Day 264 - 274: Dangerous Tours, Andes Climbs, and a Dog Bite in Southern Colombia
Well it has been a minute… But I will explain that in the next entry.
On my last day in the Cali hostel, someone was organizing a tour so I decided to join. I knew nothing about the tour before joining. Turns out it was a tour of the most dangerous neighborhood in Cali. The tour guide said he would give us 100 USD equivalent each if we saw more than 2 other tourists in this neighborhood during our whole day trip. The local gangs had given permission to the tour guide to run tours as it brings some money to the neighborhoods. I guess he was paying them off too. A local gang leader’s 13-year-old son accompanied us too and we were glad to have him. Having said that, everyone was super nice. Maybe too nice. Every person/motorbike/car that passed would stop, shake our hands and welcome us to their neighborhood. Let’s just say they don’t get many tourists. The stories our guide told us were quite unbelievable. We would stop at random street corners where our tour guide would describe the murder that had happened there. Felt like we were stopping more than walking.
At one such stop, we were told a gang leader murdered a cop for 5k USD. Turns out this gang leader’s son was the one accompanying us, and that he broke out of prison after a couple of years and is back in the neighborhood. I think the cops don’t dare go to this neighborhood to get him. One of the guys who shook our hands we were later told used to work directly for Pablo Escobar but is now in the tourist industry. These are the tamer stories… At the end of the tour, one of the (he claimed former) gang members came up to us so we could ask questions. Not many questions were asked…
The next morning, I said goodbye to the newfound hostel friends and was on the road again. I made it to a small town called Tunia just as the sun set where I found that Google Maps had lied about the openness of every hotel/camp spot. Eventually I found a place on the road out of town.
There I met another tourer. To meet another tourer in such a tiny town was mad. He was only 18 years old and had cycled from the USA. He was literally on his last day of his tour, and completely unrelated, his bottom bracket broke. Some timing.
The next day I landed in a city called Popayán. I wasn’t expecting much from this city as I had never heard of it before. But it was a really nice city. I checked into a hostel. I was only planning on staying for 2 nights… but then I got badly sick. Initially I was worried about malaria or something mosquito-borne as I also had a couple of bites. But after 2 days being tethered to the bathroom and eating nothing but toast, I felt a lot better. Then I made the mistake of going out for dinner and ordering randomly. What came out was a Colombian-style steak. This was far too heavy for the healing digestive system which set me back 2 days again. Two days later, while still not 100%, I decided to continue.
Continued over the Andes. Rough day cycle of constant climbing. That night I was saved by a kind woman who let me stay at the back of her place. Landed in San Agustin the following day. While cycling through the town someone stopped me, told me to stay at a particular place, guided me there and said that other cyclists had stopped there earlier today. So I followed his suggestion.
I would run into this guy a few times over the next few days. He runs a local tour company and would keep trying to sell me tours. He even tried to sell me a cocaine tour. He said it is a full-day tour including the plants, cultivation, then processing, manufacturing and then free samples at the end. He claimed this was fully legal… While I am sure the tour would have been fascinating, I politely declined.
So I entered the hotel and met Jason and Sarah. I had met them very briefly up in Baja, on the same morning that I woke up only to find the tide came in and my tent was surrounded by water. But that was 6+ months ago. Yet, here they are now. Wow, it is a small world on the road. While I was taking it easy on PanAm and taking lots of rest breaks, they had covered twice the distance over the same time by taking every detour available. One day in the village I was hanging out in a coffee shop playing chess online. A guy came up to me and we started a conversation about the game. He seemed really strong and offered advice, which led to a draw which was pretty funny. He then offered to bring me back to his home, which I accepted. After a 10-minute motorbike ride on backroads, we arrived. We had coffee, and he showed me tons of historical artifacts that belonged in museums.
I hung out with Sarah and Jason for a couple of days and we agreed to head south together until Mocoa. Two days later, while getting ready to hit the road, we were admiring each other’s bikes. Jason tells me some of his frustration with his Garmin. I didn’t understand as I love my Garmin. I then see his Garmin and my jaw drops. He has no maps. These mad people had cycled for over a year in the Americas using the Garmin without ever installing maps on it. His Garmin just shows his little triangle and a line. No actual road or map data. I couldn’t breathe with laughter. After some interrogation, he admits he just tries to keep the arrow on the line. Said they often take wrong turns or one person would have to wait at a rural intersection and the other cycle ahead to check if it was the right way. For more than a year… I am still laughing about this months later.
Fell into a good cycle rhythm over the next 2 days. After the brutal climbs of the previous days, these days were not so bad. The first night we camped at the back of some rural fish restaurant. The next day we landed in Mocoa where I said goodbye to Jason and Sarah and I took a few days off.
One of those days I was wandering down a busy street in Mocoa on foot. Out of nowhere a dog comes up behind me and bites me in the leg. I let out a scream and ran. I turned and the dog was now barking at another person. This dog was super super aggressive. I looked at the leg. It was bruised and bleeding but not too bad. I don’t know much but the dog was super aggressive so I thought it best to go get it checked and test out the Colombian health care system. Waiting rooms and a course of booster rabies and tetanus shots.
And yes I am aware that I am 3 months behind on this journal. Will explain that in the next entry..
