dare2go

Colombia: the way to Bogotá


At Plaza of Giron

Continuation from < Page 1 < !

Now it is Monday 10 March and I'll take over from Juergen writing the rest of this report, while we are parked at yet another workshop (a larger "Navitrans" than the one in Barranquilla) to see if someone can solve the riddle of the "Check Engine" light.
 
We had asked at the last police checkpoint for a suggestion as to where to sleep and when we mentioned Chiriguaná, he had advised against going there. But he didn't really get it that we couldn't sleep at a truck stop right alongside the highway. We saw a huge sign advertising a new hotel in Chiriguaná and decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a good decision and a marvellous experience of the Colombians' friendliness and helpfulness once again. First we stopped at the police station where Juergen asked directions for a hotel and meanwhile I was invited into a front garden to talk to two local women. They were very interested in what we were doing and most excited to have a look in the camper. When we found the hotel, the staff were great and a couple of local policemen came by to say that they would watch our truck overnight because we couldn't get into the hotel parking lot. We had decided to take a room with air-conditioning because it was still over 30° and almost dark.
By the time we had taken care of all this, we had also drawn a crowd. There were many curious children, but the adults were there on the periphery as well. They watched through the back door while I prepared a meal, we ate it and I did the dishes. All the time they were asking questions, some of which I even understood! They also tried out their limited English and were very excited when we answered them and praised their speech. It was an altogether pleasant experience. We spent a fairly restful night and left quite early the next morning before it got too hot. At our first stop of the day, Juergen noticed some writing in the dust on the bonnet of our truck - "Gracios Australianos - los quieros muchos" ("Thank you Australians - we love you very much"). We were very touched. As a footnote to the policeman's suggestion not to go there, there did seem an inordinately high police presence for the size of the town and maybe it is a problem area. If that is the case, we didn't directly experience it.
Continuing to follow the 45 towards Bogotá, we passed through Bucaramanga - a not very inviting smallish city - and then on to Girón. This is a rather well preserved colonial town with narrow cobbled streets and white houses with tiled roofs. It reminded us a little in appearance of Pátzcuaro in Mexico, but with a different feel. We had already increased our altitude somewhat since leaving the coast so the temperatures were not as high as we had previously experienced. When we left Girón we continued to climb and on the way to San Gil we passed through the breathtaking Rio Chicamocha canyon. Sometimes the road was a little too steep and it seemed to be a long way down, but the vistas were certainly worth the vertigo. We had thought to stay in the car park of the National Park, as others before us had, but on reaching it we didn't find much about it that was appealing - it looked very fake and everything seemed to be solid concrete. So we drove on to San Gil, where we stayed at a Balneario run by another very friendly and helpful Colombian.
Outside San Gil we visited another well-kept colonial town called Barichara. It is similar to Girón, but has a bit more colour in doors, windows and other decorations. After spending a couple of hours there we decided to continue on towards Bogotá, with an interim goal of Villa de Leyva. Since we have climbed into the Andes, the landscape keeps changing. Sometimes you feel like you are driving through some hilly countryside and then suddenly you are on top of a ridge and can see mountains well into the distance on both sides, despite the haze. Sometimes the area appears lush and tropical and then it is suddenly dry and fairly barren, depending I suppose on which side of the mountain you are on. It is never boring!
Four days after leaving the coast we arrived in Villa de Leyva. We had originally planned to spend some time there but only stayed 2 nights before driving on to Bogotá. There were two reasons for this - first, we wanted to get some more advice on the truck problem and hopefully get it solved, and secondly, we wanted to meet up with another traveller also called Juergen and also from Germany, and he was currently in Bogotá for probably the next week. But we plan to return to Villa de Leyva sometime soon so you will be able to read all about it and the interesting places to visit in the surrounding areas in our next report.
Meanwhile we are still waiting (or hoping) for someone to solve the problem with the truck...


 
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