Day 250 - 251: Colombians are the incredibly welcoming
Leaving Salento was rural downhill cycling. It dawned on me that these last few days were my first gentle introduction into the Andes mountain range that will accompany me all the way to Patagonia. I expect these will get steeper going forward…
That evening I found a place to stay in Tuluá, but it was a little outside of town. I did wander around looking for dinner but didn’t find much and got a weird vibe from the neighborhood, so decided to go with just a banana and an ice cream and call it an early night.
Next day I cycled on the flat into the next major city, which is Cali. Was a great day. One guy bought me a coffee, another outside a shop gave me some tasty jelly sweets and some coffee samples. Another guy I helped pump up a tire, and then ran into him a couple more times through the day. Another motorbiker escorted me 10 km into Cali.
I arrived into Cali and found a cool cheap hostel that is also a dance school. Learning salsa has been on my to-do list for a while and Cali is renowned for salsa, so guess this is the place to tick that box.
I had just arrived when I got a message from Patricia and Dustin (https://dreamplanjump.com), who are other bikers I hadn’t seen since Mazatlán in Mexico. They were also in Cali and invited me for dinner at their Airbnb. Was great to catch up. Thank you!
So now I’m in Cali. Will spend a week or so here taking salsa classes.
