Colombia Trike Tour - Curumani to Valledupar

Garmin Maps and Info

Curumani to La Loma

La Loma to Bosconia

Bosconia to Valledupar

Myrtle locked to a post outside my room in Curumani

Curumani really didn't have much to offer. This is a fairly big town and it didn't even have a public square or a park. Again, I tried to find a way to the water area but with no luck. One guy suggested I ride my trike on a unpaved road for 20 miles. When I got to the water there probably wouldn't be a town or village but I could see the water. It's possible I could ask a fisherman to take me out in his boat but that seems pretty sketchy. An unpaved road would take me 4 hours to ride and then I would have to ride back because there are no towns or hotels. And it has been very hot, like 95 degrees everyday. That seemed like an awful lot of effort just to stand on the water's edge.  I could see doing this if I had a car or even a scooter but on the trike? Maybe with someone else but not alone.

After 2 nights, I got packed up. The ride today was to a town I didn't even know the name of. With the heat I wanted to ride a reasonable distance. Every day since leaving the mountains has been at least 95 degrees. On the map there were 2 hotels listed about 30 miles down the road. 2 hotels but no town. Since I started intermittent fasting, I don't eat until 7:30 am which still meant I could get a early enough start to reach my destination before the heat of the day.  All the towns here cater to the truck traffic and finding a restaurant open early is surprisingly easy. Some restaurants even open at 4 am! 

Colorful dead butterfly

As usual, the riding was lovely. The landscape between the towns is lush green with lots of trees and animals. This is a sharp contrast to the towns which are all dusty, busy and not at all attractive. I saw some beautiful birds today. As I was riding I keep noticing a cloud formation that really looked like snow on a mountain. I must have seen this cloud formation for an hour before I realized it is snow on top of a mountain. Where I'm riding it's 95 degrees but those mountain tops much be very cold to have snow. What I was looking at is the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains which are 18,000 ft in elevation. Incredible.

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

All day, as usual, I got honks and thumbs up. One thing about Colombia is everyone honks, a lot. Busses honk at each other to say hi. Cars honk to let people know they are close. Motocycles and taxis are constantly honking at everyone they pass looking for business. The honks are quick and constant. I typically ride with music to drown out some of the noise. When I'm walking about towns, the honking is really annoying. It is something I haven't been able to get used to and I often yell at motos and taxis when they want my business.

Video of rides from Aguachica to La Loma

Coal mine sign

Empty coal train

I arrived to the spot on the map that had 2 hotels listed on Google maps. Actually, there were 4 hotels. The spot is called La Loma and it caters to some coal mines that are close as well as truck traffic. The hotels were much nicer than I expected. I checked in to one that had a big pool and was quite comfortable. There was also a huge restaurant next door. After getting settled and having a shower I went to have a late lunch. With the intermittent fasting, I try to eat lunch before 3:30 pm. They had a grill going and I asked for a salad with carne asada. Asking for a salad in Colombia takes some doing. I always assume a salad means lettuce as a base. I don't think of lettuce as something you need to ask for. For a long time, I would only ask for the toppings on a salad and that is all I would get because, in Colombia, you have to ask for the lettuce too. Today, I forgot to ask for the lettuce and got sliced cucumber and avocado. This is also delicious.

I had a good night's rest and went to the same restaurant for breakfast. Another thing I've learned is when ordering coffee it's important to be very clear if you don't want sugar. Often the coffee is pre-made with sugar and poured from a thermos. Sometimes I forget and have to ask for a new cup. I have never liked sugar or anything else in my coffee but now that I'm eating Keto, sugar is prohibited. Before Keto, I probably would have drunk it anyway but not any more.

Puma or panther warning?

Soldier asked to get a photo

The ride to Bosconia was beautiful, long and hot. There were some significant climbs and I had a stronger head wind than the past few days. When it's hot I don't mind a headwind because it will keep me cooler but it also slows me down. There was a military base on the route and lots of soldier all along the road. A few of them asked me to stop to get a photo.  On the map, Bosconia looks like a good size town with options. There are a number of hotels listed on Google maps.  In reality, Bosconia is really ugly. It is junction town where traffic either goes to the coast or to the capital of Cesar department, Valledupar. The semi truck traffic was incredible.  The intersection of the actual junction of the 2 highways was practically gridlocked. What a mess! Even with police directing traffic it was completely congested and very loud with the trucks, people yelling and, of course, the honking.

