Fare well Colombia!

Colombia went straight to our hearts. We have never met so friendly people than we did in that infamous country. There was no single problem with anything. Even police and military were nice and helpful for us. Quite a surprise. Colombians are civilized and warm hearted people. At the moment they live in a country that is more peaceful and nonviolent than it has been in many decades. The contrast between poor and rich is huge, but we met many poor families who were quite happy with their simple life. Compared to many Central-American countries, Colombia feels modern, clean and developed. Tourists are relatively new phenomenon there and they are warmly and curiously welcomed. Hopefully mass tourism will not spoil the country in the future as has happened elsewhere. Here are some random pictures from our last weeks in this lovely country.

The city center of medellin was full of Boteros fine art. Naturally as Botero is from there.

Hombre stripping on top of the car in Medellin

Young students having little fun and throwing bottles and other stuff against riot police in Medellin.

Cool Clouds in Coffee country

Coffee country view. Early morning in Salento

Friends

Mompox and up to the mountains

I got Mompos into my head when I heard of it being the location of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' book Chronicle of a death foretold. I'm a big  lover of his imaginative writing and wanted to see it, to live it. It wasn't easy to get there, as the area is covered with crisscrossing rivers and thick flora. Some guidebooks recommended a 4WD for the roads but as it hadn't been raining lately we took the chance with Karma and made it, although the roads were bumpy and muddy. We also had to take a ferry and a flat boat along the way. Mompos is a village along Rio Magdalena and was a major port town until the shipping was diverted to other branches of the river in the end of 19th century and much haven't changed since then. And you feel it.

The view from the ferry. The river was wide.

Sunset colors

The locals use canoes for the crossing.

A 30 year old bite, the bench was dated 1970. The tree didn't tell his age though I asked.

Around we went with a mototaxi and in a cross road this band was playing.

In the afternoons the villagers take out to the street their village made rocking chairs.

Silent and calm.

As the town is from colonial era, the inner yards are the gathering places of a house. They were so beautiful.

In one I found this curious big tree.

A peak from our rooms window which was the size of a post card.

Having a beer with a park bench.

Another beautiful inner yard.

Peaceful cemetery.

Even the direction arrows of the streets were a piece of  blacksmiths art.

I was fascinated about the shelves of the small grocery stores. Every product had its own neat square.

Coffee time by the river.

Park.

"La vida es tan corta como vivir odiando."

Life is too short for living it with hatred.

This house has already seen its best days.

As in anywhere in Colombia, the donkey was a hard worker.

A street name sign.

The river bank street.

Luckily we got to continue our trip on the other side of the swamp so we needn't go back the same way as we came. The roads were bit more muddy and crowded by cows but scenery was new and refreshing.

This cute donkey child was on the road all alone.

Country side.

Washing day.

These field cones we assumed to be homes for famous ants. (Not sure though)

Famous ant of Bucaramanga. Roasted and salted.

And into the mouth it goes. Tasted good!

When getting up to the mountains the roads got winding and the face concentrated.

Tolú and Isla Mucura

After long time spent in Cartagena, sorting out things, we finally continued our trip. The next stop was a funny place called Tolu. (On the way there the police stopped us many times though). Tolu is a place where Colombians spend their holidays, but not many foreign tourists end up there. Its specialty is hundreds of bicycles which are used instead of motor vehicles. The missing noise of motors was honey for the ears, even though the place was nothing but quiet.

This was the most normal way of transportation in the town, bicycle with a cart for two passangers, third could sit back to back with the driver on a smaller seat.

Juice stall where we spent many nights. The owner was a charming old man, he had a grumpy expression on his face but you could see that in his eyes he was smiling. His juices were delicious, specially with a drop of rum. The juices are one of the best things in Colombia, drinking wise. You can get them everywhere and they are freshly made from fresh fruits. Favorite one is passion fruit, can't get enough of it.

This bicycar fits three people and a driver. All four have pedals so exercise is part of the ride. This is almost a form of art in this village. There are three builders in town and they produce incredible creations. The biggest one, probably used only special occasions, fits sixteen people on. Even the smallest ones have their own sound systems so you can only imagine the variety of vallenatas boasting around the town. The reason for not-so-silent-environment.

This is the size of ideal Colombian woman, I assume. In the coastal towns the manikins I've seen have had big bosom, in inlands I haven't noticed the same phenomenon. Colombia is known for its high quality and quantity of plastic surgery and you can see it all around you.

From Tolu we took a boat towards Isla Mucura. We drove around the islands of San Bernardo, including Isleta, one of the worlds most densely populated island. It looked very sad and dirty. Isla Mucura was much nicer with its white beaches and small palapas. The reality is that rich tourists go to fancy hotels in the western side of the island, the normal tourists go there for a day trip on the southern point and somewhere in between lives the poor local islanders. Naturally we went to live with the local fishermen in the village.

The small "campground" where we stayed was hosted by Manuel and his wife.

Some more delicious lobsters. We just can't get enough of them.

There was lots of kids in the island. Some of them looked quite special.
"Hola, Como estas? Me llamo mi dulce amor."

Paul knew how to make the kids laugh.

And plenty of dogs too. This puppy was so weak that it had hard time to follow it's parents. it was close that she would have continued the trip with us.

Iitu holding still the mama, forcing her to feed.

An over water restaurant, hehe. One more place where we saw water level rising high.

The homes were very simple and small.

The older kids of the family were taking care of the young ones.

The sky and the sea and the same.shades of blue

After couple days in Isla Mucura we were back in Tolú. We camped on the beach, in front of hotel where Michelle, Paul, and Teemu were staying. Kevin, from New York, had stayed in Cartagena after we left, brought with him Tommis international driving licence that we were too frustrated to wait. We were very thankful.

Paul was going to Canada to recieve an award, Michelle was planning on staying in Tolú for a while and Kevin was getting married in Cartagena :) ! It was time to say goodbye and continue the trip.

Bouldering in Sutatausa, Colombia

There is a good bouldering area near the village of Sutatausa. We spend there a nice day opening many new routes. It is very easy there, as you don't have to do cleaning at all. There where nice clean problems everywhere waiting for somebody to climb them. There would be plenty of work for the Finnish boulder monsters.

My new climbing pants which I'm very proud of.