12. Cocora Valley
Day 101
The last night was awesome. A movie night with popcorn and beer. We were watching a motorcycle movie at Donkey Sunrise with the rest of the gang there. It doesn’t get better than that. Morning was greeting us with the sun and lots of good, strong Colombian coffee. Leisurely breakfast and easy packing. I didn’t unpack almost anything so it was quick. I said good byes to everybody at Donkey Ranch, it was great 2 days! ❤️ and I was on my way.
It is a nice day for riding. Warm, but not crazy hot. My rear tire pressure is down, I have to pump it up and keep an eye on it. I stopped to get gas and filled up the tire as well. A very nice road and I am again in no hurry. It is a very short ride today, just over 105 km. I soon turn off the main road and continue on a very narrow but quite good and twisty road among small coffee farms. Passed through picturesque town of Filandia. Then I missed the turn to Salento so I did some “compulsory sighteeing” before I could double back. A super twisty road got me to my destination, town of Salento. Even though it was only noon, my room was ready. Small but very clean and that’s all I need. I parked my bike right under my window, it doesn’t get better than that. I took my bags off and headed right away to my actual destination, Cocora Valley. It is only 10 km away with very nice and scenic road. I got to the beginning of the valley and it was like an amusement park. Too touristy for me. The reason people come here is an awesome valley with tallest palm trees in the world. They can reach up to 200’. Those are wax palms which means they do not have coconuts. Could you imagine if a coconut fell down on you from 200’… 🙈 I parked my bike and continued deeper into the valley on foot. There is a hiking trail through the valley. You take a horseback ride or hire a jeep. Or, you can walk. The scenery is hard to describe. And even photos don’t do it any justice. I’ve read that this valley was an inspiration for the movie Encanto. Unfortunately the weather was not the best today. It was overcast and after awhile started to rain. But at the same time it created a different mood with clouds in the valley. I hiked for a bit and I got wet, again. Getting used to it by now. I took insane amount of pictures and it was time to head back to the town. Luckily it stopped raining as soon as got out of the valley. I dropped the bike off and headed to the centre which was only few blocks away. Salento is full of very colorful houses. The main square is filled with restaurants and coffee shops. It was very busy with local tourists and gringos as well. It is the weekend so it is not surprising. This is the middle of the rainy season, so I can imagine how busy it is during high season. I did more walking around and found a nice restaurant right at the main plaza. Somehow, as always, another hungry dog found me and sat down right beside me. I guess I will have to share my dinner again. After the sunset it got cold very quickly. It is 16˚C and it is raining. Salento sits at 1,900m. Well, it is time head back to my home for tonight and work on my blog and pictures.
It was another great day 👍