13. Tunnels and Rivers
Day 102
It looks like there is one overachiever rooster here who wants to beat everybody else so he starts a long time before the sunup. Not too much to pack so I am dragging my feet. I couldn’t remember if I paid for the hotel online. It is 50/50. Just before I was about to leave the lady shows up and I asked. I didn’t. Good she showed up, I was about to leave … 😉
It is a nice morning and the temp is very nicely bellow 20˚C. I am almost at 2,000m and everything ahead is lower. So that temp won’t last. I got out of town quickly with no hiccups and carving the twisties enjoying the scenery again. Absolutely beautiful. The morning fog is still hanging around the jungle covered hills and deep valleys. I quickly joined the freeway for few km then off heading for the hills again. I know there are some tunnels ahead so when I see cops I stop and ask if it is ok for bikes there. They say no problem. As I am talking to them, 3 guys on identical bikes to mine passed us. I quickly start climbing and caught up with the guys. Locals, according to their plates. They carve it pretty good but I have no problem to keep up. We get to the first tunnel at about 2,600m elevation. Nice road, 2 lanes in one direction. There are more then dozens tunnels, some few km long. We are hauling ass, doing 140+ through the tunnels. The tunnels are all named after local animals. Every tunnel’s entrance has the name and huge painting of the animals. Very cool. Between the tunnels you can barely see the mountain sides in the clouds. Mostly the clouds. We are descending steeply. After the last tunnel the guys stopped for breakfast and I continued to the valley. It was cool 100km of pure hard core riding.
Road is now just regular mountain road, 2 lanes full of turns. There are huge valleys on the side but there is nowhere to stop to take pictures. The bridges replaced the tunnels. Dozens of them. This road is obviously new as I from time to time catch a glimpse of the old road. It is already being taken over by nature and almost entirely covered by vegetation. The valleys we drive over are incredible. I keep saying that but I am amazed every day by the nature in Colombia. High mountain clouds are quickly being replaced by wet, rainy clouds. Time to put on the rain gear. It is pouring now, a proper tropical deluge. Not too much you can do. Going over the bridges now, streams and rivers are spilling their banks. Many fields are under water. It is rainy season in the tropics. Perfect timing 🙄
Despite all that, I am doing well on time. Too well, actually. GPS is showing I should be in my hotel BEFORE 11 if all goes well. It is raining hard but I am flying doing well over 100 km/h. I occasionally get a glimpse of the river I need to get across to get to my destination. There are two ways to get there. I can take a dirt road for about 40km which has a bridge. But my thinking is that in this rain the dirt might easily be mud. When passing the turnoff I see nothing but mud. Another obstacle there is a water crossing. It looks benign from the pics taken in dry season. I am sure it will be different now.
The second options is to take a ferry across. I decide for #2. I did my research and I looked at the pics and check with Google Map street view. I get to the town and turn off the main highway. No problem getting through small town. But now I have to cross few kms of the water soaked fields through the goat path. The ferry I am looking for is only for motorcycles. And there are no signs except the occasional arrow. It is raining hard. I check my other nav apps to make sure I am on the right path. There is nobody around. I have to open and close number of gates then cross bunch of questionable bridges. I am not sure. The path is slippery and at one point I get into a rut hidden in the deep puddle. Off we go, both me and my bike. Darn. Oh well, lets get this fat puppy upright again. Not so fast, grasshopper. The ground around is slippery and I can’t get a good foothold. Lifting 750+lbs bike on muddy ground is no easy task. It is time to offload some of my bags and try again. It worked the second time around. I put my bags back on the bike and within 10’ I am ready to go. I inspect the trail ahead of on foot and it looks doable. I hop in the bike and am carefully picking my way forward. I meet a guy who is going the other direction and he says I am on the right track. And tells me to honk when I get to the shoreline to call the guys with the ferry. 15 more minutes and I stand on the shore of very angry and dirty looking fast moving wide river full of debris. There are two other guys already there waiting for the ferry. I inspect the shore and it will be interesting. The ferry is a pontoon boat with an outboard motor. It noses the ramp on the shore and you suppose to get on. The embankment is steep. If I misjudge it I might end up with a submarine. Finally the boat is here and I am inching my way down. I get on the boat’s ramp OK but my tires are full of mud and the ramps is slippery steel. I somehow get on the boat upright. I need to turn around as you can get on and off through the bow of the ferry. 10’ ride across cost $3. No drama on the other side, there is a nice concrete landing. I get off without any difficulties and off to the town on the other side. This is actually my destination for today. I find my hotel and despite being still before noon, there is a room ready for me. It always amazes me that you have a dirt road and very unassuming gate. And behind that there is a nice hotel with garden and swimming pool and what not. Anyway, I made it today. Totally wet and muddy but what else is new. The rain stopped about one hour after I arrived and it is late afternoon now and it is sunny! Go figure … Well, it is time to get some food and plan tomorrow’s adventure. And there is a F1 race today, so need to catch up on that as well. It will be busy evening. I did 260km today.