September 5
Easy-peasy breezy day. We rode low in between two mountainous areas on a well paved four lane divided highway in mostly sunny skies for about 125 km. Facil. There were lots of signs for “Fauna Silvestre” (or forest fauna) that we hoped to see, but ended up with a short wildlife list today of some curlew-types, herons, egrets, and two storks. Ernesto and I mostly lost ourselves in our own thoughts. The added crop to the day (other than cows and coffee) was uvas (grapes). There were stands on the roadside selling bunches a meter long! About 100km into our ride we saw a sign for “Jardin Biologica 5 km”. It was only about noon so we figured what the heck, let's go find it! We wound around some very narrow roads and through a larger town… we took the three major ways that went through town to find it but couldn’t. So back to the highway we went. We did however find a purple tree. No green leaves on it, just two to three stories tall of deep purple flowers.
It is Ernesto’s birthday eve. He is napping. I gave him a cold for his Birthday :( I am on the mend and he is on day two. Who else but Grandma & Grandpa catch colds on the equator in summer time? I am happy for him to rest. With the good wifi here in Buga I found us some hotels through the rest of Colombia (I wonder if the wifi is just strong because it isn’t raining??). Our hotel is cute, right on the river and right by everything. We walked four blocks to the big grocery store and the main plaza (more on that in a moment) is just five or so blocks away. Buga, unlike its name, is very adorable and welcoming. The hotel staff and policies are a mystery to us. We had to park our bikes a certain way in the garage, then we had to leave the keys with the desk when we left the hotel (i.e., the hotel keys can’t ever leave the hotel… wha?). When I asked where we could find a store, she asked “What do you want to buy?”. And then it got awkward when she would only tell us where to go if we told her what we wanted… And then earlier when I asked a maid about the pool (part of why we picked this place as we knew we were having an early day so mind as well spend $4 extra dollars on a hotel with a pool). Five minutes later we get a phone call from the front desk - “You are looking for the pool? We don’t have one but we can give you passes to the community pool”. If Ernesto was feeling better perhaps we would have ventured that, as I’m sure that would have been entertaining. And then when we got back from dinner we got another call, and she wanted two things. First to let us know we couldn’t keep that food on the bike (leftovers we wanted to feed to street perros), and second, that there is a moto friend of the hotel that speaks English and if we have any questions or want to talk to a moto friend about moto things she can give us his name. Ok… gracias! But unfortunately its now 8 pm and Grandma & Grandpa blog and go to to bed. And the coup de grace of mystery hotel procedures… the toilet paper. It is a napkin dispenser. You pull a thin, one-ply 8” by 4”square at a time out of a box that says “familia”. No bueno.
After he awoke from his slumber I showed him a website I found of “good places to eat in Buga Colombia”. He selected Holy Water Ale Pub and we set out on foot. We marveled at the streets, the homes, the shops.. all leading to the town’s center plaza. It is very large, at least ten blocks long by two or three blocks wide. There are at least three churches, two on each side and a grand one at the east end. It is all brick and flat cobblestone. There are many shops along the north and south sides and they focus exclusively on Catholic goods. Goods? Memorabilia? Stuff? I really don’t know the word to use. But if you are in the market for a crucifix, a rosary, a statue of a saint or any member of the Holy Trinity, or a portrayal of the last supper (in two or three dimensions), this is the place for you. We went into three or four shops. It was fascinating. The largest shop we went into had a seemingly endless combination of choose-your-own-crucifix. First, select the cross type: wood, metal, woven, etc. Second, select expression/state of Jesus: peaceful, suffering, hopeful, etc. And third, select accessories. For example, if there are crowns or dressings, possible materials include beads, metal alloys, shells, crocheted or embroidered fabrics, etc. As strange as it sounds, I was inspired to do some legitimate shopping. And woah. As we came to learn later in the evening, today is the day Pope Francis arrived in Colombia. Over the next four days he will visit Bogota, Medellin, Villavicencio, and Cartagena. All the Pope hype is making so much more sense now. So to Gram when you read this, with Ernesto’s help in the selection process, I bought you a rosary the day the Pope arrived.
