We finally made it to Macoa after driving the eventful Trampolín de la Muerte and found a nice place to stay using trip advisor, though we had to ask a taxi to lead us to the place which was difficult to locate even with 3G on the iPhone. The hostel was called Casa del Rio and for 7,000COP each we camped in the car close to the river and took cold naked showers in the totally open outdoor setting. However inside the fully equipped kitchen and TV lounge was a great place to hangout. In the morning a group of tiny monkeys entertained us over breakfast before we hit the road yet again.
I almost forgot to write about our time in San Augustin probably because the ruins we had driven to see there were very over-rated and well over-priced. They had all been moved from their original positions and were so overly restored they looked like large new garden ornaments brought from the local garden centre. The most interesting parts were the few old photos from the original excavations in the early 1900's and the carved out river pools. However the highlight of San Agustin was randomly catching up with our overlanding German friends Oliver and Isabel at the campground and Will seemed to enjoy having a wash in the bamboo walled outdoor shower.
The next day after paying a small fortune in road toll fees (as usual in Colombia so I wont mention it again) we eventually made it to the Tatacoa Desert. It wasn't quite as big as we had thought but that didn't matter, the weather was warm, we had good food for dinner and we parked right next to the best view around. However the best part was meeting two lovely Colombian families who offered to have us come and stay with them in Armenia! That night though we discovered it was Colombian Independence Day (20th July) and many partying youths had used the holiday as an opportunity to set up camp next to us and play loud music until the wee hours, then be sick in the bathroom in the morning thank goodness for ear plugs.
We packed up that morning and had another cold naked open shower pretending like we were European or something and ignored the early morning tourists who walked by; next stop Bogota. We followed a gravel road with many confusing branches through a tunnel and over a bridge through another tunnel and back onto the main road. Here we rejoined the queue of endless trucks on their way to Bogota and fought for our place on the road as we passed in between them. We found Bogota to be an unremarkable place with a feeling that made you lock your doors at all times while driving and put your phone deep inside your pocket away from interested eyes. We spent the afternoon driving around looking for a map store and stopped after spotting a huge Panamericana book shop. We parked in a nice new parqueo nearby and finally found the road map of Colombia we had been searching for, though it was quite pricy. Afterwards the smell from the golden arch's lured us into the nearby mall for an early dinner. Having downed a Big Mac we walked around the mall and found that we should probably leave as it was full of an alarmingly large number of sex shops. So we made our way to the camping log recommended parqueo right in the centre of Bogota's thriving La Candelaria district. The camping log explained that the parqueo had been owned by the same lovely family for more than 30 years who enjoy having overlanders and offer a very basic bathroom for use. But while the family were very friendly the place really needed some TLC. In 30 years there had clearly been very little development to the lot that housed at least three families in not much more than shacks, with one horrendous smelling urinal next to the bathroom and an outside tap that everyone collected their water from. So once we found out that the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) was closed on Monday's we decided instead to leave the parqueo early and head to the Catherdral del Sal about 55km north in Zipaquira. Still yet to have a hot private shower since entering Colombia.
At the Catherdral del Sal we stupidly brought the ticket that included the museum. If your going there don't bother with the underground museum, it's small and most of it you can see by looking down the holes from the top and the staff couldn't give a stuff. The Salt Cathedral however is fantastic; we went without a guide as you need a minimum of five people to get an English speaking guide and we were there too early for the tour buses. So we made our way underground through the changing colours of the entrance tunnel. Inside we walked past many creatively lit stone crosses each set into large rectangular sections of the old salt mine. Deeper inside the huge pillars and massive Chapel were majestic even with the building work that was going on. Next it was onto the money making area where shops and stalls sold everything from Emeralds, jewellery, t-shirts, crafts, coffee and popcorn for the 3D underground movie that we were about to watch. The movie was ok it could have had a lot more information and while the English subtitles were good they confused your eyes a bit during the 3D parts. Finally we watched a huge ceiling light show about Colombia before making our way back to the surface.
That afternoon we drove back to Bogota and convinced the man at the nicer parqueo opposite the Panamericana book shop to let us sleep in the car while parking there. He took a bit of convincing but said we defiantly wouldn't be safe parking on the street so eventually agreed. This time our parqueo accommodation had clean smooth asphalt for us to cook dinner on and a nice new toilet for us to use, still no shower though.
In the morning we drove into town, found yet another parqueo to park in and walked a few blocks to the famous Gold museum. Here we paid extra for the English audio guide which was very good though a little too detailed in places. The displays were very extensive housing a huge collection across the ages all showing different methods and styles of using gold to make ornaments and clothing. After two and a half hours in the museum we were done and then spent a while walking around the downtown area. Lunch involved grabbing a oily deepfried meat empanada that did not at all resemble the baked pastry empanadas we had come to love in Chile, but all the same they still taste great.
