So I left Bogota on Wednesday morning... sad to leave the very hospitable folks at my hostel and the very interesting city, but excited to move on... first to Honda for the night, and then on to Manizales to meet Gwen.
Getting a ticket for the bus at the main bus terminal was easy as could be, except I ended up on Rapido Tolimas, which I later found out is not the best bus company! I was on a "buseta" which is a little bus, and as opposed to the very comfortable and modern big buses I had heard about, this one was very old, dirty, crowded... much more interesting, if less relaxing! Getting out of Bogota took forever, as the city sprawls and the buseta kept stopping to pick up passengers anywhere they could. But suddenly, it seemed, there were cows and fields, and after a bit we climbed up into the hills. (Beautiful, though not as beautiful as the next day.) And then we climbed back down onto the plain, where it got hot and sunny and tropical. Finally we got to Mariquita, a nice little town, where I was husted off to the bus to change to another one for the half hour trip to Honda (along with one or two other people who were Honda bound, as the bus was continuing on the Manizales). And then I got to Honda, got a cab to the Casa Belle Epoque, my fancier than usual hotel.
Lovely old colonial building, large room (I got upgraded) in the courtyard by the tiny but welcoming pool. A hammock and a jacuzzi and couches and antiques and oddities on the open second floor and a great crow's nest with a view of the town.
The owner, Luis Enrique, who spoke English, walked me down to the main square so I could buy some empanadas and then I returned to the hotel to eat, take a swim, and sit and read and relax, and watch the sunset from the crow's nest. Honda is a colonial town on the Magdelena River, which is like Colombia's Mississippi. During the colonial times and up into the 20th century it was the main source of transport of people and goods from the Caribbean port of Baranquilla to the Bogota area - it was the de facto port of Bogota, though it is still a good distance (6 hours by buseta!) away. First dugout canoes and later steamboats made the journey, until roads, airplanes, and the narrowing and loss of depth of the river ended Honda's glory years. Now it is sleepy and tropical and pretty, and a great place to pass a night.
That evening, Luis Enrique took me and an older German couple who were the other guests at the Belle Epoque down to the river for dinner. It is high season for fishing and so the fisherman were still working at night, casting their nets from dugout canoes in the very rapidly flowing water. We had fried catfish at a restaurant overlooking the river and chatted and watched the fishing. A very pleasant evening...
The next morning, unfortunately, it was raining! (It is rainy season, after all.) I was planning on getting up early and seeing the sights before it got hot, and then taking another swim before leaving around 2. Instead, I had a leisurely breakfast and then once the covered market opened and the rain had subsided a little, I headed out... The market was great - met lots of interesting people and took lots of photos, and my walk around the cobblestoned streets of town was very pleasant and pretty. And it was warm, if not sunny...
Luis Enrique drove me to the bus stand around 2, where I got a bus to Mariquita since more buses to Manizales would pas through there. But in Mariquita I was lucky enough to get a shared taxi instead! I had the front seat, and a very funny and careful driver, and 3 nice people in the back. And the drive to Manizales, which took about 4 hours, was so so gorgeous. The mountains were amazing and we had some stunning views of Los Nevados, the snow-capped mountains/volcanoes, in the distance. Stopped at a rest stop where I had a "cuca" which was a big brown cookies which tasted almost exactly like lebkuchen, the German cookie, and since a lot of Germans settled in this area, I think it might actually be a lebkuchen!
Also got stopped at a police checkpoint (there was a military checkpoint the previous day on the buseta, where all the men had to get out of the bus and be patted down). But unlike the military checkpoint, the police checkpoint seemed to exist to get bribes from divers. When our driver was asked to get out, he put a 5000 peso bill in his hand (about $3) and muttered "I'm not giving them more than 5000" and then had to show his papers, do a drunk driving test, got into the station, and finally came back. We drove away and he exclaimed, "In Colombia we don't have deliquents. We have those guys!"
The driver ended up taking me all the way to where Gwen is staying. I wish we needed a driver because he would be my pick in Manizales!
The next day in Manizales, Gwen had a workshop in the morning. I got up and the "senora de casa" (ie, housekeeper) Luz made me breakfast. Fresh juice, fresh pineapple, a fried egg with lots and lots of butter, and melba toast (which Luz encouraged me to cover with butter). Then met Clemencia, the woman whose house it is; lovely older lady who is a real estate hot shot and whose husband Olver is a cardiologist. Their apartment reminds me so much of apartments in Rome when I was a child... and they remind me of Romans.
Then I got a cab to the Centro Columbo Americano, where Gwen is working. She was finishing up her workshop... met Clara, the director of the center, and then we went and had some coffee and pastry at a nearby cafe, and took a little walk around the hilly and cafe-filled neighborhood, and then hopped in a cab to go to the cathedral downtown.
Manizales is just stunning. It seems like an excellent city to live in... it sits up on a ridge and is surrounded by green, green mountains on every side, and though it rains quite a bit, the rain cleans the air and keeps the temperature mild through the year. (lows in the 50s, highs in the 70s) Gwen and I looked around the cathedral and then she went back to the Centro for another workshop, and I wandered around. Hung out in a little square and made friends with the old men who were also hanging out... took a look inside a mall, complete with Chinese food in the food court (lumpias instead of egg rolls... hmmmmm) and then took a ride on the amazing cable car which takes people in little cars from the center (on the top of the ridge) down to the bus station. So much fun... great views... floating over the city. And then walked back to Clemencia's house.
That evening, Clara took us out to dinner (along with Clemencia and Olver, old friends of hers, and her husband, and Elsa and Lena, two other employees of the Centro) at the Manizales Club, an institution in the downtown! Beautiful private club... very old school... delicious food, but with not a vegetable (except for potatoes) in sight! I want some spinach!!!
Today, took it pretty easy, doing a little shopping, strolling around the neighborhood, etc. Now we are trying to figure out plans for the evening... it might include theatre, might include dancing, but will certainly include a drink at a little bar around the corner filled with bull-fighting memorabilia!
m
No comments:
Post a Comment