Gram is 98 and does not know I am on this trip. At a Tara-family gathering at my brother’s house in May we told everyone (but Gram) that we were headed to Argentina on motos, and through each individual conversation with my father, my brother, my Uncle John (my Gram’s son and my mother’s brother), my cousin JP, etc. the repeated theme was “Don’t tell Gram”. She would worry too much and she has been through so much it was probably best to not stress her out. So against my better judgement, we didn’t tell her. However, the first item on my to-do list after we get to Ushuaia safe and sound is to write my dear Erminia and tell her what we have done, that we are safe now, that I bought her a rosary in Colombia, and that I look forward to giving it to her soon.
We would also like to add to our list:
Pope on a keychain
Pope on a puffy sticker
*Our souvenir count is up to four items: 1) Wal-Mart bag from Tapachula, 2) postcard of 18K TEU container ship in the new locks at Panama Canal, 3) “Ernesto” beaded bracelet, and 4) rosary for Gram. My list of souvenir items that I wish I could have bought and find a way to bring home continues to grow exponentially…
Oh - and the evidence of moto culture and respect also grows. In small towns like Buga and Cartago the traffic lights turn yellow before they turn green. We can think of no reason to do this for cars, only motos. I.e., put your visor down, put the bike in gear, etc. etc. Rad. We also got a picture today of the sign out front the toll booths that say, clear as day, “Motos do not pay the toll”. Rad. And while I was there snapping pictures a road train of sticks came by. Five trailers long, and full of sugar cane. There is a lot of sugar cane around here, but its still hard to imagine that it is cost effective to transport them this way.
Post-plaza we walked to the second floor “pub” at the intersection of Calle 5 and Carretera 13 and got one of their two outdoor seating areas (so small… the table was the size of a check board and the chairs were the size of basketballs). They brewed their own beer (wha?!?!?) and we ordered some delightful I.P.A.’s. It was FUN to sit and watch the street. The way people move about… the way pedestrians and bicyclists and scooters and small cars and buses all frogger and shuffle around these narrow clean streets… there is a flow. A tranquilo chaos about it. And the sounds that accompany it - there are no roaring engines or heavy revving or bangs or thumps. There are gentle beeps to signal “I’m not stopping” or “I’m going” and subtle whistles that men use to catch the attention of others. It is by no means quiet, but the sounds aren’t annoying or offensive or angry like they seem to be in NYC or LA. And then add the visual accompaniments of colorful buildings and/or their flags and signs, the mass amounts of tangled wires adorned with epiphytes, the church steeples in the background, and the street lights that are bright (or dull) enough that you don’t really notice them unless you look. Amor.
September 6
FELIZ CUMPLEANOS ERNESTO!!! Ernesto turns 50 today, which is still rather unbelievable to me. He is such a youthful hunk. I am so lucky to have met him and fallen in love with him and me and us…
Another easy peasy drive from Bugo to Popaya, about ~200 km. Lots of sugar cane, sugar cane road trains, and fires. At first we thought it was rain, then pollution, then we realized it was the sugarcane harvest -->burn after sweetness. Ash was falling from the sky… at first it brought smiles and then it was sad. Hopefully it's such a short seasonal event here that the environment/climate doesn’t suffer long term consequences?!?
So, Ernie’s 50th. It is a decent birthday so I of course wanted to fuss a little. When I searched online there was a clear division of hotels in Popayan, Colombia. Well, truth be told there is a clear division of hotels in most of the towns we have stayed since arriving in Colombia… There is the $20-30 a night room, which usually have AC or a fan, maybe an elevator, perhaps free breakfast, and unlikely a pool. Almost always they have one towel, and almost always we can ask for another towel. Can’t think of a time there wasn’t a type of soap provided, but it's 70/30 split on shampoo, and a 10/90 split on conditioner. All but once these rooms have included a sheet or blanket. No joke, the room a few nights ago there was no sheet or blanket. Just the fitted sheet and pillow case covers. And the pillow case covers were embroidered! How did they have enough money to monogram the pillowcases but not buy a plain white sheet for every room? I digress… Then there is the $50-80 a night room, which has every bell and whistle that Ernie and I would think was both amazing and excessive. For example, a mini fridge, more than one chair, more than one window, cable, one or more outlets to charge things, four pillows (all with comfortable cases). Or the holy grail: parking that is secure enough to leave all the cases on the bike. And yes, there are even cheaper places sometimes for $10-20 a night but our first filter is private/secure parking area, as if the motos get stolen, this whole thing comes to an end, so we figure that is worth at least $10 a night. Anyway, point is, like I said before, you only turn 50 once and all the $20-30 places had parking that wasn’t exactly on site, which means lugging cases around the block, so I splurged. I say “I” and not “we” because I did it while Ernie was sleeping yesterday.