Emanuel helped me find a good hotel

With many hotels listed on Google maps I was confident of finding a nice place for the night. As I rode into town each hotel I passed was really awful. They all looked poor, dirty and not safe. I didn't know what to do so I asked a random young man on the street to help me. He was more than happy to help. He wanted to know my price range and I said it didn't matter. I was only looking to be safe for the night. The first couple of hotels we looked at were horrible and they didn't have a safe place for Myrtle. He took me down many streets and we finally found the Pacific Hotel which, at first, didn't look promising. The hotel was actually on the 2nd floor which would be impossible to bring Myrtle up. But the hotel lady showed me a huge supply closet that had 2 locks at the bottom on the stairs. This closet was a perfect fit for Myrtle and I was sold. The room was actually much nicer than I was expecting and it was at the back of the hotel which was also much quieter. The people were super nice as well. I gave the young man, Emanuel, a tip for helping me and I'm sure the hotel gave him a finder's fee too. This is a common practice especially in Mexico. I've had young men follow me to hotels to ask for finder's fee even though they didn't help me find the place at all.

Myrtle parked in the hotel supply closet for the night

Bosconia has lots of colorful trici taxis

I was hoping Bosconia would have more to offer but it was so noisy and ugly I got packed up in the morning. This would be 3 days in a row of riding because there simply wasn't a reason to stay in any of the towns. I was eager to get to a town with something touristic. The next town was Valledupar, the capital of Cesar department. Today's ride would be my longest but I was motivated to be in a more beautiful place. 60 miles is a big day for me and I got started at 6 am after breakfast. The ride started with a couple of good hills. I was happy to get them out of the way earlier in the day. Today I turned off highway 45. I have been on highway 45 almost the entire trip from Bogotá. I was now on highway 80 and this was much quieter than highway 45. Sometimes it was in great condition and sometimes it wasn't. Not long after starting, I noticed there half the highway was under construction and closed to traffic. The road looked to be finished but just not open. This is probably because a bridge hasn't been finished. As I was contemplating taking it a couple of cyclists appeared. I stopped them to ask about the road and they said I could take it for 4 kms. They said something I couldn't understand about why and would need to get back on the traffic road but that I would be able to get back on the unfinished road very quickly. Wonderful. I would just need to figure out when to get off and then look for the obstacle to get back on. They said I would be able to stay on the unfinished road for another 14 kms once I got back on. Wow, was this nice! I had the whole road to myself. Just before the obstacle which I never figured out what it was, I was passed by 2 motorcycles and saw them get off. Just like the cyclists said I got back on very quickly and enjoyed a wonderful down hill on a perfectly smooth road. 

Cyclists who explained the road ahead

Even when I had to leave my unfinished road, there wasn't nearly as much traffic as I had been experiencing on highway 45. This really was a wonderful ride. It was just long. I stopped in Aguas Blancas for a delicious lunch and when I started riding again it felt like someone had turned a heater on to full blast. Holy moly, it was hot. For sure, 100 degrees. I went through a toll booth and asked if there was any water from some of the venders. A young guy selling cold drinks from a cooler came over. I explained that I just wanted cold water for my head. He opened the cooler poured ice cold water into my hat and then let me soak my neck scarf. That was fantastic. I did that one more time in the next town of Valencia de Jésus, the last town of the day. By the end of the ride I was feeling like a tuna seared on the grill. The sun is so strong here. I reapplied sun screen many times but I really think I need to find a long sleeve shirt to wear especially for the longer rides. 

Welcome to Valledupar

Finally, I arrived in Valledupar. As usual, I looked for the best place in town. I saw there was a hotel that had a 5 star rating, the Hotel Boutique Casa Rosalia. What a sweet place. There are only 7 rooms. It was a family home that had been converted to a hotel. This hotel is like a little sanctuary in the middle of the big city with lots of places to sit or swing peacefully in a hammock. I was shown a big lovely room with 20 foot ceilings that had lots of windows and done completely in white. With breakfast, it was $50 a night. I checked in for 4 nights.  This is what I was looking for and exactly what I needed. I'm looking forward to relaxing this beautiful hotel and exploring this capital city.

Myrtle has a parking pad outside my room

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Colombia Trike Tour - San Alberto to Curumani

Garmin Info and Maps

San Alberto to Aguachica

Aguachica to Pelaya

Pelaya to Curumani

It's a funny thing about keeping up my blog, but I often have a hard time remembering the hotel I stayed in if I wait too long between updates. Without photos, I'm sure I would forget lots of details. I'm writing this from Valledupar and 6 rides and many more days ahead. Thinking back to San Alberto feels like a month ago. This is such a strange feeling and it happens often.

