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Published: March 1st 2010
As I start to write this, I just realised that (in the UK at least) it's just become March. Feels weird (for no reason, it's happened 38 times in my life already). It's almost springtime, guys. Not long to go. I
really hope the weather cheers up for you soon.
Yesterday (Saturday), I packed my bags and headed north to Bucaramanga. I've found that every place that I've been to so far in Colombia, I've wanted to stay just a
bit longer than originally anticipated. In some cases, I've wanted to stay a
lot longer. It's hard sometimes. You get a sense of feeling comfortable with a place and then you move on and start all over again. One of the great things about not having a fixed itinerary is the ability to be flexible. But it really does take some considerable effort to pack the bag - to throw yourself out of your new comfort zone again. Maybe it's something that will become easier with time.
The thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that every time I
have moved on, I've moved on to something so enriching and fulfilling. I guess that at some point, it's not going to work out that way...
After my late night on Friday, I was hoping for a bit of a lie in. But the traffic outside put pay to that at about 7.30. I've noticed that there are open topped lorries that drive around carrying (effectively) Calor Gas bottles. As they go down the street, somebody hammers on a bell twice a second. Now I'm not sure if this is just a signal that the Calor Gas guy is around should you need to stock up (or deposit your empties) or whether it's a warning that this is a truck that has the potential to explode so get out of the way schmuck.
Anyway, it was the gas guys that woke me up yesterday. In a way it was a good thing. Although Bucaramanga is only a couple of (Colombian) hours from San Gil, I hadn't booked a room - so it was good to get up early and make sure that I could get a reservation.
Mónica had suggested the
Cabecera Country Hotel "in the heart of Cabecera del Llano" - which is, I guess, a district of Bucaramanga. It's not really near the center, from what I can tell. But there are plenty of bars, restaurants, shopping etc so I'm well catered for. Anyway, the first job yesterday was to call the hotel and book a room. Don't be fooled by the English version of the web page, by the way. Nobody speaks English here - at least nobody that I've met.
With the room booked, I went to pack my bags and shower. I'd somehow ended up with half-bottle of rum from the Salsa fest the night before. I decided to leave it as a gift to the hostel staff as a gift - much to their amusement (oddly!). I hadn't mentioned the drinks thing from Friday. Basically, you can by small bottles of liquor from the bar and, say, a bottle of coke and then share it between friends. Drink here is cheap anyway, but this makes for an even cheaper option.
Anyway, all packed and ready to go, I paid up at the hostel and went to get some breakfast. Ah, something else I forgot to mention from Friday's blog: astute readers will remember that I couldn't take any more than 300.000 COP from the cash machine in Villa de Leyva. Well, it seems that the limit in San Gil is 200.000 COP. But, inexplicably, you can take out 200.000 COP and then 100.000 COP with no problem. A bit rubbish because it costs me two transaction charges rather than one. Still, there you go.
Breakfast was just a few doors down at another hostel. Nothing fancy. Cereal (with banana), 2 fried eggs, coffee, a super-tasty juice (no idea what it was), bread, butter, jam. 7.000 COP. I got halfway through my coffee when it happened - the moment that I've been expecting since I arrived...my first "reach for the Immodium" moment of South America. I'm not sure what caused it - but it certainly wasn't welcome with a two (colombian) hour journey ahead of me.
By about 10.30 I was fairly sure that everything had settled down. I'd paid, I'd checked out, the cab was on its way to pick me up and take me to the station. I mentioned that there are three terminals in San Gil. But in truth there are four. The main terminal covers the long distance journeys (the other three are run by local operators - primarily CotraSanGil (I think they're called). The main terminal is about 5-10 (english) minutes from the hostel by cab and cost me 3.500 COP. You CAN get a bus to Bucaramanga with CotraSanGil but they're only small buses and, with my luggage and all, I wanted a proper bus. Apart from anything else it was a stinking hot day and I craved the comfort of air conditioning for a couple of hours.