So here we are at Hotel Dann Monasterio. It is crazy fancy. Ernie and I giggled a lot as we were proceeded along through the entrance, courtyard, fountain, etc. There is a grand church attached/next door, and this was the monastery back in the day that has been remodeled to be a classy four or five star resort (we can get massages and sit in a Turkish bath). We have heavy linens, candles, cool light fixtures, a tub, and lots of maudlin paintings in our room, in the hallway, or in the lobby. One of the coolest features in our room is the fire extinguisher (wonder if it works?). There are two tall, thick, wood, double doors that go out to a lovely patio. There were no chairs on it so we drug out the two ancient leather chairs from our room (probably not ok with the hotel), had a beer, and watched the people and comings and goings of Popayan.
After our relaxing afternoon we headed out on foot to explore the nearby plazas and shops (as of course, Hotel Dann Monasterio has a 10/10 location rating). The main plaza… woah. First, the church bells. There were real men up in the tower ringing the bells with giant ropes (see Youtube vid). Ok, “ringing” may be an exaggeration. They were clanging bells enthusiastically. Or just clanging the bells however as they were probably deaf from years of ringing the bells. But it was real humans, not an automated program. And then second, on the other end of the plaza, there was a giant TV screen set up. As we approached we wondered, “Pope or soccer?”. Luckily for me and my deepest cynicism it was the Pope, and the town was gathering to watch the Pope’s arrival, transport, and speech in Bogota. I bought yet another goodie for my Gram - a Pope flag. Souvenir five. We took one more long loop before dinner and found a little leather shop that sold belts, wallets, saddles and all one could want for your saddle. As novelties they also sold mini-saddles, and they caught Ernie’s eye. I was so pleased when he made the call to buy souvenirs number six, which was a mini saddle. It is so detailed, so intricate. We are going back tomorrow to buy another.
Add to list:
Pope on a flag
Pope as a life sized cut out
Pope on local TV
And then to La Cosecha for dinner. The plan was steaks and a decent bottle of red wine. It started off OK… the wine was good (enough) and they brought this great tray of sauce type things to put on your steak (churrasco, horseradish, etc.). But then the actual steaks arrived. Ernesto ordered the mustard steak, which we understood to be a steak seared in mustard seed or powder, maybe a little salt, pepper, mustard mix. Sounds good right? No… it was a steak with a cup (two cups?) of yellow mustard poured on top. No bueno. I ordered the filet mignon. Which apparently here means to be served very rare, in three cups of brown gravy, and with bacon and mushrooms. I never do this, but I couldn’t waste the meat so I sent it back to be cooked some more, and then traded with Ernie so he wouldn’t have to eat that much yellow on his birthday. No meat was wasted, and neither of us have puked yet. And all while two restaurant staff were trying to fix the door in front of us, and its a big restaurant with lots of open tables and no other people but us no people (as we ate at 5 pm, a.k.a., old people hour), so really La Cosecha? You had to be fussing with the one thing by us for the one hour we were there? Ultimately we had lots of laughs, lots of smiles, and it will be a great memory.
Ernesto, what would you like to add to your birthday post?
“I like Colombia very much. I like it that every time we have stopped and have been thinking about directions someone has approached us and asked if they could help.”
Then a brief pause. Then I watch him play with his saddle… he is bouncing it on the bed. I ask him about it. He says, as if it should be obvious, “You’ve never just aimlessly played with something?”
