Bucaramanga, Colombia

[Eoin]

Colombia is a great country. The people here are friendly and
generous, and prices are cheap. On one of my first nights, after
having two drinks alone and about to leave, two Colombian lawyers
invited me to sit with them. They bought me about six beers and
enjoyed telling me about how there are great deals in cocaine and
prostitutes. And there are great deals. A big lunch with soup,
grilled beef, rice, plaintains, salad, lentils, yucca, and natural
limeade ranges from $2-$3, and accommodation is similarly priced. I
stayed in a room with a private bathroom and a fan for $3.50 one
night, although the standard price seems to be $5. And water is clean
to drink here, so no more buying it and I don´t have to carry as much
at one time, either.

I´ve been doing some long-haul rides trying to make it 600 miles to
Bogota by the 21st when Jessica arrives. It´s been in the high 90s
and low 100s, and I was feeling like I was going to explode under my
helmet. When my body temperature became unbearable, I would hurry to
a spot in the shade, and throw off my helmet and sunglasses, as if
there was danger of an explosion. I did a 105 mile day when I was
feeling it, but most days have been around 80 miles, which is
significantly more than my average 60, and much more arduous with the
heat.

As I was climbing up the mountains towards Bucaramanga, I wanted to
give up. When I stopped in the shade at one point, I stuck out my
thumb for a ride. No one stopped, and I heard it´s difficult to
hitchhike in Colombia. Then I pushed on, and about a half mile later,
I rode by a guy who had stopped to take a pee by his box truck. He
said something to me, and then I asked if he was going to
Bucaramanga. He was and he told me to put my bike in the back of his
delivery truck, on top of all the boxes. Destiny. Flowing like
water.

After a few minutes of talking, Henri said that I could stay at his
house with his family, and that he would be making another drive
towards Bogota in a few days. Destiny again. Ive been welcomed in to
his family, and his 16-year-old son speaks pretty good English, and
wants to practice it, so all the better, as I get really tired from
the focus I need to speak and understand Spanish.

Henri introduced me to his friend, Jose, who speaks some English, and
Jose´s son is even better. Jose had said very genuinely, "This is my
home. It is also your home." He invited me back for dinner tonight,
as he and his family "want to speak to me more."

Tomorrow, Henri is going to Barbosa, in the direction of Bogota, on
his motorcycle. He wants to try pulling me along up the mountains
somehow. Im skeptical about how well it will work, but Id like to
give it a try.

Ive updated the blog. There are some more good, unfortunate stories
from my time in Costa Rica. The new ones start here:

http://badicalindustries.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/playa-del-coco-to-nicoya/

Then, as Ryan had pointed out, there is a link at the bottom, right-
side of the page, underneath the Leave A Comment box, where you can
advance to the next post, a good way to get around the annoying
backwards chronological order the blog.

Eoin