Andes, rest day in Jardin and onto Supía

Friday 29th February

We woke up after a good night’s sleep in the lodge and slowly headed over to the main house where we were told breakfast would be served. It was about 8 o’clock and there was no sign of life. Hungry and with no other food available we decided to wait in the main house until the owner returned from whatever activity we presumed he’d left for (we also needed to pay him!) We waited around until 9h30 at which point we decided that we couldn’t wait too much longer as we needed to push onto Jardin. After speaking to the gardener we found out that the owner should be in a little hut next to the main house. We knocked on the door and a groggy man wearing only his underwear opened up. He dismissed us staying that breakfast would be served at 10ish. Colombia timings.

We the set off for Jardin. This was not a long cycle but was all uphill and the reason we decided to not carry on the day before. Baloo had a Couchsurfing contact ready that we were able to stay in his house. We cycled up the hill with Baloo’s speaker system on full blast to give motivation and around into Jardin at lunchtime. The climb was steep but paved, concrete roads are a dream when compared to the gravel tracks from the day before! After arriving into the town we chilled out in the park and let our legs rest as we waited for Xavier. We then grabbed a coffee and had some lunch.

Jardin in very pretty but after coming from Jericó it feels a little busier and less charming. The surrounding views are incredible in Jardin but Jerico is the nicer overall place in my opinion. Xavier is a French man living in Jardin starting up his own boulangerie shop. As he and a friend were busy DIYing Baloo and I went for a walk around the outskirts of the town. This was a rest day but even walking feels nice after a few days of cycling! The views from around the city are truly breathtaking and you can see a level of wealth in the town. There are some ecohouses situated just outside the city and we were called over by the incredibly friendly owners of both of them. They all had an air of Hippies but we’re so proud of where they lived and wanted to start conversations with us and explain the way in which they lived. These houses were designed and built by one woman who had a passion for buildings. They were beautifully crafted and I’d recommend anyone staying in the area to check them out!

We went back for dinner with Xavier (a chef by trade) and got some sleep.

Saturday 29th February
I had forgotten that 2020 was a leap year so this day was a freebee. We got up and set off out of Jardin. The road started off on nice tarmac but still had a steeply inclined climb up into the mountains around Jardin. This soon changed to gravel and the climb kept going up and up and up. Up to over 3000m. There was very little in the way of restaurants along this road and the pace was slow with the weight of the bikes. A British couple passed us who had been travelling for two years from Canada down to Colombia in a big truck, we passed contacts details and they carried on. I admit that I was very jealous of their motor powered vehicle as my legs were slowly turning to jelly. Further up the climb two cyclists passed us in the other direction than we were heading, Juan insisted that we took his contact details and if we were ever in Santa Rosa de Cabal we should stay with him. “Mi casa es su casa!”

Finally as we got to the top of the climb (and just as the last of the nuts were being eaten and rain came over) we noticed a small restaurant. We entered and quickly ate the portions of food offered to us. A giant pig could smell the empty nut bag in my pannier and was aggressively attacking my bike. This at first made me laugh but a fully grown pig is a terrifying sight and I didn’t know how to stop it. My pathetic attempts to encourage the pig to leave by reasonably talking to it did not pay off. I few firm pushes and it finally left.

Aware of the time and that we would be losing light in a couple of hours we set off happy at the thought of downhill all the way to Riosucio. We had a couchsurfer waiting for us in a town slightly further on called Supia. The next 30km was a dream, darting down along dirt tracks using the power of gravity. My hands were sore from the breaking and I was worried for my bike (especially with an already broken pannier!) But the adrenaline rush was exhilarating. As we approached Riosucio the roads turn to asphalt and my bike (and my bum) was grateful for the lack of bumps. The descent continued all the way down to Supia where we met our Couchsurfing friend Andres.

Andres was a very gracious and open man who wanted to show us his city and his culture. The room Andes offered us for free was amazing! It felt like a hotel suite. We showered, watched some Spanish Simpsons and then went out for some food and a beer with our new amigo. The town of Supía is not at all touristy and it was nice to be somewhere where the real Colombia culture was present. Andres gave us a tour of the city whilst explaining about Colombia’s history and politics.

He then insisted that we tried a local dish which he said was amazing. The dish turned out to be a tripe sausage soup and was hard to stomach just before bed, but the hunger of the cycling made sure I ate every last bit. Finally the tired look in our eyes was noted by Andres and we went to bed around 11 o’clock shattered from the long cycling day. However before getting into bed Amdres offered to show us more of Supía the day after, we agreed to meet at 7am the next day.

Saturday 1st March

After an early rise we headed outside to meet Andres who took us for breakfast. He ordered our food for us which was the same tripe sausage from the day before but in the form of a curry. We slowly ate the food in front of the woman who had cooked it for us forcing each mouthful down. The flavour was incredibly strong and hard to stomach for breakfast. I used my drink to try to ease the food down and managed to eat enough so I wouldnt offend the woman…

He then took us on a half hour uphill cycle to meet some of his friends. The uphill cycle was hard on the legs but the fact that we left our bags in the room was much appreciated. He introduced us to a woman and her two sons who lived just outside the town and we had some more food and a coffee. The food was chicken and a soft of potatoe boiled in a banana leave. It was great and much appreciated!

They then offered us some Rhum but we declined given that it was 9am! Andres then took us over to a small panela factory. Panela is a huge part of Colombian culture and seems to be everywhere, it’s unrefined whole cane sugar. The Colombians have a very sweet tooth and it was interesting seeing how panela is produced given its importance in society.

Finally we made it clear that we needed to get going and we knew with all the descending we did the day before we needed to start reclimbing. We said our goodbyes and push off in the direction of Filadelfia.