May 28th 2024 – Valle de Cocora, Colombia

We had a good view of “La Piedra del Peñol” towering over Guatapé from our front porch. In the morning of our last day in town we set out to climb the rock. The plan had been for Fin to ride out from Medellin and join us, but MechanicO decided to throw a spanner in the works, so Katrine and I would have to do it on our own.

In an attempt to beat the crowds we had a tuk tuk drop us off at the foot of the hill at 8 am. The plan worked. More than 1.000 steps and a lot of huffing and puffing later we arrived at the top as the first guests of the day.

Afterwards we hiked back to Guatapé. Along the way we reached a ramshackle suspension bridge. The locals didn’t seem to use it anymore. It would obviously be stupid to try and cross it but we couldn’t help ourselves and gave it a go. It groaned and creaked for every step but allowed us to pass.

Guatapé, with its colorful houses, was full of craft shops, art galleries, cafes and restaurants. Despite being very touristic the town had a nice vibe and was interesting to explore.

It was an easy ride from Guatapé to Medellin where we had booked a room in Conquistadores, a quiet but centrally located residential area. The room turned out to be at a stereotypical hostel. The majority of both guests and staff were colorful characters behaving strangely and smoking weed all day long. Everyone was friendly and the facilities were good. The rooftop terrace with a bar was a great place to hang out in the evening.

We became rather fond of the neighborhood. It had a good vibe, everything we needed and few foreigners. A good meal could be had for half the price compared to the more touristic areas in the city. We even found a pretty good free outdoor gym located in a public park packed with sports facilities. 

Our first excursion in Medellin was a trip to Comuna 13. What used to be the most notorious neighborhood in the city has become a round-the-clock party zone that attracts heaps of tourists. It was a crazy place that was interesting to see but nice to leave.

The following day we visited the downtown area.

We dropped by a Claro store to refuel our SIM cards. It was a big store packed with people in lines everywhere. It wasn’t obvious which line to choose so we asked around. A woman who seemed to be some kind of supervisor took us to the front of one of the lines and asked the guy behind the counter to help us out. It created some grumbling in the line and made the woman realize she had made a mistake by moving the “gringos”  ahead of everyone else. She became flustered and asked if we would be ok with standing in line like everyone else. Of course we would. It had never been our intention to jump the line.
It earned us approving nods and positive comments that we waited in line like the locals. It seemed like they were used to privileged gringos expecting special treatment.
20 minutes later we were back on the street with the phones sorted.

The next pin in the map was Centro Comercial Palacio Nacional – an impressive mall where the 2 top floors are reserved for art galleries.

From there we strolled to Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe next to Plaza Botero.
During our exploration of the palace we stumbled across a game of chess set up in a quiet hallway and used the opportunity to play a game. Katrine enjoyed a rare victory. I’m looking forward to an opportunity for a re-match!

Katrine and I mainly got around Medellin on foot. As a result we walked 10-15 kilometers every day and explored much of the city. One day we walked to Poblado – a plush neighborhood attracting and catering for well off foreigners. It was no surprise when we encountered the infamous Fintan sauntering down the main street. It was good to see him again.
We spent the afternoon catching up while he showed us around the area he had called home for the last couple of weeks.

Darkness descended and thunderstorms rolled in from the surrounding mountains as we made our way back to our part of town. We almost made it home before the first drops hit. We ran for shelter at a cafe and made it just as the heavens opened up in earnest. For the next hour or so the street outside was turned into a frothing river illuminated by lightning. The thunderclaps were loud enough to be felt and on one occasion so loud that it made half the guests at the cafe scream. It was super cozy.

Colombians are crazy about motorcycles. Most people ride. There are dealers, shops and related stores everywhere. We visited several on our walks through town. As many riders we always keep an eye out for our next bike. Katrine, a former F800GS rider, became rather infatuated with the new F900GS. Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 has also caught her attention and keeps growing on her.

Another less flattering thing we noticed about Medellin was the numerous drug addicts and mentally ill occupying much of the public space. We hadn’t seen anything like it since we left the US. The misery affected Katrine and made her feel uncomfortable.

After 4 days in the city we needed a change of scenery.

We set off towards “Puente Colgante De Occidente” , a suspension bridge from 1895. At the time it was the third largest suspension bridge worldwide. We got out of Medellin rather easily. An hour’s fun ride through the mountains took us to the eastern side of the bridge. We should have been able to cross, as vehicles narrower than 2 meters are allowed to use it. Unfortunately it was temporarily closed due to maintenance.