As I arrived at the terminal, I was surprised that I wasn't pounced on by a hundred agents. In fact there were hardly any around. Mónica had mentioned that Berlinas (the bus company) were even better than Copetran (those who had bought me to San Gil) so I thought I'd give them a go. I was told that the bus would leave in ten minutes - so I paid my 17.000 COP and wandered off to get a coffee (with only 5 hours sleep under my belt I was still trying to wake up).
With coffee drunk, I wandered back into the waiting area and parked myself for a while. Soooo hot. I was regretting my decision to wear my (freshly washed) jeans. Oh how I craved that air con comfort. Come on bus! Arrive! And shortly it did. The Berlinas guys called me and showed me where to go...air con...hmmm, air con...bring me that air con....WHAT'S THIS? The bus was a minibus! No air con!! Grrrr. I loaded my backpack into the back of the bus, cursing my luck. Well, it was only a two (colombian) hour journey, I'd survive.
Although the bus wasn't full, fellow passengers had spread themselves and their belongings such that there appeared to be only one set of seats that was really available to me. It was the middle of the bus, that would be fine. A giant sloth of a woman appeared to have melted into both of the two (fully reclined) seats in front of me. Don't you hate that? When people in front of you do the fully reclined thing from the EARLIEST possible opportunity on a trip? You sit there thinking "well, guess I'm not going to get any legroom for a couple of hours". Still, my seats were also fully reclined so I couldn't really moan. It's not a comfortable position for me though so I pushed the button and, hey presto, nothing happened. The seats didn't come up from their fully reclined position. I pushed, and pulled and prodded but no way that those seats were coming upright. I was honestly too hot and tired to care too much. Reclined I would arrive in Bucaramanga.
Behind me the back seat was filled with four youths. They were shortly joined by two more who sat directly behind me. They were kinda chatty already - as youths are wont to be. Wouldn't be long before the MP3 player buzzed into life, no doubt.
Hmmm, I sound like things were getting to me. They weren't really - I was fairly relaxed. Just a bunch of stuff that had the potential to make the journey less comfortable than my 17.000 COP demanded.
We pulled off pretty quickly, leaving at 11.30am, and the breeze from the windows served to cool me down. I had half a mind to put my head out the window like a dog...but of course didn't. Hmmm, nice cool breeze...hup, there's the radio...so now it must be time for the...yep, MP3 player...ah, I'm getting the hang of this bus journey business.
One of the aspects about driving the mountainous roads that I haven't mentioned before, is the inclination of the drivers to drive in the middle of the road or, even, on the wrong side of the road. Sometimes this is just a literal case of cutting corners, but mostly it's to avoid potholes or broken up carriageway, I believe. It adds so much to the excitement of the journey! Astoundingly, most of these roads are actually toll roads! The first time I saw a sign indicating "toll booth ahead" I thought it was the distance to a town: "Peaje - 1km". Then further up the road I saw "Peaje - 1km". Hadn't we just passed Peaje? Then again "Peaje - 1km". Finally I twigged. My Spanish really needs work.
The first part of the road to Bucaramanga is the same as that which leads to PANACHI. The same stunning scenery. It's breathtaking second time round too. As we climbed the mountain roads, I reached for my iPod (the communal mix wasn't really doing it for me). I put on a demo track that somebody sent me before I left but which I'm not allowed to talk about. It was perfect. Wow, I'd missed this. After that, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Muse, Phoenix, Foo Fighters...all the time spectacular views of valleys and mountains, exposing themselves in front of my eyes. And for the second time in two days, I feel inexplicably emotional. And with every new scene, the same thought..."I wouldn't have missed this for the world".
We climbed to 1600m, passing PANACHI and then we start our descent. Quickly. Waaaay quicker than the speed limit, that's for sure. One thing that always strikes me as humorous is this: you're being driven by a maniac along a mountain road that twists and turns and has people overtaking on blind bends and you have drops of 1km if you get it wrong...and then you see a sign that says "Curvas Peligrosas"...."Dangerous Bends". Like, that before
wasn't dangerous???
As we descend the increase in heat is noticeable. The odor of molten tar assaults my nostrils as the carriageway begins to soften up. Lower and lower. To 570 meters. We cross a river and then begin our next climb. Our climb to Bucaramanga.