Easy-peasy breezy day. We rode low in between two mountainous areas on a well paved four lane divided highway in mostly sunny skies for about 125 km. Facil. There were lots of signs for “Fauna Silvestre” (or forest fauna) that we hoped to see, but ended up with a short wildlife list today of some curlew-types, herons, egrets, and two storks. Ernesto and I mostly lost ourselves in our own thoughts. The added crop to the day (other than cows and coffee) was uvas (grapes). There were stands on the roadside selling bunches a meter long! About 100km into our ride we saw a sign for “Jardin Biologica 5 km”. It was only about noon so we figured what the heck, let's go find it! We wound around some very narrow roads and through a larger town… we took the three major ways that went through town to find it but couldn’t. So back to the highway we went. We did however find a purple tree. No green leaves on it, just two to three stories tall of deep purple flowers.
It is Ernesto’s birthday eve. He is napping. I gave him a cold for his Birthday :( I am on the mend and he is on day two. Who else but Grandma & Grandpa catch colds on the equator in summer time? I am happy for him to rest. With the good wifi here in Buga I found us some hotels through the rest of Colombia (I wonder if the wifi is just strong because it isn’t raining??). Our hotel is cute, right on the river and right by everything. We walked four blocks to the big grocery store and the main plaza (more on that in a moment) is just five or so blocks away. Buga, unlike its name, is very adorable and welcoming. The hotel staff and policies are a mystery to us. We had to park our bikes a certain way in the garage, then we had to leave the keys with the desk when we left the hotel (i.e., the hotel keys can’t ever leave the hotel… wha?). When I asked where we could find a store, she asked “What do you want to buy?”. And then it got awkward when she would only tell us where to go if we told her what we wanted… And then earlier when I asked a maid about the pool (part of why we picked this place as we knew we were having an early day so mind as well spend $4 extra dollars on a hotel with a pool). Five minutes later we get a phone call from the front desk - “You are looking for the pool? We don’t have one but we can give you passes to the community pool”. If Ernesto was feeling better perhaps we would have ventured that, as I’m sure that would have been entertaining. And then when we got back from dinner we got another call, and she wanted two things. First to let us know we couldn’t keep that food on the bike (leftovers we wanted to feed to street perros), and second, that there is a moto friend of the hotel that speaks English and if we have any questions or want to talk to a moto friend about moto things she can give us his name. Ok… gracias! But unfortunately its now 8 pm and Grandma & Grandpa blog and go to to bed. And the coup de grace of mystery hotel procedures… the toilet paper. It is a napkin dispenser. You pull a thin, one-ply 8” by 4”square at a time out of a box that says “familia”. No bueno.
After he awoke from his slumber I showed him a website I found of “good places to eat in Buga Colombia”. He selected Holy Water Ale Pub and we set out on foot. We marveled at the streets, the homes, the shops.. all leading to the town’s center plaza. It is very large, at least ten blocks long by two or three blocks wide. There are at least three churches, two on each side and a grand one at the east end. It is all brick and flat cobblestone. There are many shops along the north and south sides and they focus exclusively on Catholic goods. Goods? Memorabilia? Stuff? I really don’t know the word to use. But if you are in the market for a crucifix, a rosary, a statue of a saint or any member of the Holy Trinity, or a portrayal of the last supper (in two or three dimensions), this is the place for you. We went into three or four shops. It was fascinating. The largest shop we went into had a seemingly endless combination of choose-your-own-crucifix. First, select the cross type: wood, metal, woven, etc. Second, select expression/state of Jesus: peaceful, suffering, hopeful, etc. And third, select accessories. For example, if there are crowns or dressings, possible materials include beads, metal alloys, shells, crocheted or embroidered fabrics, etc. As strange as it sounds, I was inspired to do some legitimate shopping. And woah. As we came to learn later in the evening, today is the day Pope Francis arrived in Colombia. Over the next four days he will visit Bogota, Medellin, Villavicencio, and Cartagena. All the Pope hype is making so much more sense now. So to Gram when you read this, with Ernesto’s help in the selection process, I bought you a rosary the day the Pope arrived.