We had to backtrack about 20k and cross the Cauca River on Hwy 62 to reach Hwy 25B that would take us south as planned. When we finally reached Hwy 25B we were met by another roadblock. A police officer could inform me that the road would be closed for at least another 2-3 hours.

The mountains limited our route options and the only one left to us was to return to and ride all the way through Medellin to pick up Hwy 25 going south.
There was no reason to dawdle. We turned around and let the bikes stretch their legs on the way back to the city. It was a fun ride. We managed to navigate the city traffic with minimum delays and didn’t stop for lunch until we had left Medellin behind for the second time that day.

The journey south through the mountains continued all afternoon on everything from smooth 4-lane to narrow dirt roads. I have learned that it is impossible to judge the size and quality of a road in Colombia from looking at a map. Even main thoroughfares between big cities can be challenging dirt roads while secondary roads connecting nothing can offer beautiful tarmac – and any road can change from one to the other with the blink of an eye.

We rolled into Santa Rosa de Cabal after 8 hour’s hard riding, on what should have been an easy 4-5 hour’s day. I had booked a room at a hotel offering free secure parking. When the manager saw that we arrived on 2 motorcycles she decided to charge us for parking of the second bike as only 1 vehicle per room was included. Subsequently she had the audacity to instruct us to park the bikes close together so they only took up one parking spot in an otherwise empty garage. She was an all around classic bitch. Usually I don’t tolerate BS like that, but for once I decided to let it pass, shook my head and moved on. Time will tell if it was a one-off or if I’m getting more mellow with age?

It was the waterfall at “Termales San Vicente” just outside of town that had made us decide to visit Santa Rosa de Cabal. Closer investigation revealed that the only way to see the waterfall was to buy the full package with access to the thermal pools and the resort created around them. We were just interested in the waterfall and decided it wasn’t worth the money. Instead we took a day off to relax and explore the town.

Santa Rosa de Cabal proved to be a strange town. Everything was set up to cater for tourists. There were lots of tour operators, accommodation offers, good restaurants, market stalls and stores selling everything imaginable. The only thing that was missing was the tourists/customers. What the town did have in abundance was drug addicts. It was even worth than in Medellin. They were everywhere and constantly in our face when we walked the streets. Something has gone completely off track in that town.
Combined with our experiences from Medellin we were starting to become a bit disillusioned about Colombia.

We were happy to move on after two nights in town.

Salento was only an hour’s ride further south but it was like arriving on another planet as we passed through the town and entered Cocora Valley. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen and the locals are open with easy smiles.

We had booked a room in the valley a couple of kilometers east of town. Our charming host Olga greeted us at the gate to the property with the appropriate name “Paraiso Cocora”. There were no other guests. We had the whole place at our disposal. Breakfast was included. Olga would come and prepare it for us every morning and stay for a few hours to make sure the house  was spotless. Not bad for US$ 25 a night.

After having checked in and unloaded the bikes we rode up the valley as far as the road would take us before returning to Salento to do some shopping. The Reckless harness is brilliant for carrying shopping bags.

Back at the house we decided to go for a run in the area. The altitude and gradiences made it a tough one but also very enjoyable because of the scenery. As we sat at the kitchen table in the evening and enjoyed a home cooked meal we felt more content than we had done in a long time.

The following morning we walked down to the road and hailed one of the jeeps transporting people from Salento to El Bosque de Las Palmas at the end of the road that goes through the valley. We got picked up after a few minutes. Several hikes start from where the road ends. The area around the trailheads is very crowded and commercialized. Most people stay in that area or hike a small loop between viewpoints. We had decided to do the long loop through the mountains and soon left the crows behind. The trail leveled out at 3.000 meters after 2 hours of climbing. 

The trail changed character on the way down. It followed a small river, became narrow, steep and often muddy. On 5 occasions we crossed the river on suspension bridges. It was a beautiful and exciting hike.

12 km and 4 hours of hiking saw us back at the trailhead taking a well deserved lunch and rest break. We had already experienced the scenic road through the valley on our bikes and in a jeep. To have an opportunity to really take in the surroundings we decided to walk the 9 kilometers home.

We hiked into Salento the next day to have a better look at the town and do some shopping. The picturesque and touristic little town had a relaxed atmosphere. We spent the morning snooping around. After lunch we headed back to our little piece of heaven in the valley.

Today we’ll be staying home all day catching up on stuff and giving our legs a well deserved rest after having hiked and run up towards 40 km/25 miles in the last 3 days.