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Departamento de Santander

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    • Aventura en Columbia
      1
      1
      Day 16

      Unser letzter Tag in San Gil

      October 7, 2019 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      Unseren letzten Tag in San Gil gingen wir gemütlich an. Zunächst kauften wir ein Busticket für den Abend und schlenderten anschließend durch einen nahegelegenen Park, in dem es Natur und einige Tierarten zu entdecken gab.
      Das Treiben der Kleinstadt, in der wir uns mittlerweile gut eingelebt hatten, genossen wir ein letztes Mal auf dem zentralen Platz mit einem Kaffee to go und Keksen. Ein Fanfaren-Zug zog unsere Aufmerksamkeit zum Schluss auf sich, dem wir uns auf dem Weg zurück ins Hostel anschlossen. Ein letztes gemeinsames Bier in geselliger Runde beendete unseren dortigen Aufenthalt.
       
      Mit dicken Klamotten ausgestattet, da wir bereits mit Busklimaanlagen Erfahrungen hatten, fanden wir uns am Busterminal ein. Nach 3h Fahrt war unsere Reise auf Grund von technischen Problemen vorerst vorüber. Unsere Mägen dankten uns diese Pause als auch den Fahrerwechsel. Der Ersatzbus war schon ein bisschen in die Jahre gekommen, versprühte seinen eigenen Duft, hatte aber die gleiche Power den Bus in einen Kühlschrank zu verwandeln. ;) Nach 14,5 h haben wir endlich unser nächstes Hostel in Santa Marta erreicht.      Read more

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    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 186

      Replanning the route

      March 11, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

      What an awful day on the bike! Highway again, lots of heavy traffic, headwinds, and a flat boring scenery. The highlight was a quick stop for a fresh orange juice including a nice chat with the vendor and her friend.
      After 85km going South, we saw an old bridge next to the new bridge which was only open for pedestrians. We pulled over to get a short rest about 100m away from the traffic and decided that we did not want to go any further on that highway. So we replanned our route and took the next turn East towards Bucaramanga. On this road, there's less traffic. Plus, they built a new road which is not open yet, but perfectly passable by bike.
      We still called it a day after 10 more km, found a basic hotel and cooked a fresh pasta salad.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      1
      Day 187

      Entering a different world

      March 12, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

      The day started a little different compared to the last weeks: there were some raindrops when we started cycling. And pretty much from the beginning, we had to climb. The landscape changed completely, from dry and flat we entered a green and mountainous world with temperatures under 30°C - what a relief! We also had a longer breakfast stop at a roadside restaurants, as we didn't have hurry to beat the sun.
      We climbed to about 1200m where the road started rolling through some villages, lots of agricultural land and a bigger cacao city.
      Around noon, we reached Giron after a 500m elevation drop, a beautiful colonial village in the mountains, all painted in white. We had a short lunch break before continuing on a busy highway with no proper shoulder. We did a semi-circle around Bucaramanga, the capital of this department, in order to go further South. In Piedecuesta, a small but busy village, we called it a day and stayed in a basic hotel.
      Lots of nice people on the road today. First, Angelica on her motorcycle stopped next to us for a chat and to give us her number in case we need help. Later, Andrés cycled next to us for a short talk about our trip. We also exchanged numbers to stay in contact. He seems to be motivated to do bike touring as well, so maybe we can inspire him a bit more. In general, many people cheered and gave us a thumbs up which is always encouraging on a climb!      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 188