Gram is 98 and does not know I am on this trip. At a Tara-family gathering at my brother’s house in May we told everyone (but Gram) that we were headed to Argentina on motos, and through each individual conversation with my father, my brother, my Uncle John (my Gram’s son and my mother’s brother), my cousin JP, etc. the repeated theme was “Don’t tell Gram”. She would worry too much and she has been through so much it was probably best to not stress her out. So against my better judgement, we didn’t tell her. However, the first item on my to-do list after we get to Ushuaia safe and sound is to write my dear Erminia and tell her what we have done, that we are safe now, that I bought her a rosary in Colombia, and that I look forward to giving it to her soon.
We would also like to add to our list:
Pope on a keychain
Pope on a puffy sticker
*Our souvenir count is up to four items: 1) Wal-Mart bag from Tapachula, 2) postcard of 18K TEU container ship in the new locks at Panama Canal, 3) “Ernesto” beaded bracelet, and 4) rosary for Gram. My list of souvenir items that I wish I could have bought and find a way to bring home continues to grow exponentially…
Oh - and the evidence of moto culture and respect also grows. In small towns like Buga and Cartago the traffic lights turn yellow before they turn green. We can think of no reason to do this for cars, only motos. I.e., put your visor down, put the bike in gear, etc. etc. Rad. We also got a picture today of the sign out front the toll booths that say, clear as day, “Motos do not pay the toll”. Rad. And while I was there snapping pictures a road train of sticks came by. Five trailers long, and full of sugar cane. There is a lot of sugar cane around here, but its still hard to imagine that it is cost effective to transport them this way.
Post-plaza we walked to the second floor “pub” at the intersection of Calle 5 and Carretera 13 and got one of their two outdoor seating areas (so small… the table was the size of a check board and the chairs were the size of basketballs). They brewed their own beer (wha?!?!?) and we ordered some delightful I.P.A.’s. It was FUN to sit and watch the street. The way people move about… the way pedestrians and bicyclists and scooters and small cars and buses all frogger and shuffle around these narrow clean streets… there is a flow. A tranquilo chaos about it. And the sounds that accompany it - there are no roaring engines or heavy revving or bangs or thumps. There are gentle beeps to signal “I’m not stopping” or “I’m going” and subtle whistles that men use to catch the attention of others. It is by no means quiet, but the sounds aren’t annoying or offensive or angry like they seem to be in NYC or LA. And then add the visual accompaniments of colorful buildings and/or their flags and signs, the mass amounts of tangled wires adorned with epiphytes, the church steeples in the background, and the street lights that are bright (or dull) enough that you don’t really notice them unless you look. Amor.
September 6
FELIZ CUMPLEANOS ERNESTO!!! Ernesto turns 50 today, which is still rather unbelievable to me. He is such a youthful hunk. I am so lucky to have met him and fallen in love with him and me and us…
Another easy peasy drive from Bugo to Popaya, about ~200 km. Lots of sugar cane, sugar cane road trains, and fires. At first we thought it was rain, then pollution, then we realized it was the sugarcane harvest -->burn after sweetness. Ash was falling from the sky… at first it brought smiles and then it was sad. Hopefully it's such a short seasonal event here that the environment/climate doesn’t suffer long term consequences?!?
So, Ernie’s 50th. It is a decent birthday so I of course wanted to fuss a little. When I searched online there was a clear division of hotels in Popayan, Colombia. Well, truth be told there is a clear division of hotels in most of the towns we have stayed since arriving in Colombia… There is the $20-30 a night room, which usually have AC or a fan, maybe an elevator, perhaps free breakfast, and unlikely a pool. Almost always they have one towel, and almost always we can ask for another towel. Can’t think of a time there wasn’t a type of soap provided, but it's 70/30 split on shampoo, and a 10/90 split on conditioner. All but once these rooms have included a sheet or blanket. No joke, the room a few nights ago there was no sheet or blanket. Just the fitted sheet and pillow case covers. And the pillow case covers were embroidered! How did they have enough money to monogram the pillowcases but not buy a plain white sheet for every room? I digress… Then there is the $50-80 a night room, which has every bell and whistle that Ernie and I would think was both amazing and excessive. For example, a mini fridge, more than one chair, more than one window, cable, one or more outlets to charge things, four pillows (all with comfortable cases). Or the holy grail: parking that is secure enough to leave all the cases on the bike. And yes, there are even cheaper places sometimes for $10-20 a night but our first filter is private/secure parking area, as if the motos get stolen, this whole thing comes to an end, so we figure that is worth at least $10 a night. Anyway, point is, like I said before, you only turn 50 once and all the $20-30 places had parking that wasn’t exactly on site, which means lugging cases around the block, so I splurged. I say “I” and not “we” because I did it while Ernie was sleeping yesterday.
