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The South American Odyssey
  • The Craze for Travelling
  • The Craze for Travelling

The South American Odyssey

A 147-day adventure by The Craze for Travelling Read more
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  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Auto to take us to the port
    Auto to take us to the portInside the autoA small branch of the Magdalena riverCanoe came back to pick usSetting off now

    Off to Lake Pijino

    February 15, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    Since we were getting late, the tour operator had provided an auto-rickshaw for us. We got on in it and were whisked off towards the port on the Magdalena river nearby. There, the motorized canoe we were supposed to take, had gone a bit away to stand in the shade while they waited for us. It was too hot to stand in the sun for even 5-10 min. As soon as we reached the quay, the canoe came over and we started our journey 30 min late at 3:30 pm.Read more

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    Into the side channels

    February 15, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    From the main branch of the river, our canoe traversed into the narrow side channels going towards the Lake Pijino. An interesting sight on the river, was that of many fish jumping out of the water trying to escape the predator fish in the channels. There was a lot of wildlife along the channels including Kingfishers, Iguanas, Aguilas (eagles), loads of Cormorants on trees, Garza Blanca (Great Egret). Unfortunately, it was had to get good pictures with the phone camera. There was a lot of local flora as well like the huge Ceiba trees and Totumo trees with its big round green fruit. Some places the locals had cleared up the forests and were growing cash crops like Plátano (type of banana) and Papaya trees.Read more

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    Starting the journey back as the sun was going down

    Swimming in Pijino

    February 15, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    After anchoring the boat in the middle of the lake the boat driver told that those who wanted to swim in the lake could do it there. We didn't need any further invitation and withing minutes we were in the cool waters of the lake. It was a fantastic experience. The sun too had started setting by now so it was quite pleasant even on the face when it was outside the water. Around 5:30 pm, after having enjoyed the swim for almost half an hour, we got back onto the boat and started our journey back.Read more

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    Night in Mompox

    February 15, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    We reached back Mompox by around 6:30 pm. The sun had set by now and all the beautiful colonial buildings had been lit up beautifully. We walked around the town for the next 2 hours and had our dinner as well. By about 9 pm in the night we headed back to the hostel to sleep for the night.Read more

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    Walk along the river

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We woke up around 8 am but by the time we all got ready, it was nearly 10:30 am. We decided to have our breakfast and then go to the bus terminal to book our tickets to San Gil. Our hostel didn't provide breakfast but their branch Casa Sol de Agua a few hundred meters along the river bank served breakfast which we thought was a pretty decent price. We walked along the banks of the river Magdalena for almost a km. The buildings were old classic colonial ones with antique furniture inside. A few of them had boards outside explaining their history and who it belonged to.Read more

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    Cycles for rent at Casa Sol de Agua
    Cycles for rent at Casa Sol de AguaBus schedules from MompoxBreakfastCasa Sol de Agua

    Casa Sol de Agua, Mompox

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Casa Sol de Agua was a much nicer hostel than the one where we were staying and I guess that's the reason it was more expensive as well. There were lovely quote boards hand drawn and hung on the walls. One of the boards was regarding the various bus departures and their timings. From here we got a good idea about the bus we'll need to catch and realized that we had till about 6 pm to look around the town. The breakfast was sufficient and very reasonably priced at 12000 COP per person.Read more

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    Local market near the bus terminalSpices, pulses and maizePirated DVDs

    To the Copetran bus terminal

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    By the time we finished the breakfast, it was 11:30 am. We walked to the Copetran bus terminal about 1.5 kms away. Here too, once again the bus terminals for each company was separate. There was no common bus terminal. We had inquired around and found that we needed to go to the Copetran terminal. We bought the tickets to the 6 pm bus. After that, we went to the local market nearby but didn't find anything interesting there.Read more

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    Mangoes
    MangoesTotumoUMTEntrance to the Mompox Cemetery

