Rest day in Cartegena and then a cycle through the heat to Sincelejo

19/02/2020

Cartegena simply cannot be missed. It’s a beautiful old colonial city and a tourist hotspot for a reason. There is so much to do and see that I decided to have a rest day to enjoy the city.

I was awake early on sunday 16th Feb due to my routine of trying to avoid the midday sun and went on a free walking tour with a German girl I’d met in the hostel. During this tour I was approached by a Canadian woman. She heard I was English and, having family in the UK herself, wanted to start a conversation. What a wonderful, energetic and gracious lady. Turns out she had cycled over the past two weeks from Bogota to Cartegena and we connected over a love of cycling and active adventures. We went for a coffee and I grilled her for routes, tips and any further advice I could whilst trying not to appear needy. She was incredibly helpful and her Strava has been my bible over the last few days (thanks Jane!)

A key bit of advice she gave me (and something that I’d read about) is that the road into Medellin is very hot and very polluted. She recommended getting a bus to the more pretty routes that Colombia is famous for. I took note.

We the parted ways and I took the occasion to go to the barbers. Cycling in this weather with hair is a pain and I thought the less the better. Maybe those lost few grams will also help on the mountains… I explored the city further and had some street food. Then dinner with friends and bed for the early start the day after.

Up at 5 and out the door by 6. The plan was to head over in the direction of Santiago de Tolú where I knew there were some nice quiet coastal roads. Going out of Cartegena was crazy, the cars almost don’t move with traffic and the diesel smoke leaves a smog on the city edges. Luckily as a cyclist you can nip down the pavements. Either way it’s fascinating going past the markets and housing built up around the edge of Cartegena. It’s a world apart from the clean and proper city centre.

To leave Cartegena you have to climb a hill and it was here that I met three Belgian girls also cycling. We spoke and they told me that this was their first day on the bike going from Cartegena to Lima. The same route as me but over a longer time. As I’d been in the country a week I felt like an “experienced” rider so offered advice and then powered on up the hill. The speed at which I set off with was an unconscious attempt to impress the women and completely unsustainable, but being too proud I continued until I was around the corner and stopped for a puff and a drink.

You start to feel the heat around 10h30 and by 11 you feel trapped in a hot cocoon. Temperatures float around 40°C and this continues through until 16h. Stopping regularly is a must which slows you down but also leads to more juice breaks and opportunities to meet locals in the villages. The roads are relatively quiet and restaurants are plentiful. Lunch was another almuerzo del dia for less than £2, it’s more expensive to cook for yourself than to eat out and the food was good that day. That being said it’s not diverse and does not include vegetables (only salad which I avoid as it’s usually washed in tap water and I really want to not get ill on the bike). More rice plantain and chicken. My vitamin intake mainly comes from the fruit from fruit stalls. In the bigger cities there is more occasion to eat vegetables.

That day the temperature did not lay off and my water intake was large. Nuts, bananas and raisons help keep up the energy levels and replenish the lost electrolytes. My pace has dropped and even with the early starts my day distances are getting less and less. You are never far away from a shop or restaurant for any water or snacks you need.

A juice break in the afternoon lead to me meeting a young couple. They could not believe that I was cycling the distance I was over Colombia. I have a feeling that a lot of people in these villages don’t travel far from their town and therefore are shocked that someone would do it by bike. They also asked me to describe the UK. This has been quite a common talking point with Colombians and they seem very interested in learning about other countries. I describe it as being cold and full of pale people.

I manage to get through the San Onofre but cannot go any further. I am physically drained and very hot. I check into a hostel, shower and explore the town. This is a small town on the road from Cartegena to Medellin but looks like it has recently benefitted from the increase in tourism at the local beach Rincón del Mar. A huge church dominates the town but there are lots of shops and restaurants about. People seem to meet in the centre of these towns in the evenings to have a beer, play cards and talk. There’s a very peaceful yet lively ambiance which you don’t get much in the UK. The warm evenings help.
I have dinner in a small restaurant owned by a couple who tell me about all the other cyclists who have passed through Onofre. Most of them it seems go from Alaska to Ushuaia.

With Rincón del Mar just around the corner I changed plans and decided to spend the next day at the beach. I got up, had breakfast, debated a small child on whether Messi or Ronaldo was better and set off on the Rocky road to the sea.

It’s a beautiful little village that could quite easily boom from tourism over the next few years. I met up with a friend from the Lost City tour, we chilled and had a snorkel. I saw 0 fish.

In the evening I took the chance to do a boat trip to go see the bioluminescence algae. We set off in the evening on a tiny boat (6 onboard) towards the far end of the beach, here we picked the boats out the water and carried them over land to a small tunnel in the plantation on the other side of the bay. We got back in the boats and headed down the tunnel which lead to a fairly large lagoon. By now the sun has set and it was dark. We go into the water which is about bath temperature and swim in the algae. You don’t see the algae until you move your body through the water but when you do it’s a beautiful dull blue. As it’s so dark the only light comes from the stars and the algae, the two merge and appear as one continuous star system around you. It’s magical.

The next day was another early start as I tried to push on further towards Medellin. I left the hostel at 6 again but that morning the air was particularly damp. I couldn’t see from my cycling glasses due to the moisture in the air and struggled to use my phone. My bike didn’t feel right so I stopped to tighten the handlebars, again I had many offers of help. One guy ran up to me, took my Allen key from my hand and started loosening my front brakes. Everyone here wants to help so much that they will sometimes refuse to admit they don’t understand the problem. It can be both charming and frustrating. The bike is now running very good although I think I might get it checked over in Medellin in any case. The roads in Colombia are not complicated and it’s easy to stay on track, I bought from a coffee from a guy on the side of the road and pushed on to try get get as much millage in before the heat started.

I bought some bananas en route and when I told the guy to keep the change he gave me a hug. It’s still surprising to me how far my money goes. I cycle past another European couple going in the other direction.

After what feels like a draining hill I emter into a city called Sincelejo. This was not my planned destination but the heat has really got to me today. In addition the road keepa getting busier and busier. I’ve decided to bus over to Medellin to get stuck into the good cycling in the mountains. I think I’ve seen the best of the cycling up north and could do with some milder weather.

I spend the evening exploring the city which is again dominated by a huge church. I ate a Salchipapa which is a Peruvian fast food dish and did some sightseeing.

Tomorrow I’ll be catching the bus and moving towards the hills.