuador, Peru
and Bolivia.
The view off Elizabeth's back porch is spectacular!!
ReplyDeleteBonjour Terry, Isabelle,
ReplyDeleteIl y a longtemps que je voulais prendre de vos nouvelles. J'ai tout lu à date. Quel récit inspirant! Terry a une très belle plume, très précise, agréable à lire en plus d'être très informative.
Vous pourrez me compter parmi vos lecteur de votre récit d'ici la fin. Ça fait rêver.
Bon courage pour la suite et que Dieu vous protège.
Cordialement,
D
P.s. N'allez-vous pas à Bogota ? J'ai un ami là-bas. Faites-moi savoir si vous voulez son contact.
Hello Terry and Isabelle.
ReplyDeleteFelicitaciones por el tour y que Dios los acompañe siempre.
Un abrazo.