Hotel room view from San Alberto

I arrived in San Alberto having picked out the best hotel in town. I make this assessment from Google reviews. Hotels have to pay Google to be included on the map and there are typically many more hotels available than what Googlemaps shows. My 1st stop was at the San Alberto Plaza Hotel. I wanted to check in for 2 nights and they only had a vacancy for 1 night. They recommended the Hacienda Hotel Victoria around the corner. I was surprised to see this hotel actually looked better. It also had parking and a pool but no restaurant. They put me in a very nice room on the 3rd floor with a balcony that had a view of the town. I was on the opposite side of the hotel from the pool which was a good move because the pool was full of very young children yelling and having a ball.  It seemed that the families all stayed on the 1st floor which also made me very happy. This hotel cost me $20/night. I spent a day in San Alberto where I did some trike maintenance and worked on getting my photos up-to-date. Everyone at the hotel was very nice but San Alberto is quite small and there really isn't anything worth seeing here. There isn't even a public plaza. Every day was very hot and this kept my walking around to a minimum.

Soldiers asked me to stop for a photo

After a good rest, I pushed on to Aguachica. This was a very beautiful ride where I saw caution signs warning me of armadillo, fox, iguana and capybara. I passed areas of water with lots of beautiful birds. This was also my 1st flat ride of the tour. I was now out of the mountains. After a month on the road I had completed the hardest part of the tour. The mountains was the part I was the most nervous about and it was behind me. So many people have been worried for my safety. I never had any worries about my safety. My biggest worry was being able to complete the climbing I knew would be expected of me every day.  Even though the mountains have been an incredible experience and the beautiful scenery was totally worth the effort, I now felt like I was on vacation. What a great feeling to not only get through the mountains but to be on a beautiful road pedaling easily. I really felt like I was starting a new phase of the tour. 

View from the road to Aguachica

Coming into Aguachica

Bike path into Aguachica

Aguachica was much bigger than San Alberto and usually bigger towns are more interesting. There are a many, many hotels in Aguachica. Since this is Christmas holiday time, the roads are busy with families traveling. The hotels are also very busy. Aguachica is a town that caters to this traffic. The 1st few hotels I went to were full. I ended up at the most expensive hotel in town, of course, Hotel D'Leon Inn. This hotel actually has 2 buildings across the street from each other. I looked at 2 rooms. The 1st was decorated like for a young boy completely in a London motif. The bedspread was union jacks, the walls were painted with a big red bus and a telephone booth. I couldn't imagine being comfortable there. I ended up paying extra for a much larger room in the other building. This room was on the top floor and had a balcony with a view overlooking the town. I was quoted $47 which is a huge amount of money in Colombia. They were not willing to negotiate either. The sun beat down so strongly on the sliding glass doors to the balcony that the air conditioning couldn't keep up. The shower didn't have a shower head.  There wasn't even a towel or soap in the room. It took some doing but I eventually had a fan added, a shower head installed and housekeeping gave me a towel and a bar of soap. $47 is really 5-star hotel pricing and this hotel was not measuring up.

Video of rides from San Alberto to Aguachica

View from my hotel in Aguachica

I spent the next day walking around looking for anything interesting. The town has a park that was decorated for Christmas with lots of lighted animals. There was a municipal plaza and mercado which I always love going to. I had a wonderful lunch there of soup, chicken and salad for $2. I also replenished my daily avocado. The avocados in Colombia are fantastic. They are probably 3 times the size of avocados in the US and usually $1. Every day I eat one and have become an addict.  But, for a city the size of Aguachica it had very little public or community spaces.

Christmas tree in the plaza municipal, Aguachica

Aguachica Christmas lights

When I packed up Myrtle in the morning and went to pay, my bill was much less expensive than I expected. Instead of paying $47/night, I paid $33. That is a huge difference and more in line with the quality of the hotel. This was a welcome surprise. In the US paying $47 is unheard of but here it really is a lot of money. I was happy they made the adjustment even though I certainly wasn't expecting it.

