The town of Puerto Salgar put on a parade in my honour this morning … well in my miiiind

I have no idea what the parade was about but it seemed to have something to do with school kids as they were part of the parade, perhaps it was the first day of school parade. No matter what is was it was a lovely sight to see while riding out of Puerto Salgar.

The road out of town and half the way to Guatape is a perfect motorway. This was great just what I needed the feeling that I was really getting somewhere. The other half of the road was very twisty mountain passes however this time with far far fewer trucks, so I really got to enjoy myself.  I enjoyed every bit of the ride to Guadape and the scenery got even better as did the quaint little roadside cafes. I enjoyed making conversion with the really friendly café owner where I stopped for a coke, she spoke all of 2 words of English but that plus my 3 words of Spanish worked wonders. I’m back, the adventure biker is finally back, this is what I love doing. Just me and my bike against the road, watching the world as we pass by riding through roads that are enclosed by tall trees smelling the earthy smell of damp forest floor or road kill whatever comes first. There was one stretch of road where I spotted 5 dead dogs in about 2kms and smelt a whole lot more, I don’t think Colombian dogs have learned the rules of the road. There are however enough buzzards to make short work of them. I saw hundreds circling overhead all over and thought, well at least if I died on this road my body will go to feed something not a wholly unpleasant thought. but on a more wholesome note I did see some strange things on the road …

 yup .. no idea.

 (I downloaded this off google maps just so you could get an idea of what I saw today riding into Guatape, when I could not stop to take a picture)

Our enjoyable ride was rewarded by an even more enjoyable sight once we entered Guatape.  After finding the hotel and being told must park my bike in the reception I went about trying to get my bike into the reception. This was not as easy as it sounds. The small cobbled street had a step down on a sunken sidewalk which was quite narrow and the entrance to the hotel had a step up. I could not ride my bike along the sidewalk and turn it into the hotel as the turn was too tight and I was worried my panniers would bash the narrow door, it was a VERY tight fit. So I had to enlist the help of the butcher next door much to the amusement of his wife and daughter the two of us struggled with no co-ordination between us (due to lack of using the same language) to push and pull my bike into the hotel. A small crowed had gathered and we all just ended up in tears of laugher. Who needs communication when you have sign language 🙂

This must be the cutest most colourful town I have ever seen. It is a small touristy town on the edge of a large lake. I spent the afternoon eating empanadas (what else) and drinking a coke while people watching and it was good 🙂 tomorrow I will spend the day in Guatape relaxing, reading, walking, eating and people watching.