    To Mompox Cemetery

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Having purchased our bus tickets, we checked our offline maps and saw that the nearest place to see was the Mompox cemetery about 300 mts away. We walked over towards the cemetery. On the way, we walked under the shadows of the Mango and Totumo trees. We also saw barber shops under the trees, reminding of the UMT (Under Mango Tree) barber shops in India ;)
    The cemetery had an imposing white arch as the entrance. There was no entry fee.    Read more

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    Mompox Cemetery

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The Mompox cemetery was an interesting one. Here the dead are not only buried below the ground as done normally, but also in small chambers along the walls. We had seen a similar cemetery in Barcelona earlier. It was extremely hot in the sun so after spending some time in the cemetery, we were back in the shadows of the tree outside the cemetery. We bough some ice creams in one of the shops to cool us down and got artificial vampire jaws along with it ;)Read more

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    Filigrana Goldsmiths

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Walking around the town, we ended up inside one of the shops selling the silver and gold filigree jewelry.
    Mompox is well-known for its skilled goldsmiths and is home to the unique art of Filigrana jewelry. The seven-step art is a result of North African techniques brought by Spaniards mixing with Colombian goldsmith practices. The silver is melted down and made into a thread, which is then crafted into beautiful and unique works of art. The people of Mompox are proud and dedicated to preserving this art form, which is passed on from parents to children and is also taught at a local community center for disadvantaged youth.Read more

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    Iglesia de San FranciscoThe anti-clockwise clock of the church

    Iglesia de San Francisco, Mompox

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Iglesia de San Francisco was another beautiful building in Mompox. A unique thing about the church was the the clock in the church's clock tower built in 1890. The clock functions anti-clockwise. The 12 is still at the top but the 1 is to its left and not right. Its an interesting thing that we always presume the clock should go clockwise, while if you think about it, its equally valid to construct a clock the goes anti-clockwise and still tell the time. No one questions the status quo and we continue living in a world that is around us without giving a second thought to the things.Read more

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    Filigree workshop

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Opposite the Conception church, there were workshops being conducted for the underprivileged children. Teaching them the nuances of the delicate artwork. The teacher welcomed us inside and explained the procedure to us.
    The art may be said to consist of curling, twisting and plaiting fine pliable threads of metal, and uniting them at their points of contact with each other by means of flux such as borax, with the help of the blowtorch. When granulated motifs are desired, small beads are made traditionally by using precious metal wire cut up in small pieces and mixed with flux and placed in the small holes of a pitted block of charcoal and are then melted with a blowtorch, after which the bits of wire curl up and take a natural spherical like shape to end up in minuscule grains. The more delicate work is generally protected by framework of stouter wire.    Read more

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    Menor del Santisimo Cristo de Mompox
    Menor del Santisimo Cristo de MompoxSanta Barbara churchWalking to the bus terminal

    Time to move on

    February 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    After the lovely experience at the filigree workshops we walked to the nearby basilica of Menor del Santisimo Cristo de Mompox. It had a beautiful wooden interior roof and a gilded apse. From here, we walked along the banks of the river Magdalena. Here we had our lunch at one of the restaurants on the banks of the river with out sitting tables overlooking the calm flowing waters of the Magdalena under the soothing shadows of the trees on the banks. After our lunch, we went back to the Santa Barbara church where we picked up our bags from the hostel and then walked over to the bus station to catch our night bus to San Gil some 450 kms away.Read more

  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    San Gil from across the Rio FonceRestaurante Balcon ColombianoLunchMain square San Gil