Termite mounds

The ride to Pelaya was, again, very nice with lots of trees and lovely scenery. It's been interesting to see the difference between the towns and the landscape between the towns. The towns are, frankly, ugly, dusty and busy. The landscape in between is lovely.  If you click on any of the Garmin map links at the top of the page you can see where I am. On the map this area looks amazing. There is a huge area with lots of water, lagoons, inlets, inlands and rivers. It looks like a birder's paradise. In every town I come to I've been asking how to get to this area. From Pelaya, the distance to water appears to be less than 10 miles. I would love to see it. Everyone I talk to either has no idea how to get there or no idea if there are boat tours. If this was Mexico or Belize, every hotel would be working with a tour company. There would be a boat tour I could sign up for where a van would come to the hotel, pick me up and take me to a dock where I would meet other people wanting to see the area. This is a huge missed opportunity for the area. Someday, someone will figure out how to implement this. It will take awhile to catch on but, eventually, it will bring tourism to the area and many people will be making money. I was disappointed to miss out on seeing a bit of the waterway but I think I can see it from the other side after leaving Cartegena probably in another 6 weeks. It looks like there is a ferry to the lovely island of Santa Cruz de Mompox that I want to see and that side also appears to be more developed for tourism.

Anteater sign

Caution, Fox

Fox and armadillo signs

Pelaya was a very poor town. Another town that only caters to truck traffic. I stayed one night at a very basic hotel in a room that didn't have a shower head, toilet seat or wifi. But I was safe and Myrtle was secure.

Toll booth

The ride to Curumani was, again, very beautiful. Being the holiday season, I'm seeing lots of cars full of families traveling. Everyone gives me a little beep-beep as they pass. The busses are also busy. The bus drivers, too, are always saying hello as are the semi drivers. All day long I am waving and saying hello. Luckily, this is one of my very favorite things to do and I'm loving it. The car and truck traffic can be quite loud and wear me down so I typically listen to music to drown out some of the noise. There were lots of cows, lambs, buffalo, horses, goats and birds to look at. I really am enjoying seeing the animals. 

As I have been traveling and meeting people I've been able to use my Spanish. Until recently, my Spanish has been very hesitant and I've been quite shy to speak. There has always been a bit of panic whenever I need to speak. I have felt that I kinda know how to say what I need but I'm not totally sure and I've been speaking without confidence. This is starting to change. I am beginning to feel like I do know how to speak and this change feels great. I just need to stop and think for a moment to gather my thoughts in Spanish. For the longest time, I simply didn't know what to say when someone spoke to me. Before I would speak I always needed to check the online dictionary to double check my word choice. And then when I needed to answer someone, my mind would be blank and the words just wouldn't come. I was completely tongue tied. I think some of that was I didn't really understand what was being said to me and now I am also starting to hear the Spanish better. But, like this morning at breakfast, I was able to have a conversation not just ask for what I need. I actually asked questions of the people at the table. This is a big step forward. If I don't know a word, it's ok to say it in English. People are happy to hear me try to speak and will help me out. It's also ok to ask people to repeat or to speak slower. The Spanish I am hearing is also changing. People at the coast speak faster and slur their words together more than in Bucaramanga or Bogotá. This is a new challenge. I'm quite close to the bigger city of Santa Marta on the coast and I may look into studying a couple of weeks privately or at a school. It would be great if I could be more comfortable speaking in the past tense and also more comfortable with reflexive verbs. 

The other big development is with my diet. 2 weeks ago I started intermittent fasting (16:8) and a Keto diet. The 1st week was a challenge as I went through sugar withdrawals and my body switched from using carbs to using fat for fuel. What's interesting is that I'm not hungry. This is such a strange feeling. I am someone who is always thinking about food and what I'm going to eat next. I used to eat every 2 hours to keep my blood sugar up. Now, I eat in the morning before cycling around 7:30 and then have a 2nd meal before 4pm. It's crazy but, so far, I haven't been hungry while riding. I always have snacks with me but I haven't needed to eat them. Even at 3 in the afternoon, I not super hungry even though I haven't eaten since 8 am. I'm ready to eat but it's not like I'm ravenously hungry. In the past when I finished cycling, I would sometimes be so hungry I couldn't really think clearly. This is a very different experience. Emotionally, I also feel more even-keeled. When I used to experience low blood sugar, I would get quickly hot under the collar but now I have moments of being annoyed but not nearly as emotional. The real reason I'm doing this diet is to alleviate inflammation in my body especially around my feet and ankles. Almost every time I ate before Keto my feet and ankles would swell up terribly. To the point it was hard to wear shoes. Since starting Keto I haven't had any inflammation and I'm also losing weight. I think we have all heard that sugar is inflammatory but I had no idea just how much. We'll see how this continues but...so far, so good.

