i'm in the deep south, at least as deep as i'm going to get this trip. i'm further south than i had planned at the expense of more andes-time in the north, but i don't regret a moment.
san agustine is a tourist town and i was finally looking forward to the flood of tourists that i'd imagined... a sort of kao san road, piccadilly circus, or thamel of the hilly colombian south. i was looking forward to speaking in my native tongue for the first time in over a week. its an important archeological area with dozens of colonies of rock carvings dating back to like mayan times.... civilizations. tomorrow i may get out on a horse or maybe i'll save the money and take my iron horse instead.
i was told i had 7-kms to go and was just cruising along through beautiful canyons and expecting at worst a short "kicker" into town, because thats the way it seems to be here... every town is perched. but people all along the way have been oohing and aahing that i was riding a bike to san agustine, and i have a colombian guide book solely in spanish that gives good riding distance and elevation information that shows huge climbs in places there we only minor ones. disappointed, no. just pleasantly surprised because i've found plenty of off-piste climbs with which to punish myself (more on that when i do some catching up). so 5 kms from town the road turned up, and up, and it just kept going right on into the center of town... it was of epic steepness, and the slight tailwind didn't do a thing to help except create a windless pocket around me so that the sun and heat slow roasted me. 1500' in those 5 k. but the scenery: waterfalls, jungle turning to dry prairie as i ascended, and the magdelena river boiling below, a river i've been following for over 800 kms and had crossed many times as it slowly wound its fat self north... now here i was nearing its source.
but no tourists. not even at the hostel that i booked into as its only guest. finally, here, at this internet cafe with rasta music flowing did i find them... and some friends i'd made in bogota.
last night i tented-it in the wilds for the first time this trip. pulled into Timana late (as i've come to expect from myself), and i went straight for a jugaria for my favorite: a guanabana smoothy (accent on the second a). then inquired about hotels and decided i couldn't affort 12.000 pesos ($6), so i decided i'd suffer some and camp. but first, to eat. used the bathroom of the restaurant and took my towel and a change of clothes, so the showerhead provided the perfect 1 min shower i needed to feel nice for the evening. a plato colombiano: rice, potatoes, carne, fried plantains, frijoles along with fresh juice and a bowl of soup all for 3.000 pesos... $1.50. i can afford that, and did... for lunch earlier. its always hard hitting the road for a tent spot when your full of food and contentment, and its dark and ... Timana had nice vibes and i'd have preferred to kick-it in the plaza for the evening, but adventure isn't always for the faint at heart. and the road wasn't kind: it was pitch black and the road went up. i climbed up slowly thinking i'd find a good spot any minute but it was more like 30 before i MADE a place to tent, dammit. worked out great despite its proximity to "people", and despite all the early risers there was no one who harrassed me all morning as in india and in other such parts of my traveling realms (i almost expect entire villages to wake me up each morning and smother me with unwanted attention... i can wake up grumpy). this morning i was packed and on the road by 7:30 ready for a short ride with lots of climbing. you know most of the rest.
ride stats: 58-km, 3:05 hrs. Timana: 3300' elevation, 85 degs, SA: 5500', 74 deg.
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