San Agustin, Colombia situation
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Axel Nitschka
Jan 27, 2012, 9:38:26 AM1/27/12
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Hello,
i have been cycling through Colombia now for 2 months and am in Neiva, Huila, on my way to San Agustin. I have had no concerns for my safety anywhere in Colombia but during the last couple of days have been warned twice by locals ( which has happened nowhere to me before in Colombia ) to avoid St. Agustin, the road between here and there and the road further on from St. Agustin to Popayan. Can anyone please give me any current information ( in case You have passed through this area lately ) on San Agustin and Your experiences there ? I do not want to act stupid, but there is the possibility that San Agustin´s bad rep is outdated.
Love and Gratitude
Axel
i have been cycling through Colombia now for 2 months and am in Neiva, Huila, on my way to San Agustin. I have had no concerns for my safety anywhere in Colombia but during the last couple of days have been warned twice by locals ( which has happened nowhere to me before in Colombia ) to avoid St. Agustin, the road between here and there and the road further on from St. Agustin to Popayan. Can anyone please give me any current information ( in case You have passed through this area lately ) on San Agustin and Your experiences there ? I do not want to act stupid, but there is the possibility that San Agustin´s bad rep is outdated.
Love and Gratitude
Axel
velomerica
Jan 27, 2012, 8:19:58 PM1/27/12
to panam-...@googlegroups.com
Hey Axel,
I haven't cycled there yet, but Igel and Paola who run the casa de ciclistas in San Agustin should know. They are on an bike trip at the moment but you can just write them an e-mail. You find their contact under: http://www.grenzenlos.ath.cx/?q=node/22
Safe cycling and good luck
Jens
Am 27.01.2012 18:05, schrieb panam-...@googlegroups.com:
I haven't cycled there yet, but Igel and Paola who run the casa de ciclistas in San Agustin should know. They are on an bike trip at the moment but you can just write them an e-mail. You find their contact under: http://www.grenzenlos.ath.cx/?q=node/22
Safe cycling and good luck
Jens
Am 27.01.2012 18:05, schrieb panam-...@googlegroups.com:
San Agustin, Colombia situation
-- Jens Reuter velom...@gmail.com www.velomerica.de www.cycleamerica.de Eine Radtour von Alaska nach Argentinien oder so From A to A - Cycling Alaska to Argentina
Naomi Grogan-Hurlich
Jan 27, 2012, 8:48:26 PM1/27/12
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Hi Axel,
We rode through that area in October of 2010, so a while ago, but we also started hearing warnings from locals around that same time. The fellows at the traffic checkpoints confirmed that all was safe and so we continued. We were told by them to not head east towards Florencia at the time.
San Agustin was fantastic - too bad the casa de ciclistas isn't there any more!, but the city itself is a nice place for a rest. We chose to head south towards Mocoa rather than towards the larger city of Popayan due to traffic, and the ride was absolutely beautiful. There are two-days riding between Mocoa and Sibundoy that are through virgin jungle - the ride is still as clear as day to me. We did push our bikes through much of it as the gravel is quite loose - and of course the waterfalls going over the switch-back road make for a nice opportunity to cool off your feet.
Then from there to Pasto, where you would have ended up anyway.
Hope that helps,
Naomi
We rode through that area in October of 2010, so a while ago, but we also started hearing warnings from locals around that same time. The fellows at the traffic checkpoints confirmed that all was safe and so we continued. We were told by them to not head east towards Florencia at the time.
San Agustin was fantastic - too bad the casa de ciclistas isn't there any more!, but the city itself is a nice place for a rest. We chose to head south towards Mocoa rather than towards the larger city of Popayan due to traffic, and the ride was absolutely beautiful. There are two-days riding between Mocoa and Sibundoy that are through virgin jungle - the ride is still as clear as day to me. We did push our bikes through much of it as the gravel is quite loose - and of course the waterfalls going over the switch-back road make for a nice opportunity to cool off your feet.
Then from there to Pasto, where you would have ended up anyway.
Hope that helps,
Naomi
On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 1:05 PM, <panam-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Group: http://groups.google.com/group/panam-riders/topics
- Members Map [1 Update]
- San Agustin, Colombia situation [1 Update]
Jenson <velom...@googlemail.com> Jan 27 03:58PM -0800
Hola ciclistas,
Just a reminder. There is this really nice Members Map with placemarks
for the locations of members. It is great for an overview or if you
want to meet somebody. It would be great if more people would use it
and update it at least once or twice a month.
