Advertisement
... is, hands-down, overland travel - by bus, car, motorcycle, bike, or foot. Traveling by bus is definitely not for the faint of heart. But before I get into that.... We had a very relaxing night in Villa de Leyva, bar hopping to a few of the local bars around the main plaza and watching the locals sing along to all the Spanish pop music, which was amusing. The next morning we went on a really nice hike, very similar to a hike I might do in Colorado. Ryan and I decided that this part of Colombia is a perfect blend of Colorado (for the mountains), Nebraska (for all the farmland that covers the mountains), and Florida (for how green everything is, and the hot humid climate)... so we nicknamed it Colobraskida. So we feel right at home! Also, on our hike, we made a new friend: Muñeca la cabra (Dolly the goat). This really adorable black goat decided it needed a friend and it followed us all the way down this dirt road, wagging her tail and shoving her head under our hands so that we would pet her. But then her owner came along on his motorbike and he
was like, "Adonde vas, negra?!" (Where are you going, black one?) And he had to get off his bike and give her a smack on the neck and then, literally, chase her back up the road yelling "Va a la casa!!" (Go home!!). It was fabulous. I got a video, no worries folks.
Any way, we left Villa de Leyva in the early afternoon. Back onto another colectivo - by now we´re getting used to these giant crazy vans, so that was no big deal. We had to take the colectivo back to Tunja to get on a bigger bus (una buseta) to our final destination of San Gil. The guys who work at the bus terminals are very good at guessing where people are going, and of course when they see Ryan and I walk up, they guess the next closest touristy city. So we´re off the colectivo no more than 4 seconds when several bus driver´s assistants called out "San Gil!" We nodded yes and they led us over to a buseta. When the guy put our backpacks in the back, I doubled checked with him. "A San Gil?" "Si". We bargained our price and within a
Bogota
view from Leon´s apartmentfew minutes we were off. But of course we had to stop along the way picking up more passengers until the buseta was standing room only (we had 2 standers). By the way, a buseta is like a small bus, with only 20 seats, but they pack in a good 22-23 people, no problem. I´m convinced they´re just trying to conserve oil and save the planet.
So, the trip to San Gil was supposed to be about 4 hours. We went about an hour and a half and then we stopped at a town called Barbosa. Nothing abnormal there, until every single person on the buseta got off, including the bus driver and his assistant. I got off to ask the assistant what was going on and he said we´d be changing buses in 5 minutes. Okay, sweet... no big deal. But Ryan and I weren´t about to sit on the hot buseta, waiting, so we got off and stood on the sidewalk with the bus drivers. We seemed to be at a makeshift bus terminal along the side of a main road through town. Within a few seconds of standing there, a guy and a girl standing in
a nearby doorway of a little store asked where we were from. I said we were from the U.S. (and if they ask the state I always say Florida because no one has heard of Colorado but they ALL know Miami). Of course this is all happening in Spanish. So then they wanted to know everything about America. I guess this is actually really common. He was also super impressed with my height, so I called Ryan over (who was sitting at the side of the bus), and he nearly had a coronary. In a few minutes we had a crowd of spectators, all wanting to ask us questions and marvel at the 6-ft plus white giants. I was entertained but I think Ryan was overwhelmed. So, I found out that the man in front of the store, Carlos, was the owner of the shop and lived in the apartment above it. He wanted to know about my family, if I was married or have any children. Then he showed me a picture of his son, Santi, and his wife on his cell phone. He also opened a new box of candies from his store and gave some to Ryan
First meal
not very good :( and I. He was so nice. Then he really wanted me to meet his son who was upstairs in their apartment. And although I know my mom might flip out when she reads this, I´m gonna write the whole truth anyway. So, Carlos took Ryan and I upstairs to his apartment and showed us his son and his whole apartment. He really wanted to know what we thought of his place and his son. Colombians are very curious and want to know what you think all the time, especially about their country and their culture. We were only upstairs for a couple minutes then went back out to the front of the store. Carlos grabbed some caramels from the shelf on the store and gave them to us as a gift. Oh, and he took a picture of us with his cell phone. I got a picture with him and the girl (his employee) as well. Meanwhile, at least 30 minutes have passed.