So here we are at Hotel Dann Monasterio. It is crazy fancy. Ernie and I giggled a lot as we were proceeded along through the entrance, courtyard, fountain, etc. There is a grand church attached/next door, and this was the monastery back in the day that has been remodeled to be a classy four or five star resort (we can get massages and sit in a Turkish bath). We have heavy linens, candles, cool light fixtures, a tub, and lots of maudlin paintings in our room, in the hallway, or in the lobby. One of the coolest features in our room is the fire extinguisher (wonder if it works?). There are two tall, thick, wood, double doors that go out to a lovely patio. There were no chairs on it so we drug out the two ancient leather chairs from our room (probably not ok with the hotel), had a beer, and watched the people and comings and goings of Popayan.
After our relaxing afternoon we headed out on foot to explore the nearby plazas and shops (as of course, Hotel Dann Monasterio has a 10/10 location rating). The main plaza… woah. First, the church bells. There were real men up in the tower ringing the bells with giant ropes (see Youtube vid). Ok, “ringing” may be an exaggeration. They were clanging bells enthusiastically. Or just clanging the bells however as they were probably deaf from years of ringing the bells. But it was real humans, not an automated program. And then second, on the other end of the plaza, there was a giant TV screen set up. As we approached we wondered, “Pope or soccer?”. Luckily for me and my deepest cynicism it was the Pope, and the town was gathering to watch the Pope’s arrival, transport, and speech in Bogota. I bought yet another goodie for my Gram - a Pope flag. Souvenir five. We took one more long loop before dinner and found a little leather shop that sold belts, wallets, saddles and all one could want for your saddle. As novelties they also sold mini-saddles, and they caught Ernie’s eye. I was so pleased when he made the call to buy souvenirs number six, which was a mini saddle. It is so detailed, so intricate. We are going back tomorrow to buy another.
Add to list:
Pope on a flag
Pope as a life sized cut out
Pope on local TV
And then to La Cosecha for dinner. The plan was steaks and a decent bottle of red wine. It started off OK… the wine was good (enough) and they brought this great tray of sauce type things to put on your steak (churrasco, horseradish, etc.). But then the actual steaks arrived. Ernesto ordered the mustard steak, which we understood to be a steak seared in mustard seed or powder, maybe a little salt, pepper, mustard mix. Sounds good right? No… it was a steak with a cup (two cups?) of yellow mustard poured on top. No bueno. I ordered the filet mignon. Which apparently here means to be served very rare, in three cups of brown gravy, and with bacon and mushrooms. I never do this, but I couldn’t waste the meat so I sent it back to be cooked some more, and then traded with Ernie so he wouldn’t have to eat that much yellow on his birthday. No meat was wasted, and neither of us have puked yet. And all while two restaurant staff were trying to fix the door in front of us, and its a big restaurant with lots of open tables and no other people but us no people (as we ate at 5 pm, a.k.a., old people hour), so really La Cosecha? You had to be fussing with the one thing by us for the one hour we were there? Ultimately we had lots of laughs, lots of smiles, and it will be a great memory.
Ernesto, what would you like to add to your birthday post?
“I like Colombia very much. I like it that every time we have stopped and have been thinking about directions someone has approached us and asked if they could help.”
Then a brief pause. Then I watch him play with his saddle… he is bouncing it on the bed. I ask him about it. He says, as if it should be obvious, “You’ve never just aimlessly played with something?”