We awoke quite early in Salento, and packed up to head towards Bogota. Salento was such a quant little town, and in such a lush and beautiful region. The entire coffee region is quite spectacular, and for those Jeep lovers out there, the road is just filled with them, from virtually every auto maker.
Our first few miles was country road, then back to the freeway for another 20 km or so. Once we reached Armenia we turned off the Panamericana and headed towards Bogota. The drive is 250km, yet as the crow flies, Bogota was only 90 miles away. That should tell you how windy the road is. We twist up one side of a mountain, then back down the other. Twice we reached 10,000 feet only to drop back down around 5,000. Each one of the tight switchback corners is manned by a flagger, stopping traffic going one direction when a vehicle going the other is too big and requires both lanes. I think the guys that do this only work for tips from the grateful truckers.
Most of the way along this road, we pass tunnels that aren’t quite open yet and some almost completed bridges. Two of them appeared to be at least a kilometre long. The new road, once opened, looks to be a straight shot and probably will cut the distance in half. Billions of dollars in new infrastructure being spent. With all the new tunnels around Colombia, the government must have bought a tunnel machine and now the are going nuts with it.
After the twists of the mountains, where it got quite chilly, we came to a long, plains type area where the temperature spiked. Totally different ecology to the area, the third distinct zone of the day. Finally, back up in to the clouds and dampness, we cross one more mountain pass before reaching Bogota, the capital of Colombia.
Our hotel is clear on the other side of the city, in the historical district, and we make our way through absolute chaos of traffic hell. 17 kilometres through the city takes a little under 2 hours, which would be worse in a car, at least bikes are allowed to lane split, although with tight lanes the space isn’t often there between them.
We reach our hotel only to find that the parking is in the back, on a different street. We are given a little map to follow that shows to reach the garage you go 4 blocks north, 5 blocks east, 2 blocks south etc etc., on a series of one way streets until you get there. It works out fine though, and we park and check in.
Walking around Bogota, it is interesting to see all the work being done here. A block from the hotel, they are busy turning a street into a pedestrian boulevard, with concrete blocks being placed over about a kilometre of it. They are almost complete, and vendors have tents set up all along it. It will be quite decent when done.
We found a barbeque place and had a bit of a late dinner. Very reasonable pricing for what was just way too much meat! We walked the market for a an hour or so after dinner before returning to the hotel for the evening.
Colombia Motorcycle Ride 