    San Gil

    February 17, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    The overnight bus reached San Gil at 8 am in the morning. We didn't have any places booked so we decided to go around the bus terminal and see if we could find a place to stay nearby for one night, before we try and find something better.
    For a small city, San Gil packs a lot of punch. This is the outdoor capital of Colombia and a mecca for extreme-sporting enthusiasts. The area is best known for white-water rafting, but other popular pastimes include paragliding, caving, rappelling and trekking. We had planned to be here 3-4 days depending on what all we would be interested in and also the cost of doing the various activities.
    We couldn't find anything within a reasonable budget around the bus terminal so we started walking towards the town. The bus terminal is about 2 kms from the town and we couldn't find any good places to stay on the way. It was downhill all the way to the 1st bridge across the river Rio Fonce into San Gil town. Here, there was a very beautiful view of the whole town. Just across the bridge we found a nice Hostel Santander Aleman Terrace Vista at a very decent price of around 70,000 COP for the 3 of us per day. After checking in, we slept for a few hours. The night bus had stopped at Bucaramanga on the way where we had had to change buses to San Gil. Because of that, we had not been able to sleep properly. We woke up around 3 pm and were hungry. We scouted around our hostel and found a nice place in Restaurante Balcon Colombiano. Here we had a sumptuous meal of eggs, rice, yukka, red beans, fried plantain and avocado salad. After the meal, we went to the main square to find tour and activities operators so that we could start off by next day only.    Read more

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    Catedral de la Santa Cruz, San Gil
    Catedral de la Santa Cruz, San GilInside the cathedralGraves inside the cathedral

    Catedral de la Santa Cruz, San Gil

    February 17, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We went around the main square trying to find operators who could offer the different activities San Gil is famous for. We couldn't find any conspicuous ones which surprised us since the town is famous for outdoor activities only, but you can't really do those activities without a proper equipment and an operator organizing the activity. We looked up on our offline maps on Maps.me and found 3 of them near the main square. We went to all of them one by one but couldn't make up our mind since there was only one who we felt had all the information we needed, but this one wanted the full payment for all the activities in cash. Our hostel too had pinups with the different activities and their prices, so we decided to go back and check there before finalizing.
    Right on the main square was the Catedral de la Santa Cruz, we decided to go in and have a look before going back. It was a beautiful cathedral and this building along with the main square reminded us the main square and cathedrals in Cusco, Peru. Here too, there were graves that were not below the ground but above the ground in chests in walls.    Read more

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    Main square San Gil
    Main square San GilVendors started setting up shops as it got cooler in the eveningFancy buses with lights everywhere

    Around the main square

    February 17, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    Maria was feeling a bit drained due to lack of sleep so she headed back with Hristo to our hostel while I roamed around the main square enjoying the atmosphere and also trying to find if I could find any other operator in the side lanes. There were no other operators to be found near the main square but as it started getting dark, I noticed the fancy buses with their aileron accessories and flashing lights :)Read more

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    Dinner at Balcone Sengiteno

    February 17, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Hristo came back after about 40 min. Our hostel too had been able to provide us all the activities we had wanted but they too wanted all the money in cash. Interestingly, the price Hristo had been able to negotiate at the hostel was exactly the same as that we had been able to negotiate with the only tour operator we had liked near here. So, basically, there was nothing to choose between as far as the cost was concerned and since we were now at the main square, we decided to book them there at the Paravolar agency nearby. It took us quite a while to find an ATM with the least withdrawal fee but eventually, we managed to withdraw the required amount. In all, we paid a total of 915,000 COP in cash as a discounted package of Hristo and me doing Para gliding, white water rafting, caving in the Vaka cave and Abseiling while Maria would join us in the rafting and abseiling.
    After arranging the whole thing, we went back to the hostel and came back to the main square with Maria. We had our dinner at Balcone Sengiteno restaurant there.    Read more

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    View of San Gil from the hostel terrace
    View of San Gil from the hostel terraceHostel's TerraceBreakfast of fruit salad, scrambled eggs, juice and coffeeVan to take us to the Chichamocha canyon

    Para gliding time

    February 18, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    The activity planned for the day was para gliding. Hristo and I were up and ready by 8 am and headed for the terrace for our breakfast. The views from the terrace were amazing. It reminded us of our hostel with similar terrace views in Potosi (Bolivia). After the breakfast, we walked over to the office of Paravolar. As per schedule, the van to pick us up, arrived at 8:30 am. Then, we were off to the Chichamocha National Park where the para gliding happens in the canyon of the Rio Umpala. The starting point for the para gliding is about 40 kms from San Gil and takes about an hour to reach. We reached the Chichamocha Canyon at around 10 am.Read more