In the morning we drove into town, found yet another parqueo to park in and walked a few blocks to the famous Gold museum. Here we paid extra for the English audio guide which was very good though a little too detailed in places. The displays were very extensive housing a huge collection across the ages all showing different methods and styles of using gold to make ornaments and clothing. After two and a half hours in the museum we were done and then spent a while walking around the downtown area. Lunch involved grabbing a oily deepfried meat empanada that did not at all resemble the baked pastry empanadas we had come to love in Chile, but all the same they still taste great.
That afternoon we had a vague plan to drive back south then west to the coffee region where we had two nights to kill before going to stay with the family from Armenia. We left Bogota around 3:30pm and by dark we had made it to the town of Ibague. I was driving so it was Wills job to hop out and ask about motel rooms and prices. After the fifth time he found a place that suited our budget and included parking so we checked in. The car parking was around the corner so the owner called an armed security guard to escort us both there and back. We then wanted to go out and grab some dinner but the owner wouldn't let us leave explaining it was very unsafe. Instead he phoned up and ordered in pizza for us which we ate room service style in bed. We weren't sure about his advice it didn't seem so bad not compared to some of the streets we had driven down in Bogota thanks to google.
In the motel room the time had now come for a hot, private shower with a mirror… heaven. An hour later I emerged clean as a whistle with smooth legs and two eyebrows. But the hot water was over rated as I was sweating again in the heat within two minutes. It wasn't until morning that we found the switch for the fan. We had finally driven away from the rain and cold into the sun and heat. In the morning we were allowed out for breakfast all be it with many cautions. Then we picked up the car and hit the road with the wondrous air conditioning that hasn't yet broken on full blast making a bee line for Armenia.
Oh yes an I'll mention it quickly because your probably sick of hearing about the Dodge problems and I'm sick of writing about them. In Bogota we heard more strange noises coming from the rear wheels and a quick inspection showed that now both sides of the hand-break cable have broken off. We also lost a rams head wheel nut cover for one of the wheels so the Dodge looks as ruff as ever. Additionally because of our stolen side mirror and the impossibility of seeing out the back window Will backed into a car who had sneaked in behind us after only pulling over for two minutes. Eventually this resulted in us paying $80us to the owner who had a tow bar sized hole punched in his bumper. To top it all off when we drove from Ibague to Armenia we used the engine to help brake behind the thousands of slow trucks on the winding up and down roads to save our badly worn brakes. At some stage the electric cooling fan stopped working so the Dodge over heated and our anti boil coolant boiled and started spewing out all over the road. After letting it cool for a while we went back to using the brakes but the front ones that were doing all the work over heated and we came close to rear ending a truck that stopped suddenly. Don't get us wrong through we still love the Dodge, its going to go all the way to Alaska whether it likes it or not!
Rochelle & Will
In the motel room the time had now come for a hot, private shower with a mirror… heaven. An hour later I emerged clean as a whistle with smooth legs and two eyebrows. But the hot water was over rated as I was sweating again in the heat within two minutes. It wasn't until morning that we found the switch for the fan. We had finally driven away from the rain and cold into the sun and heat. In the morning we were allowed out for breakfast all be it with many cautions. Then we picked up the car and hit the road with the wondrous air conditioning that hasn't yet broken on full blast making a bee line for Armenia.
Oh yes an I'll mention it quickly because your probably sick of hearing about the Dodge problems and I'm sick of writing about them. In Bogota we heard more strange noises coming from the rear wheels and a quick inspection showed that now both sides of the hand-break cable have broken off. We also lost a rams head wheel nut cover for one of the wheels so the Dodge looks as ruff as ever. Additionally because of our stolen side mirror and the impossibility of seeing out the back window Will backed into a car who had sneaked in behind us after only pulling over for two minutes. Eventually this resulted in us paying $80us to the owner who had a tow bar sized hole punched in his bumper. To top it all off when we drove from Ibague to Armenia we used the engine to help brake behind the thousands of slow trucks on the winding up and down roads to save our badly worn brakes. At some stage the electric cooling fan stopped working so the Dodge over heated and our anti boil coolant boiled and started spewing out all over the road. After letting it cool for a while we went back to using the brakes but the front ones that were doing all the work over heated and we came close to rear ending a truck that stopped suddenly. Don't get us wrong through we still love the Dodge, its going to go all the way to Alaska whether it likes it or not!
Rochelle & Will