Back out on the sidewalk, we continued to have more of an audience, mostly bus drivers and their assistants. But of course a crazy old woman with no teeth came over and harrassed us for about
10 minutes. She wanted money, of course, to buy herself a cigarette. There actually aren´t many beggars here, we´ve discovered, but this woman was totally crazy and very persistent. The bus drivers and crew were really getting a kick out of watching her yell at us for not caring about poor people, saying that the dollar is worth much more than their Colombian pesos, yadda yadda yadda. I almost thought she might spit on us because she was so vehement about getting money. Eventually she went away but I think the whole experience was draining. I know it was definitely a trying time for Ryan, who hasn´t really traveled out of the U.S. before. Unfortunately, we didn´t really have anywhere to go so we just had to wait on the sidewalk. I kept asking our bus assistant what was going on and why weren´t we leaving for San Gil. He kept brushing me off with excuses of waiting for another bus to arrive from Bogota, and the police blocking the roads, and it was Friday so there was more traffic, etc. Gah!!
Finally, after nearly 2 hours on the sidewalk in Barbosa, we were brought to another bus around
Granadilla
Looks gross, tastes great! the corner. I noticed that it was a different bus company so I asked our bus assistant if we´d have to pay again. He said no, that he had paid them for us. Basically, the first bus driver pimped us out like a couple of Colfax hookers to another bus driver. The first bus never intended to go to San Gil at all. They took our money, dropped us off in a town along the way, and then sold us to another company. What the...?!?
By this time, it was dark and we were on another buseta roaring through the mountains of central Colombia in the rain. Ryan and I were exhausted and uncomforable as we were squeezed into the back of our new bus... read: no leg room. We had no idea how long the ride would be until San Gil and we also hadn´t eaten dinner because we originally planned on arriving in San Gil around 6 p.m. So we were quietly snacking on crackers and raisins that we bought in Villa de Leyva when I glanced out the front window of the bus. In a few seconds flat I saw a yellow lab start to cross
the street, felt the driver slam the breaks, then felt the bump, bump of us running over the dog. Anyone who knows me will know that that was a tragic moment to experience. Just hours before that I was thinking about how street-wise all the animals seem to be here (horses, sheep, goats, cats, and mostly dogs). Guess some of them are unlucky.
So, there is definitely a frightening, yet surprisingly effective, system to driving on the 2-lane mountain freeways of Colombia. First of all, solid yellow and double solid yellow lines mean nothing. Passing occurs at any given time but the drivers all have a consistent system. First, they get as close as possible to the vehicle in front of them (like inches away). Then they start to creep over into the other lane. If it looks good, they get all the way into the other lane and stay there for a few seconds, just to double check. Then they floor it and pass the other vehicle within a few seconds. Meanwhile, if you´re coming along in the other lane and there´s a car or bus coming right at you because he is passing someone, you just break
to slow down until they pass. When passing cars, buses or trucks that are stopped on the side of the street, they give a quick honk. Driving in the mountains is seemingly easier at night because the driver can see the lights of a car that might be coming around the corner. It is also a common occurrence that the drivers just pick whichever lane is closest to the mountain, whether it´s their lane or not. So we are often not driving in the right lane. Ryan thinks they might be avoiding potholes in the road when they do this, but I´m not sure. Passing bikers and pedestians is especially harrowing because the car/bus gets SO close to them, but somehow avoids running them over like the yellow lab. It´s really fascinating and always seems to make for an experience. However, I hope to NOT have a new bus story for every blog entry.
That´s it for now. Safe travels.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.053s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0285s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Heather
non-member comment
I really enjoyed your Columbia post! It reminded me of my time in South America, and how much I loved it! My blog is looking for travel reviews (like good and bad bus companies in Columbia! ;) , photos, etc. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email us at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Continued fun on your travels, and I also hope you don't end up with another new bus story! Heather :)