We have a relaxing day ahead of us in Bucaramanga. As a multi-day stop, unlike Medellin or Bogota, the day isn’t filled with things we should see as tourists.
After the hotel breakfast, Chris and I separate. Chris needs to deal with his prepaid phone card again and I have a few things I am looking for. I walk off to the “Mac Center”, looking for a cable for my ipad to connect to camera cards. (Surprise, my aftermarket one no longer seems to work since an Apple update, the bastards). I walk about a km to where the store is supposed to be. Nothing. Nada. Thanks Mr. Google Mapper. Off I go to the second one on the list. Bucaramanga seems like such a nice town that I just keep walking. About an hour later and maybe close to 5km I come to an awesome mall and find a Mac Center. Just my luck, almost every possible attachment except the one I need. In the same mall I find a Colombian Best Buy type of shop but they also dont have it. I do manage to pickup a couple of cheap micro USBs though. Next, I find an Exito department store. Still no cable, and also no stove gas for the camp stove (we will be camping soon for a night or so).
The mall has 6 floors. On the top floor, the food court is in a covered balcony overlooking the city. Maybe the world’s nicest food court. I have a coffee here and enjoy the view. Afterwards, I find a taxi for $3 and get a ride back to the hotel (exhausted from all the walking).
Back at the hotel, I hang out at the pool for a bit. I also try finding flights to the amazon for the end of the trip but have a few connectivity issues.
Chris and I meet back up. He has had success with his phone card. We walk to the motorcycle area of town and after a few shops end up meeting Juan, a nice guy about 35 years old who spent 10 years in Australia, first at school and then in construction. We get a run down on the current economic status of folks in Colombia (Ie: minimum wage is about $300cdn, an apartment rents for $250 etc etc). As we have heard many times now, Colombia is a great place to retire if you are from somewhere with a pension or have savings, but it is hard to make a living here.
We find ourselves across from the hotel for dinner. I have a pizza and Chris has a calzone. Really good food for an awesome price. The pizza was so large I had 3 slices boxed up, which I gave to a Venezuelan we crossed paths with on the way back to the hotel.
Back in the hotel, before calling it a night, we notice some company or office is having their Christmas party. About 70 or 80 people at tables around the pool. Announcements, cheers, lots of laughter but it seems strange for a Christmas party to be outdoors in 30 degree heat!
Colombia Motorcycle Ride 