Capurgana to Medillin

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We decided to leave today & head inland for a day & then back to the Caribbean. So, we're up early to catch the 7:30 am boat. Our morning was a little hectic due to money. We hadn't paid the dive shop yet because we didn't have enough Pesos to pay them, only dollars. So, we asked Ariel to change a couple hundred dollars for us to get us to Medellin & pay our debts. It took him up until the very last minute to come up with the pesos for us. So, it was a bit stressful at our departure time but Ariel gave us a fruit smoothie so we wouldn't leave town hungry. So kind. When the boat was loading up Geoff was running to pay the dive shop, we're paying Ariel, we're watching the boat & hoping they don't leave without us, but with all our stuff. Just hectic. But, we did it & said our goodbyes to Ariel & his family & off we went on our fast boat to the town of Turbo.

The boat ride was 2.5 hours long & again passed amazing coastline. Completely untouched jungle & mountains. At one point about 1.5 hours in we were met by another boat, that I named the gas station, because it had a huge drum of gas that he gave to our captain to get us the rest of the way I assume. Pretty cool to have that kind of service.

So, we arrive in Turbo & it's really not a place you even want to see. The small river we drove into was flanked with huts/houses/boats, just a lot. Behind each house or structure were piles upon piles of garbage. And the smell. Oh goodness it was so foul. It smelled like we were touring a sewer. The water was sooooo brown & thick & there was a sheen of oil on the top. Ugh. The garbage is so overwhelming sometimes when we see it like that. It's sad too that people consider their backyard to be their garbage dump. So, we get to the dock & before we get off the boat there are already 5 guys yelling out & pointing to which tourist they get to take. These are always the times I turn to Geoff & say "here we go." It's always chaos for a minute & then gets better. We had to hassle the boat captain for our change. They never gave us change at the dock so we stood there while he called back to Capurgana & tried to get in touch with the guy who took our money. He never did get in touch with him but I think because we stood there insistent & clearly unmoving, he finally gave us our change. It's like a staredown contest with people sometimes here. But, we have nothing but time so we can wait.

We then headed into the city with the young guy who claimed us. He waited with us while we waited for change. He walked us to a bank & waited for me while I went inside & waited in line to find out why my debit card didn't work at the ATM. I was told that their bank doesn't communicate with my bank & to try another bank. (Sadly, this is just the beginning of our money/ATM problems). So, the guy walks us to the corner where we wait for our bus to Medellin. Then I headed out to find another bank, in the direction he told me to go. Sometimes you just have to hope that these people who help you wil be decent & not follow you to the bank to rob you. You really never know. But I try to have faith in people & so far it's been good. I had to go to 3 banks before an ATM would give me money. Shesh. The town of Turbo is crazy & noisy & dirty & sketchy feeling. I made it back to Geoff safe & sound & within a couple minutes our young guy appears again & says the bus should be here any second & he waited with us to make sure we got on it. Of course, we tipped him a couple bucks. That's sort of expected in those situations & if you don't give them a tip, they'll certainly ask for one.

Our bus arrived & our guy helped us carry our stuff & got us on the bus, then waited for his tip from the bus driver. Then we were off. Our bus ride was about 9.5 hours from Turbo to Medillin. We were both sooo antsy by the end of the bus ride. Too much sometimes. But, after about 7 hours we stopped at a side of the road restaurant in the mountains & I had a bowl of delicious soup. The mountain towns were so much cooler than by the sea. It was also interesting to see all the mudslides & rockslides along the road from all the rain. They were also the reason our 8 hour bus ride was 9.5. The rain has done some serious damage.

Finally we arrive in Medellin around 8:30pm. Our bus drops us off & we caught a cab to a hostel we'd heard about. I was feeling feisty after traveling all day & once we arrived at the hostel I started giving the cab driver a bit of a lecture about trying to get money from tourists & jacking the fares & so on. He dropped the price by 2000 pesos (about $1). The girl working at the hostel saw the whole encounter & asked me how much he was charging us. We found out the going rate was what we paid & he really was jacking up the price by 2K. Funny stuff. We win!

We settled into our little room & blogged & checked out the internet for a bit before going to sleep. We booked our flight from Medellin to Cartagena for the next evening. We don't have any more time for all day bus rides. I'm hopeful that today's bus ride will be our last full day spent on a bus....

Off to sleep. We're getting up early to do a quick self guided tour of Medellin before our flight tomorrow eve.

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Photos

The view from the rest stop bathroom.
Not too shabby!