      Beginning of the rainy season

      March 13, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      2am - we woke up from heavy rain and realized we had left our shoes outside. I tried to save them, but it was too late, already soaked completely. We thought about our options and decided to sleep in to give them some time to dry.
      So instead of getting up at 5am, we slept til 6:30am and had breakfast. The shoes were still wet of course, so we had to find another solution. Herbert just used his new shoes that were actually meant for colder weather conditions further South and I just used plastic bags instead of socks.
      Then we hit the road again. We had already heard that there were mudslides 2 weeks ago and the road was blocked for bigger cars and trucks. Perfect for us as we passed a long queue of trucks and cars who had to wait, but we could pass with our bicycles. Apart from some locals, the road was empty.
      So we climbed for some 350m, before enjoying an epic downhill of 850m on a canyon road. So much fun!!
      However, afterwards, we had to start climbing again on a curvy mountain road with no shoulder. And now, hundreds of trucks came from the opposite direction, speeding downhill with risky overtaking maneuvers. Obviously, they had just got the news that the road was open again, so after 14 days of waiting, they wanted to win back some minutes.
      We stopped at a tourist restaurant at the entrance of Chicamocha National Park to get something to eat and a hot beverage. For the first time in Colombia, we got good coffee as it was not sugared. I also emptied my new socks from sweat and water that was inside 😏
      Then we climbed the last 550m to Aratoca - with a short stop for fresh mandarin juice. We found a nice hotel room with a balcony in this mountain village and went out for dinner and exploring.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      2
      1
      Day 190

      Barichara

      March 15, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      The advantage of taking it slowly due to an uncertain situation is that we have more time to explore. So today, we cycled to Barichara, a village North of San Gil. The road was paved with few traffic, so we could enjoy the 500m climb followed by a 400m downhill through the mountains, passing some really nice farm houses.
      In Barichara, we could leave our bikes at the sister hostal of our hostal in San Gil. This enabled us to walk around the village - far better than on bikes as some roads were steep and there were cobblestones everywhere.
      All houses were painted in white, which looked really beautiful. We saw the central square, the church, a chapel, the rock art park with some sculptures and the impressive cemetery. As Barichara is famous for its rock artists, most of the gravestone include a piece of art such as angels but also a football, hats, books or even a guitar.
      As it was quite hot, we decided to take a local bus to Guane. It's a little further North of Barichara, only 8km but 500m lower in elevation. Here we tried Sabajón, a drink of whisky mixed with milk, and the local icecream. The museum was closed during lunch hours, so we skipped it.
      While we were waiting for the bus back to Barichara, there was a public announcement through loudspeakers on the main square. They were going to close the museum to protect the village from tourists bringing in Corona. He is generally right, of course, but as the major of the village repeated this about 20 times, it was a weird feeling sitting there as an obvious tourist with locals staring at you.
      Luckily, the bus arrived 5 minutes later, we went back to Barichara and rode back to San Gil from there. Grocery shopping, dinner at the hostel and route planning for tomorrow before going to sleep.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 191

      Corona stop

      March 16, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      It seems like we are stuck for a while. This morning, we got the news that hotels have to close (including our hostel) and some regions (including Santander where we are in at the moment) don't let travellers pass anymore.
      The owner of the hostel offered us to stay here for a while. As it's a nice place (the hostel as well as the region), we decided to stay and observe the situation. We really don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hotel options around.
      So first thing we did was to buy fruit, vegetables and beer (toilet paper was sold out already, but there's still enough in the hostel 😉). We also registered at the local secretary of health. They took our personal information as well as our health status (no symptons). They told us that we shouldn't have any problems because we've been in the country for 15 days now (JUST), which is considered to be the critical time for bringing the virus into the country. We didn't get any official certificate, but can always refer to the registration in case we get stopped by the police.
      Then, Herbert replaced the chains of the bikes which he was going to do anyways some time soon. Our temporary Australian housemate Ishan prepared sandwiches for lunch and a peanut butter curry for dinner.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 192

      Social distancing

      March 17, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      In the morning, Ishan left our hostel apartment, as he decided to cancel his trip and go home to Australia. So now it's only us and Andrés in the house. Andrés is Colombian and usually works in the hostel. During the closure, he can't work there, but prefers staying as the conditions are way better than in his home.
      After breakfast, we decided to do social distancing in the mountains and went for a bike ride on a remote road to Charalá. The route went passed Fonce River and was really beautiful. We passed a waterfall and spent some time on the central square eating icecream.
      On the way back, we wanted to check out if the Indian Cave is still open. In order to get there, we took a back road which was dirt. But hey - we have time and no luggage, so let's try! Climbing was really hard and I sometimes had to push some metres, even though we lowered the air pressure. But the landscape was awesome and there was absolutely no one else on the road.
      In Paramó where the cave is located we first stopped at the church. Then we went to the entrance of the cave. Unfortunately, noone was around. Looks like everything is closed to the lack of tourists. So we just went back to San Gil, did some grocery shopping and cooked dinner.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      14
      Day 193

