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Published: December 10th 2009
Columbia
After 5 wonderful days on the Stahlratte we arrived in Cartagena -each of the 9 bikes individually taken ashore on the dinghy. Cartagena is a beautiful vibrant steamy coastal city with a party atmosphere. People literally live on the streets, chatting, dancing, drinking.
Apart from the oppressive heat, the colonial walled old city of Cartegena is a pleasure to stroll through the streets with plazas, churches, and restored brightly painted buildings with their balconies filled with colorful flowers. Columbia is the third most populous country in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico. The Columbians seem to be very friendly, helpful people who always seem to have time to chat.
We then travelled to Medellin via Caucasia where we stopped at a basic but comfortable hotel and relieved ourselves of the heat and humidity in the wonderful swimming pool. It was so good to travel in a group although we did not at any time in Columbia feel unsafe as there is a large police and military presence.
We stopped in Medellin for a few days to have the bike serviced at Ruta 40, the local BMW dealer. Mauricio, the delightful, helpful manager and a couple of his friends led
us on a great bike ride on the weekend. In a group of about 10 bikes we rode through small villages outside of Medellin to Guatape, an area consisting of lakes and small islands with a large granite rock called Piedra del Penol. We climed 650 stairs to the top of the rock and enjoyed the stunning vista.
We continued south to the quaint, old world town of Salento nestled in the mountains and surrounded by coffee plantations off the Carretera del Café route and near the lush Valle de Corcora with its hills where we rode on horseback to see the famous tall wax palms towering (up to 60 metres) above the clouds. Just outside of Salento we visited an old organic coffee plantation with the delightful, informative 70 year old Don Ellias as our guide- the tour ended with a cup of delicious Columbian coffee.
We then traveled south west passing through Cali and on to Popayan a beautiful old colonial town consisting of predominantly white buildings. We decided to spoil ourselves and stay at Hotel Dann Monasterio, housed in a fabulous old building that was once a Franciscan Monastery. In Popayan we met up with a
few of our biker friends from the boat and continued to the Ecuadorian border the next day. We were all sad to leave the charm of Columbia.
Ecuador
Following a smooth border crossing our first stop was in the Northern highlands in Otavalo, a town famous for its colourful Indigenous handicraft market and the beautifully traditionally dressed, enterprising Otavalenos. Volcanoes Cotacachi & Imbabura provided a stunning backdrop for this delightful town.
Old town Quito consisted of lovely colonial buildings and churches however there was a feeling of unease in this city particularly following warnings from the hotel and local police.
The highlight of our visit to Ecuador was the breathtaking road trip zig zagging past steep patch work fields on the sides of the mountains, over high passes and ridges with Volcano Cotapaxi peeping through the clouds in the distance, as we travelled to Laguna Quilatoa, a blue/green crater lake at 4000 metres. Although the night was very cold and we were a little breathless the view from our hospedaje was amazing and we took a short hike before leaving. We loved the indigenous people who were gentle and helpful.
Our next stop was Banos, a rather touristy
but delightful place surrounded by lush green mountains, close to Volcano Tungurahua which erupted last in 2006 and wiped out the road. (Funnily enough our bed shook one morning!) Banos is also famous for its thermal baths, spas and massage and is a centre for organizing activities such as white water rafting. So of course we did it all!! We were also lucky to be there for a big colouful street parade and celebrations of the founding of the city.
Continuing south our last major stop in Ecuador was the lovely colonial city of Cuenca “the tidy jewel of the south”. We loved this place and felt extremely safe and comfortable.
Crossing the border into Peru with our lovely Venezuelan biker friend Gino was a delight……..
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Di
non-member comment
Very nice!
Hi Jude, Looks like you are having a fantastic time. Thanks for thinking of us here, it's great to see where you have been. Have a fantastic Christmas and happy new year, where ever you are:) Cheer Di