Expedition to the jungle

What an interesting trip! It was really a tough decision to make to decide where to go on my solo adventure through Colombia. I couldn't decide whether to take a few days at the beach or venture through the mountains and jungle. To be honest, living in Mexico I often have those relaxing days where I can just chill out on the beach in a hammock... This year has not been short of vacations - so I decided I needed to do something memorable - so here I am in the colonial village of Barichara...

My insistence on being spontaneous and not deciding on where to go until the last minute probably bit me in the ass a bit. I arrived at the airport around 2:30 thinking there was a 4:00 flight to Barracamunga, the metropolitan city and capital of the department of Santander (Colombia has departments instead of states). In actuality, there flight was at 6:30 PM. So - instead I sat in the airport 4 hours to wait to board. I could have spent some more time with Ian and Ana - and gone to La Candelabra in the city center, a place I did not go to when I was in Bogota.

Alas, I was ready to board my flight and encountered another problem - I had no idea that it would take 2 1/2 hours to get to Barichara from Barracamunga. Plus public transportation would be nearly impossible and I'd get here very late... So I had to take a taxi for the entire trip - costing me a bit over $250,000 (about $150 US).

The flight was fine - although its the first airline that did not offer instructions in English as well as the native language. Most humorous, however, was that people brought boxes and boxes of Dunkin Donuts on the plane. I had to ask someone what was going on. Supposedly, its the only Dunkin Donuts in the country, so people were buying them for their families and friends... simply hilarious.

The taxi ride was an adventure in itself, cragging through mountain roads in complete darkness. Thankfully we had a full moon guiding us, but my driver had been navigating the roads for many years. Immediately, he was smitten with my iPad, saying "Is that a computer?" I decided to just say yes instead of launching into a discussion of how we invented a new product category :). As we went through small towns, I read about them with my Lonely Planet guide (digitally downloaded onto the iPad.. no more big fat books!). I decided to practice my spanish and translated the stories of each town for the driver so he could learn new things about the state he calls home. That was fun - he appreciated it very much. We got into banter about families, politics, religion, all taboo subjects with friends but okay for us because we were so interested in learning about each other's lives and cultures.. Interestingly enough he spent most of his time talking about my life and things Mexico, not the United States, as I assumed it was more familiar for him. Most disappointing about the drive is that I was passing some of the most beautiful scenery in Mexico, but unfortunately I could only make out the lines of the mountains.

I arrived at Hotel La Nube Posada at around 10:30 PM very tired and happy to have arrived. The hotel staff was waiting for me on the street with big smiles as they were waiting to go home themselves. They made me a ham and cheese sandwich as they figured I'd be hungry when I got there - everything in the village was closed - and there are no bars or discos. Without internet (there is no wifi in the town), I decided to go straight to bed and rest up for the next day.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bogota to bucaramanga to Barichara