We’re up to Day 5 in Colombia from my December 2015 circumnavigation of the Andes Mountains. The riding was incredible, the scenery even more so. Juan and Carlos were amazing riders, as was every person I saw on a motorcycle in Colombia. Ah, enough of a prelude…here’s what I posted for CSC Motorcycles on December 19, 2015.
Actually, it’s pronounced “Via Da Layba.” I’m learning how to be a Colombian and how to speak like one. Colombian Spanish is different than Mexican Spanish. Much to my regret, I don’t speak either one. Someday.
Juan Carlos and Carlos told me they’re making me an honorary C0lombian because my riding has progressed significantly in the last few days. Folks, these two guys are the best riders I’ve ever ridden with, and for them to tell me that was quite a compliment. Every rider I know in the U.S. would be subpar compared to your typical Colombian motorcyclist. The way they carve corners and carve through heavy traffic on these mountain roads is a thing a beauty. They are the best riders I’ve ever seen, and the two guys I’m riding with are beyond incredible. But I digress…more on that later. The focus of this blog entry is Day 5, which was yesterday for me.
As you know from reading the blog, we stayed in Barichara. It’s an awesome little town and we stayed in an awesome little hotel. Getting there was an experience. We passed through a bunch of small towns up here in the Andes Mountains. In these small towns, everything is either uphill or downhill. The roads are either cobblestone or dirt. And when I say cobblestone, I’m not talking about little rocks. These are 6 to 12 inch boulders that are basically mashed together to form a street. The cobblestones (actually, cobbleboulders) throw the bike left and right and up and down, and this is all going on while riding up or down extremely steep hills. The RX3 is the perfect bike for this. I couldn’t imagine doing it on anything bigger or heavier.
We stayed at the Artepolis Hotel, and it was an experience. The guy in the room next to me was an Austrian photographer who came here just to photograph the place. It’s that stunning. Here’s the hotel the next morning (it was dark when we arrived the preceding evening, and we had to ride up a rough dirt road to get to the hotel).
The next morning Juan and Carlos wanted to ride a bit and get some photos. They took me to the edge of a cliff and we got some great shots…here’s one of Carlos I especially like:
And here are a couple more:
We continued on a paved road to a little town called Guane, and along the way I spotted a couple of Colombian vultures perched in a tree not far from the road. I always wanted to get a decent shot of a vulture during my Baja travels, but my results have always been mediocre. I’m carrying my 70-300 Nikon lens on this trip, and I thought I would try for that vulture photo I’ve been wanting for years. The lighting was perfect and I think I did okay…
After photographing the vultures, I grabbed a couple of shots from the saddle on our way to Guane.
Guane is a beautiful little town with a magnificent church…I was working the little Nikon D3300 and its 18-55 lens as best I could. That camera is really doing a great job on this trip. I bought it because I wanted something light and small. You folks who are planning to ride to Baja with us in March might want to give the D3300 a look if you don’t already have a camera. It really adds a lot to the adventure if you can capture stuff like this.
In many Colombian towns, the taxi services use tuk-tuks. Tuk-tuks are little three wheel things that have two wheels in the back and one wheel up front. I’d seen them in Thailand, but encountering them again in Colombia was something I had not expected. The ones in Colombia are made by Bajaj, an Indian manufacturer (as in India, not Indian motorcycles). They’re powered by a little 200cc single, and I was surprised at it’s ability to haul Carlos, Juan, and me up and down the hills in Barichara (we took one to go to dinner in Barichara). Juan told me he tested one at Bajaj’s request a year or so ago and he was impressed with it.
The tuk-tuks are often customized with really cool paintwork, and so are some of the other commercial vehicles. Here’s the artwork on one such vehicle in Guane that caught my eye:
After our brief exploration of Guane, we rode back to Barichara. The guys had been telling me I had to see the cemetery, and they were right. It seemed weird to visit a cemetery for the artistry, but it was impressive…
After that we were back on the road, headed for Villa de Leyva. I had mentioned to Juan that I wanted to get photos of the police motorcycles in Colombia, and when he spotted a few motor officers in one of the many small towns we rode through, I checked another photo op off the list.
This first photo shows one of the more common Colombian police bikes, the Suzuki 200 single.
Here’s another bike the Colombian police use…the Suzuki V-Strom 650…
There’s a lot more to tell you about the Colombian police motorcycles, but that will come later. I’m seeing and learning so much I just can’t get it all into the blog. I’m thinking maybe another book is in order. We’ll see.
Juan found our hotel just outside of Villa de Leyva, we checked in, and then we rode into town. This is the town square…it’s the largest in all of Colombia.
If you’re really impressed with that last shot, so am I. I wish I could take credit for it. It was a photo for sale in one of the Villa de Leyva stores, and I shot a photo of that photo before they told me I couldn’t.
It was a good day. The next one would be even better.
And one last thing, folks. On that day in Barichara before we left, I did a video in their beautiful cemetery. This wasn’t in the original blog, but I thought I’d add it here.
One more thing…if you’d like to read the first several blogs from Colombia, you can do so here.
Hahaha U R so funny Joe. There is only one Spanish Language and is called “Castellano” which comes from a region in Spain call Castilla, because as U know Spain speaks 5 languaes. All South Central America & South America we speak the same Spanish “Castellano”, the only diferrences among all these countries is the “Singing”, your buddies can tell U this. I worked for 15 years for a Colombian company going there back & forth going to different cities before I moved here, and I learned their singing, hehehe.
However, it doesn’t mean we don’t understand each other. Nevertheless, for years I have hard time trying to understand Mexican & the communities of the countries neighbors to them such as Guatemala, El Salvador Nicaragua, etc, because they have changed the meaning and concepts of the Spanish words. Like for example: Espanol. We don’t say we speak Espanol, because for a Spanier and Central & Southern American countries Espanol is the nationality or citizen of the person that is born in Spain and among the 5 languages they speak there is none call Espanol. Over the years at the beginning & some times still with Mexican strangers I rather speak with my poor English, but my Hairdresser teaches me Mexican Spanish and I teach her what is the concepts & meaning of the words she doesn’t understand. It’s very fun during the 2 to 3 hours doing my hair Lol!!!!! What I have learned from the Mexican communities is tha the Spanish Language they have tried to mixed it with English (as everyone knows) and they have created their own vocabulary in the Spanish Language and with the combination of English Language called Spanglish.
I’m sure when you will go to visit Southern American countries U will understand what I’m saying. I hope when that happens I have the time off to go along with U and your buddies to these trips, I’ll be a good host knowing that I have traveled all South America top to bottom multiple times multiple places for business and pleasure. I can’t wait for the moment I can be retired some day to do motorcycle rides and/or just travel again.
PS If U need Spanish classes do not hesitate to ask. Besides many apps and online programs there are some things the computer programs won’t teach U, hahaha. Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank U as always for sharing this blog, it makes me have so much hope when I read your stories. Big hug.
Thanks, Annie. Wow, one blog and two folks interested in heading to Colombia again. Seems like a good idea to me!
Joe, I’m enjoying re-reading your series on Columbia. I almost followed in your footsteps, (tire tracks?), when Juan Carlos extended an invitation, but it fell through as I was the only one interested and it became cost prohibitive. In hindsight and as I enjoy your series, if the opportunity presented itself, I’d be the first in line and damn the expense.
George, I know people. If you want to go, I could be persuaded to head down that way again. There are just so many things to see and do.
Joe, I’m definitely in. I’ll even buy you lunch in one of those charming villages. Persuaded?
I’m getting close, George. There’s a lot of things I want to do once we’re past the pandemic. Let’s stay in touch.