Greetings from Granada/Nicaragua
Jens
velomerica.de
Axel Nitschka <axel_n...@hotmail.com> Jan 27 02:38PM
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Martin Arnet
Jan 29, 2012, 1:56:22 PM1/29/12
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We travelled trough Colombia in april 2011 and took this road between Neiva - San Agustin and Popayan.
We had no problem on the way. San Agustin is quite turistic. The casa de ciclista in San Agustin is closed but there are a lot of hotels.
Then we crossed through the montains to Popayan in 2,5 days. On this road there are a couple of army camps. We always felt safety. The army guys were always nice and also invite us for a hot chocolates.
The road is not all paved but beautyful.
We don't know if the situation changed since last sping but if not, we think it will no problem for you to ride there.
If you have more questions just contact us.
Have a nice trip
Evelyne y Martin
www.velotempo.blogspot.com
Robert Sargent
Feb 3, 2012, 3:27:44 PM2/3/12
to PanAm Riders
Hi Axel,
I cycled through from Popayán to San Agustin and on to Mocoa in June,
2011. I had heard stories from Miller at the Casa de Ciclistas in Cali
that FARC had stopped and set fire to a bus somewhere on the Popayán-
San Agustin road very recently but nobody had been killed. He also
told me that another cyclist had come into contact with FARC at an
unofficial roadblock between San Agustin and Mocoa. All they wanted,
however, was for the cyclist to take some photos to show the outside
world that they were still there hiding out in the jungle.
Despite all this I was still keen to cycle this route and, I have to
say, I'm very glad I did as it was some of the most memorable days of
the trip so far. There was a large army presence for most of the route
with regular checkpoints. There's something about the jungle that
makes you feel like you are being watched from behind the tree line.
After speaking with other travellers, including an Argentinian who had
worked in a place only accessible by river east of Mocoa, I get the
impression that the Colombian army have had a lot of success in
pushing FARC further into the jungle. Yes, there are areas where FARC
maintain control but you'd need a boat to get to them!
As for San Agustin itself, it's just a town like any other and with
plenty of tourists when I was there, both Colombian and foreign. I
cycled in one day from San Agustin to Mocoa - at over 168km, my
longest so far! I'll never forget the views out to the east over the
Amazon as I cycled through the hills near Mocoa. I never felt at risk
riding through this area. I stopped and spoke to the soldiers at every
checkpoint and not one of them expressed any concerns about my safety.
I passed the last checkpoint before Mocoa after dark and expected the
army to stop me in my tracks but they just waved me on like normal.
The most frightening thing that happened was seeing an enormous black
tarantula standing in the middle of the road at twilight!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, unless things have changed
drastically for the worse, don't miss it!
Cheers,
Rob
I cycled through from Popayán to San Agustin and on to Mocoa in June,
2011. I had heard stories from Miller at the Casa de Ciclistas in Cali
that FARC had stopped and set fire to a bus somewhere on the Popayán-
San Agustin road very recently but nobody had been killed. He also
told me that another cyclist had come into contact with FARC at an
unofficial roadblock between San Agustin and Mocoa. All they wanted,
however, was for the cyclist to take some photos to show the outside
world that they were still there hiding out in the jungle.
Despite all this I was still keen to cycle this route and, I have to
say, I'm very glad I did as it was some of the most memorable days of
the trip so far. There was a large army presence for most of the route
with regular checkpoints. There's something about the jungle that
makes you feel like you are being watched from behind the tree line.
After speaking with other travellers, including an Argentinian who had
worked in a place only accessible by river east of Mocoa, I get the
impression that the Colombian army have had a lot of success in
pushing FARC further into the jungle. Yes, there are areas where FARC
maintain control but you'd need a boat to get to them!
As for San Agustin itself, it's just a town like any other and with
plenty of tourists when I was there, both Colombian and foreign. I
cycled in one day from San Agustin to Mocoa - at over 168km, my
longest so far! I'll never forget the views out to the east over the
Amazon as I cycled through the hills near Mocoa. I never felt at risk
riding through this area. I stopped and spoke to the soldiers at every
checkpoint and not one of them expressed any concerns about my safety.
I passed the last checkpoint before Mocoa after dark and expected the
army to stop me in my tracks but they just waved me on like normal.
The most frightening thing that happened was seeing an enormous black
tarantula standing in the middle of the road at twilight!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, unless things have changed
drastically for the worse, don't miss it!
Cheers,
Rob
bart en sara
Feb 4, 2012, 3:47:54 AM2/4/12
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hi,
we passed in april 2011 and didnt have any problem, only lots of friendly army
we passed in april 2011 and didnt have any problem, only lots of friendly army
bart
2012/2/3 Robert Sargent <he...@robertsargent.co.uk>:
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