      Daytrip in the mountains

      March 18, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      Next day of Covid-19 prevention: we started with smoothies for breakfast to fill up our vitamines. Then we headed took another remote road out of the city. This time, our destination was Mogotes. It started with a 600m elevation gain before we had a curvy rolling stretch.
      Shortly before Mogotes we passed a health control. They took our data and asked about any symptoms. As we don't show any and would return back to San Gil, we had no problems passing. In the village, we enjoyed some yummy empanadas before going back home.
      In general, we see more and more people with face masks. I'm tempted to ask them if they are all sick, but don't want to risk getting in trouble 😏      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 195

      Getting ready for the lockdown

      March 20, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      In the Santander, the state we are in right now, there'll be an obligatory general curfew starting tonight. For now, it's only for 78 hours, but who knows? Anyways, we are preparing for staying in our hostel in San Gil for a while. So first we bought some Spanish books and a puzzle to kill time indoors. Furthermore, we used the time for studying more Spanish.
      Today, we went for a final bike ride before we can't go outdoors anymore. We cycled uphill to the tiny airport and followed some dirt roads before heading back to town. Finding our way back to the main road wasn't easy as most turns ended on a private property. But people were always friendly and directed us back on the main track.
      Back home, we had a hot shower as it was relatively cold (18°C). Afterwards, we went grocery shopping, so we have the basics for the next 4 days.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      1
      Day 200

      Day 200 and the quarantine

      March 25, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Who would have thought that we spend our 200th day of our trip locked up in a house in Colombia because of a worldwide epidemic? Noone could have predicted this, that's for sure!!
      In Colombia, travel has been largely restricted since 16th of March. Since last Friday night, there's state curfews, so it isn't allowed for people to leave the house anymore, except for grocery shopping or going to a doctor or similar. At midnight today, a nationwide curfew started, so these rules apply in all of Colombia.
      We still think we are kind of lucky because we found a good place to stay during this difficult situation. First, the climate in San Gil is nice. Temperatures during the night drop to about 20 degrees, so we don't need airconditioning or a fan during the night. Before 10am and after 4pm, temperatures are cool enough to exercise.
      Secondly, we have running water all day, electricity, a fully working kitchen and a bed. What sounds normal to most people is actually not everyday life for everyone here in Colombia.
      Thirdly, we also have quite some space in the building including a patio, so we can see the sky even if we have to stay at home. It's not allowed to leave the house for exercising, so we use it for online trainings. Good to see there's heaps of offers on YouTube such as Yoga or #lederhosentraining.
      In general, we try to keep a daily routine: get up around 6:30am, start with breakfast and followed by our morning exercise. During the hot hours, we puzzle, study Spanish, read, catch up with the news or with friends and family. Once it cools down, we do our evening workout, followed by dinner. Before going to bed, we usually watch some comedy online. We found a way to download videos on the phone, transfer it to the camera and connect it to the tv, so we have a big screen to watch it. In general, we prefer older comedy shows with last year's topics to get a break from Corona.
      Yesterday was a highlight in our routine. In between state and national curfew, there was a day of a break. We took our bikes and went uphill for a ride to exercise a little. It was soooo good for our souls to be outdoors, a totally different feeling!! And again, we are lucky to be in San Gil as there's mountains all around. We can make 600m elevation gain on remote roads in only 10km. So we don't even have to go far in order to get a decent training and enjoy the views. Unfortunately, the officials here realized that all people used the "free" day to go out. So we got sent back to town when a firefighter passed us on his scooter. He also critized us for not wearing a face masks.
      In general, people go crazy about the masks here. 95% of the people here wear them which is scary to us. We refused so far, but when someone yelled at us on the road again when going shopping, we decided to wear some as well. Lucky, we still had the ones we received in California which were supposed to protect is against the smoke of the fires. They won't help against the virus, but people here are satisfied and we won't end up in the news as the foreigners who refuse to wear masks... Anyways, apart from groceries, we could also buy a skipping rope and 3 balls for juggling which will hopefully distract us a little during the next 19 days.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Departamento de Santander

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