After another great night of sleep our nerves are frayed. Uni-bomber is annoyed, as we all are, and he wants to return to Cartagena. No problema.
I pack my stuff, exchange hugs and emails and I´m on my way to Barranquilla, the 4th largest city in Colombia, to find some clip-on bike shoes for the uphills that await me in the Andes. The guys have convinced me it´s the only way to tackle those hills, so I make it my mission for the day to find a bike shop before they close.
Caption: ¨Scenery.¨
Caption: ¨Scenery.¨
Caption: ¨Art.¨
It´s all hot uphill and I get to play leapfrog frogger with buses all the way into the city center. It´s a liberating feeling traveling solo and now traveling at my own pace. Not only do you get to meet more people but I can get more things done in one day than I did in 3 days with those guys. Jar Jar is an amazing person but speed, even he will admit, is not his forte. It takes him 2 hours to do anything; to pack his bags, to brush his teeth, or to eat his lunch. I was talking to one of his friend´s in Cartagena and they told me they were together in the hostel and were going to eat lunch together in an hour, but first Jar Jar had to run an errand in the city. He left. Upon returning to the hostel later that evening the friend wanted to know what had happened and I overheard the following conversation,
¨Well, I went out to buy a journal, and then, well, I got turned around and I just found my way back right now.¨
¨10 hours later?¨ she replied.
¨Ah, yep.¨ was his friendly smiling response.
¨10 hours later?¨ she replied.
¨Ah, yep.¨ was his friendly smiling response.
How could you get angry at that? But you get the idea of why they have biked 3 weeks in 7 months.
Caption: ¨Pointers, the both of us.¨
I found a hotel in Barranquilla by 5pm, showered, and then hit the town to find biking clip-on shoes. I came up with nothing at 4 places and then, because I was alone, was shown some very nice Colombia hospitality. A stranger said he knew of a place on the other end of town. He biked me 40 minutes to the other side of the city to the door step of the best bike shop in town. What hospitality. I was blown away. He just wished me luck on my adventure and went on his way. The bike shop was equally friendly and sent me on my way with a hand drawn map to find a book store with road maps of all of Colombia. I had to bike back to my hotel in the dark with, as the Real Estate classified ads euphemistically say about a treeless neighborhood in a bad area, ¨shadey trees lining the streets¨ (wink wink). People look, and I just bike by.
I found a hotel in Barranquilla by 5pm, showered, and then hit the town to find biking clip-on shoes. I came up with nothing at 4 places and then, because I was alone, was shown some very nice Colombia hospitality. A stranger said he knew of a place on the other end of town. He biked me 40 minutes to the other side of the city to the door step of the best bike shop in town. What hospitality. I was blown away. He just wished me luck on my adventure and went on his way. The bike shop was equally friendly and sent me on my way with a hand drawn map to find a book store with road maps of all of Colombia. I had to bike back to my hotel in the dark with, as the Real Estate classified ads euphemistically say about a treeless neighborhood in a bad area, ¨shadey trees lining the streets¨ (wink wink). People look, and I just bike by.
I put together my new pedals and shoes in my cramped hotel room. Ate a chicken and passed out early to the Colombian spice channel.
Tomorrow will be a long day.
