Popayán, Day 68, 282km

Torsten decided to stay one more night and it was only Daniel and me again. We rode north along the nice routa 45 through the jungle before we crossed the Andes again at San Augustin on the routa 20. Another off-road pass but not so narrow with steep cliffs as the Trampolin de la Muerte and easier and faster to ride. We had to pass many military check points. There is significant more police and military in Columbia than in the countries we’ve been before. Heavy armed vehicles, soldiers with machine guns and posts secured with sand bags. I guess the government wants to make sure the conflict between the drug cartels, rebels and the government doesn’t start again. When we passed the soldiers always showed thumps up, road clear and no problems. Further along the way we met a truck driver who was curious about our trip. When we told him we’re going to Cali he asked us if we like salsa and set the stereo in his truck to maximum volume. Apparently Cali is the capital of salsa music in Columbia. Not my bag of beans but we couldn’t leave before he had given us a book and a usb-stick with salsa music on it. We decided to stop in Popayán because we wouldn’t have reached Cali in daylight and had heavy rain for the last hour. Popayán is also called the white city with its beautiful old white colonial buildings and churches. We stayed 3km outside the city in an eco hostel made from bamboo right in the jungle. 

Cali, Day 69, 140km

It was raining the whole night. So loud that I woke up several times and at 4:30 the night was finally over. We rode back on the Panamericana towards Cali. It was Sunday and the traffic wasn’t too bad. But still the main Panamericana is not nice to ride. Stinking trucks and you are continuously overtaking and have no time to enjoy the landscape. We made a break on one of the many fruit stands along the way and had some delicious Ananas and Mangos. When we got into Cali we’ve noticed that it is very clean city. Columbia in general is much cleaner compare to the other countries we’ve came through. No garbage on the side of the roads and they even have a waste separation system. We checked into a hostel with a pool and parked the bikes inside. We haven’t met a lot of tourists on our trip and the places were we stayed. But this place was full of backpackers from all over the world. It was a party hostel with a salsa school. However, it was only for 2 nights before we’re continue heading north.

Cali, Day 70, Rest day

It was time to wash and dry clothes again. The humidity in the jungle in the last day didn’t allow anything to dry. We went downtown which is very loud. I mean, South America in general is very loud but this is a new level. Loudspeakers with music and adverts in every shop and market stands, loads of people trading all sorts of goods and shouting constantly. After one hour we had enough and left. Unfortunately there are only a few old buildings left in the center of Cali. In the 70s lots of them had been torn down and replaced with ugly houses which were modern at that time. In the evening we wanted to drive up to Cristo Rey, a statue overlooking the city. We took a taxi but the taxi driver didn’t want to drive us all the way up to the top because it is to dangerous at dark and there is a risk of robberies. So he stopped half way up at a restaurant where we could take some pictures. In Columbia, it is forbidden for two men to ride on one motobike. Every rider needs to wear a vest and a helmet with the number plate printed on it. The government introduced this law to reduce the number of robberies which are often done from the guy on the back of a bike at traffic lights. Luckily this rule doesn’t apply for bikes with a foreign number plate. Another preventative measure for raids can be seen in every shop, restaurant or hostel. They all have a locked gate which opens only when you want to enter. Nevertheless we never felt unsafe anytime. The only annoying thing in Cali was that we got offered all sort of drugs on every corner. Still a heritage from the times Cali was one the main drug cities in the world I guess. At night we went downtown again but to a nicer and calmer part than in the afternoon. The equivalent to our christmas markets are light markets here. Thousand of lights, decorated trees, a lightshow promoting Cali and streetfood stands in between.