A Day in the Mountains

Since our last post, we’ve been cycling through the mountains from Popayan, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador.  It has been a land of extremes; high peaks separated by deep river valleys.  We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it so far, although we’ve noticed that our riding days are establishing a bit of a routine …

1. Sleep well, bundled up in a cold room between 2500m and 2900m elevation.

2. Wake up and eat breakfast in bed.

3. Climb 500m to 700m to a pass between 3000m and 3300m.  The weather here is usually about 10 degrees with misty rain.

Jenn cresting a 3100m pass near Otavalo during a sunny break.

The People Make the Place

In Colombia we’ve met the nicest people of our trip so far.  Every day we’ve met at least one person who has surprised us with their generosity.  The three destinations in this post also include brief stories of some of the people who made them all that much more special.

Our first stop on this leg was Colombia’s main coffee growing region.  Two days out of Medellin we reached the towns of Chinchiná and Santa Rosa de Cabal.  Our main interest here was a set of hot springs in the mountains and a few cups of coffee.

 

The main square in Chinchiná and the best thing you can find there.  Yes, that’s a pineapple sundae served inside the pineapple.

Colombia: Take My Breath Away

There is a warning in our Lonely Planet guide for Colombia that says “Spend some real time here, both on and off the gringo trail and there’s a danger you might evangelize like this (about Colombia) one day too.”  Also the new tourism Colombia slogan states: “The only risk is wanting to stay.”  They couldn’t be more correct.  After almost three weeks here, the stunning beauty of the terrain, the people and their personalities has left us speechless.

Our first taste of the Andes brought us to the ridge-top perched town of Valdivia for lunch.

Love in the Time of Swollen Feet

Our first South American destination was the fairy tale city of Cartagena, Colombia.  Originally, we only planned on staying a couple days, but loved it so much that we stayed for five! 

The city felt like it was straight out of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel … and we found out that Love in the Time of Cholera was set here.  Colonial architecture abounds, and we spent hours just wandering the streets of the historic downtown seeking out places from the book, which both of us just finished reading.

Cartagena sights.