The early bird does get the worm! I knew I had a hard
driving day ahead of me, so I started at 6:30 am. The road was empty, but I
figured the trucks would start appearing any time now. A few kilometers down
the road, however, I found a police barrier that was holding back the big
trucks, while me and my little car were given the go ahead. It was magnificent.
The drop in elevation was very substantial, and I was in one of the windiest
roads ever, but I was able to make down the 150 kilometers to the lowlands in
about 2 hours, because for once I did not have to deal with truck traffic.
Yeah!
Once in the lowlands I made good time to the city of
Montería, which has a very nice river walk along the Rio Sinú with kids
playgrounds, flowers, exercise areas, boat rides, and a goodly number of
iguanas and monkeys.
From Montería to Cartagena I followed the estuary of the Rios
Sinú, San Jorge, and Magdalena, going over terrain that reminded me very much
of the Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary. It was lovely, but again slow going
because of the narrow levee roads and the large number of pesky motorcycles. I
shouldn’t say this, since I enjoy motorcycling myself, but here motorcycles
like to ride side by side with the cars, which eventually adds 30 to 50% to the
width of your car, and you have to take that extra width when you are passing
other vehicles.
Finally, at dusk, I made it to the city of Cartagena, a city
loaded with history and colonial monuments. I managed to work my way to the
Centro Historico fairly well (although at one point I had to run a short
stretch against traffic to keep from being deflected), but once in the old town
I got hopelessly lost. The old downtown is very much like being in the French
Quartier in New Orleans, with millions of tourists crawling through the narrow
streets to enjoy a vibrant nightlife and dozens and dozens of restaurants.
Unfortunately many of the roads were closed, and others were the privilege of
the horse-drawn carriages, so car traffic is impossible. Eventually I got close
enough to my hotel, parked, and reached my destination on foot. The hotel does
have parking, so after getting settled I went to fetch my little car and am now
comfortably ensconced in my new abode.
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