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Colombia Trike Tour - Bucaramanga to San Alberto

Garmin Info and Maps

Bucaramanga to Rionegro

Rionegro to El Playón

El Playón to San Alberto

If possible, I really like entering and leaving big cities on Sunday. After being in Bucaramanga for 8 days, I was ready to push on. I had many things to take care of here I got it all done. My visa was extended for 3 months. My hair was cut and colored and I also had a pedicure. My clothes were professionally cleaned for the 1st time since leaving Bogotá. I also got my blog updated, pictures upload and put together 2 videos for my Youtube channel. After 8 days, I was also much more comfortable with my new eating plan where I'm fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8 hours. I'm very surprised how easy it has been for me to fast for 16 hours. In fact, if I wasn't on a tour, I could probably fast for longer but I feel like I should eat in the morning before I start cycling.

After a good breakfast and getting Myrtle loaded up, the people working at the hotel where I've been staying, Hotel BGA, all came outside to see me off. This was very sweet and unexpected. They were also very concerned about me and gave me many warnings. One guy suggested I stop at the police station to get an escort through to the next town. They all said the next town was very dangerous and if I could, to keep going. This is something people always say about the next town. What they fail to understand is, I've ridden from Bogotá. I really doubt the next town will pose any more of the threat than any other town I've been in. They also said the route was flat which I knew wasn't true. If there had been less climbing for the day I probably could have gone farther than the next town but 2,000 ft of climbing in 20 miles is enough. In order to go to the town beyond the next town I would have to climb about 4,000 ft and that is simply too much. So the next town of Rionegro is where I was headed.

Bucaramanga is a big city of over 1 million people and it took awhile to ride through it. I had heard that Bucaramanga has a Ciclovia where the roads are closed to car traffic every Sunday but, for some reason, it wasn't happening this Sunday. Maybe because of Christmas? Who knows. I had been looking forward to riding in another Ciclovia and was bummed to miss it. But, to be honest, I didn't know where the Ciclovia route went and it is possible the route wouldn't have taken me out of town. There really wasn't much traffic and I had no problems leaving the city. I was almost out of town when a man in a big white car stopped me to give me a stern warning to not use my phone while cycling. He said someone would steal it if the phone was visible and even out of my hands. I use the phone for directions so that wasn't possible. At least not until I was out of town. I don't think I've ever been in a country where I have been warned about my cell phone being stolen more than in Colombia.

I had a big downhill to the bottom of the canyon and then a big uphill to climb back out.  Most of the ride I had a wide shoulder. At about noon, I stopped at a road side restaurant for a bowl of Caldo de Castillo. I love this soup. It is essentially bone broth, potatoes and a couple of beef ribs. If I don't eat the potatoes it works great for my new diet.

Once out of Bucaramanga, the scenery was lovely and it was also very hot. I went through a toll booth and the police asked me to stop so they could give me cold water. I had a father and daughter on a motorbike also give me a bottle of ice cold water. Another family gave me oranges which was very sweet even if I couldn't eat them.

Sweet family I met on the road

Entering Rionegro

This hill into Rionegro was probably 16% - ouch!

Myrtle parked the courtyard

I had some nice climbs and eventually made it Rionegro. For all the climbing I did today, the hill into Rionegro was, by far, the steepest. This town is up a hill that is at least a 16% grade. It was a long hill too but, huffing and puffing, I made it. I found a sweet hotel, Hotel la Fuente. The hotel is very clean with lots of sunshine and flowering plants everywhere. I got a room with a fan for $14.  It didn't have hot water but the water wasn't as freezing cold as usual. I think the water must be stored on the roof and in the sun. I really appreciated this. After the warnings I got from the hotel people in Bucaramanga I was quite surprised that Rionegro has a nice feel to it. I decided to stay another day to check it out more. Tomorrow is also Christmas Eve.

Hotel Cat - 'Gato'

Christmas Eve Mass

I had a nice day in Rionegro visiting with the hotel family and walking around. I tried to fly my drone but couldn't get enough satellites. Maybe in the morning. 

Sometimes, it seems like holidays are just an excuse for people to get drunk. All the bars were full of people drinking beer and many were already drunk early in the morning. I always feel less safe around drunk people.