On both sides of the road trees overhang the carriageways. And behind the trees, steep rock face. I'm transported back in my head to days of playing Out Run on holiday.
As we climb, the air becomes fresher again. And in a short time we are in the outskirts of Bucaramanga.
The first thing that I noticed about the city was the fact that it had dual carriageway. A proper road. The mountains don't disappear but they dominate less than the other places that I've been to in Colombia. There is a clean, fresh feel to the place - despite the intense heat. The gated new developments on the outskirts owe little to the colonial era and wouldn't look out of place in London. We arrive at the bus terminal. It looks
nice! The ride from San Gil to Bucaramanga was, just as advertised, 2 Colombian hours (3 hours).
I unload my bag from the boot of the bus and notice that some water is dripping on it. I wipe it off then notice that the odor on my hands is not water but that of stale smelling beer. I have no idea how that happened - a spilled can in the back of the bus? Grrrrr, those pesky kids.
The taxi rank is not particularly well signposted and I end up walking downstairs rather than upstairs. Again the heat is the prominent sensation. Hot. Sticky. I wonder how I'm going to cope when I get to the Caribbean coast.
I grabbed a bite to eat at a food stall downstairs. Empendada - really tasty. And it makes me hungrier. So I go for a cheese arepa which has a slight sweet taste to it. Interesting.
Eventually I found the taxi rank. The ride to my hotel was short and uneventful. The district that I'm staying in is lovely. This is not really backpacker territory.
I guess that the I should point out the reason for the stop-over in Bucaramanga. By all accounts there's not much for your average tourist to do here - the biggest nearby attraction being PANACHI. The reason for the hotel stay (rather than a hostel) and the location is simply to recharge a little before my push up to the north. I need to organise a place to stay and to enjoy some creature comforts before I move on.
I unpacked and wandered around the local area to familiarise myself with what's around. This area is largely about shopping and restaurants and bars. It's cool. It's hip.
I wander into the shopping center and find a book shop tucked away in the far corner of the top floor. I've been wanting to get a small, light novel written in Spanish so I can improve my vocab a bit. And I found one here. I stopped off to get a coffee at Juan Valdez on the ground floor (Juan Valdez is the starbucks of south america, I'm told - but it's nowhere near as omnipresent).
While I'm drinking at the only remaining table, another customer asks if he can join me. His name is...I don't actually remember. Something like Jeffery. Immediately I felt not totally comfortable with him. I struggle to understand what he's saying to me and each request for him to slow down is met with a repeat of the previous phrase at the same speed. It's not that he's unpleasant - just that something is not right. As I leave the shopping center, he insists on coming with me. He seems to know all of the street merchants here and I think that this is his trade. In the end I make my excuses and head back to my hotel. He says he'll pop around later to see if I want some dinner and I, disgracefully, hope that he doesn't.
He does. Honestly, it's pretty tough to call these situations. It's pleasant to have company occasionally but when you don't feel totally comfortable around somebody, you just long to be on your own. At the same time, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt - but I really don't think that this is a good plan in this country. Anyway, I say that I'm just going to go for a beer so we head to a bar next door (pretty much). Fortuanately I get chatting to a guy called David who's a lawyer here in Bucaramanga. "Jeffery" seems a bit put out and leaves pretty quickly. I'm relieved.
David introduces me to a couple of his friends - one from Blackpool (of all places) and one from Madrid. They're going to a Salsa bar and invite me along.
The bar was super warm. The music super loud. The dancing super impressive. But after Friday's live spectacular, I felt that the place was lacking some spirit. Still I had a good time and later, we ended up in a nightclub until about 5am, dancing to reggaetron or whatever it's called. What a GREAT night. It started with all the promise of being awful and ended up being one of my best nights in Colombia so far!
So that takes us well into Sunday. I'm going to stick around here until Tuesday I think. That's the current plan for now.
Sorry that there are no pics with this posting. But you got loads in the last posting 😊
Hasta luego
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carlos
non-member comment
Bucaramanga!
You had a strange issue with the cash machine, you should put another value option and then mark values over 500.000 pesos. Still tell me where are You now? how bad you didn't meet any bilingual here