I'm continuing to do the 16:8 fasting while following a Keto diet. It is very interesting. The 16:8 fasting is easy. In fact, if I wasn't cycling I think I could extend the fasting window to 20 hours fairly easily. Something like 20 years ago I did an Atkins diet and I didn't like it at all. For me, the Atkins diet has too much meat. I've never been big into bacon. All that fat grosses me out especially thinking about eating it every day. Even though Atkins calls itself a Keto diet, it really isn't. Atkins is a very high protein, moderate fat and low carb diet where as Keto is very high-fat, moderate protein and low carb. This is a subtle but important difference. It is possible to do Keto and be vegan which is important to me. Over the summers in Portland I mostly follow a vegan diet. I would never call myself vegan because when I'm traveling I eat the local foods or when I'm invited to someone's home I gratefully eat whatever is served. But, for myself, at home, I eat vegan. 

The idea of eating bacon everyday sounds awful but you give me a diet where I can eat practically unlimited amounts of avocado, oh yeah, I'm totally ok with that. And the avocados in Colombia are huge and super cheap. They are probably 3 times the size of an American avocado. They are everywhere and are just as delicious as the little ones. I also found organic coconut oil to add to food I buy in restaurants. Even though I have around 20 lbs of weight I could lose, the real reason I'm doing this is bring down chronic inflammation. For years, almost every time I eat, my feet and ankles swell up terribly. So far, after 10 days, I have had no inflammation after eating. I guess I am someone who can't eat sugar and sugar forming carbohydrates. There are 2 other welcome changes. I'm sleeping easier and deeper and I'm not hungry. I think about food all the time. I'm planning my next meal before I've finished the one I'm eating. Usually I snack on nuts and fruit while riding and I haven't needed to. I am quite hungry in the morning when I wake up but after breakfast I haven't been hungry for the rest of the day. I eat another meal around 3 even though I don't have a lot of hunger. Mostly because I'm worried about being hungry in the night. For me, not being hungry is a very strange experience. One nice thing about doing this diet/fast while traveling solo is I don't have any temptations. I'm not out with friends or family thinking 'oh, what's one beer or one sweet dessert?' I can do this diet and no one has to know why I'm asking questions about the menu. I'll be reporting on this regularly. About the changes I see, if it is working and if I think it is something I'll continue doing.

Drone shot of Rionegro plaza

Before leaving Rionegro, I decided to try flying my drone again in the morning. It took a long time to get enough satellites but I did get to fly. I'm always nervous when I fly and really like to have 12 satellites. Sometimes, if I can get 8 and have an open spot to take-off from I'll take-off expecting that when the drone is in the air it will lock onto a few more satellites. Luckily, that is what happened today. I really wanted to get pictures of the church on the main square. I haven't looked at the footage but the town didn't look as nice while I was flying as I expected. But I did get some good photos. I still, after almost a year, feel much more comfortable taking photos than video with my drone.  It's easier for me to see how the shot will look.

Saying 'goodbye' to Marina and Luis

I got a much later start than usual. Today is Christmas. I didn't have far to go and expected there to be much less traffic. Certainly, much less truck traffic. This turned out to be true but, wow, it was really hot. I only had 1100 ft of climbing but it felt like much more. The scenery was nice and many people talked to me from their cars as I was riding. It seems in Colombia I'm either barely moving or flying down hill. There are very little flat areas. I'm starting to see more colorful birds and plants and lizards. It is definitely feeling more tropical.

Fruit stand

View from the road

Just a pipe coming out of the wall

I pulled into El Playón and found a very basic hotel room for the usual $14. The hotel family in Rionegro said the 1st hotel I would come to would be safe and cheap. This is a town that caters to the truckers. I think on most days this hotel would be very busy and noisy but, lucky for me, truckers take Christmas off. The room was fine but the shower didn't have any water. I went to complain and was given another room. This room had shower water for about a minute and that was all. I ended up washing using the sink water. Very strange. Later, the hotel manager explained that a pipe had come apart. He said the shower water should be working again. I didn't have the energy to take another shower.

Making a milk delivery

Top of the last climb

Wanting to get to a real town and knowing there were going to be big climbs, I got up a 5 am. Since El Playón caters to truckers, the restaurants open early. Today would be the last day riding in the mountains. It really felt like a milestone. I had been riding in the mountains for almost a month and I was ready for easier riding. Google showed 2700 ft of climbing but it turned out to be less. The last climb of the day was the hardest. It was very hot too. I stopped at a restaurant and the top for a bowl of soup. The restaurant had a good breeze blowing through it which really felt nice. From there I had a twisting turning downhill and then some small rollers into San Alberto. San Alberto is in the department of Cesar, it's like being in a new state. From here, the whole way to the coast is flat or, at least, much flatter than what I've been experiencing since leaving Bogotá. I'm ready for some flat riding.

Last view in the mountains

Swimming hole coming into San Alberto

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