Palomino and back to Cartagena

 

OK, a lot to catch up on over the past week or so.  We have been firmly in the no-internet zone along the Ruta Caribbean (actually no electricity or water for some of it).  Leaving Taganga was easy.  Why that place has a “must do” label attached to it is beyond us.  It is now our mission to inform all travellers we meet not to go there.  This becomes even more obvious when one ventures down the road a bit, as we have now done.  Once out on the highway and heading up the coast, and after one somewhat largish hill climb (no doubt a warm up for the Andes), we entered an entirely new zone: Parque Tayrona, the crown jewel of Columbian National Parks.  The last 60 km of our 90-km day was indeed the nicest stretch of riding yet.  Downright pleasant and a beautiful end to our foray up the Ruta Caribbean.

 As the industrial traffic thinned out, the roadside trees got bigger, the vines hanging from the trees got longer, the calls of the wild got louder, the rivers got cleaner, and the ocean bluer, we knew we were finally where we wanted to be.  We had found the beach paradise we were looking for: Palomino, population hundreds.

 If our travels are any indication of development trends, it would seem that the Columbian Caribbean is exploding, as tourist development spreads up the coast.  From Cartagena to Taganga, it would be hard to find a low-key uninhabited beach.  From all accounts, this area (Palomino) is on the development radar and will likely be very different in 5 or 10 years.  But for now, it’s just sand and surf, and dotted with a few backpacker places catering to those looking for basic beachside accom in the midst of endless sand and palm trees.

 After a bit of struggling with loaded bikes on wet sand, we crawled into Finca Escondida, a classic backpacker place on the beach complete with camping, beachside bar/restaurant with the typical traveller vibe, and a fridge full of Aguila (the local cerveza) – all for 15 bucks a night.   How does that saying go?  Seek and yee shall find?  Whatever it is, this is it.  Time to kick back and live the Corona commercial.

 The beach is about 1 km off the highway and the actual town of Palomino, making for a nice stroll to break up the beach time.  With a few days of R & R on our hands we had time to venture out into the dirt streets of rural Columbia and really get into the local vibe and food.  Not a gastronomical adventure by any stretch, but local food here is pretty good basic gut-filler – mainly rice, fried plantain, and some kind of barbequed meat or fish – and a lot of deep-fried street snacks.  More on the food in another post.  That’s a whole other story.  Soon.

 After 4 days of watching the sun rise and set, with good quality beach time in between, and a few happy-hour Cuba Libres before bed, we decided we needed to stay a bit longer.  The knots in our backs needed a bit more work.  But once again, all good things must come to an end, or at least a temporary hold-off.  After 5 blissful nights we decided to head back to Cartagena on the bus, since backtracking sucks, and head for another beach near Cartagena called Playa Blanca.  Easier said than done.  With 2 bikes and 10 separate luggage items (i.e., panniers, etc), local buses are no picnic.  We survived, barely, including one unannounced bus change in the middle of a highway off ramp, where, to our surprise we could see our bikes lying on the ground while we were sitting quietly on the bus, and a guy frantically throwing bags and luggage around.  We just barely missed losing our “tool box” kit as the bus was pulling away, which would have been irreplaceable.   Needless to say we weren’t impressed.   Arriving in Cartagena was then followed by a 40-km ride in the heat of the day, contradicting the 18-km description we had.  Buses, ferries, dirt roads, and a very very long push along a very loose white sand beach finally brought us to Playa Blanca in time for sunset.

 Playa Blanca.  Hmmmm, how to describe it.  Could be one of the nicest beaches either of us has ever seen – the classic Caribbean white-sand beach complete with turquoise water over coral.   Problema: the entirety of humanity seems to think so too and has decided to park themselves on this beach without electricity or fresh water, offering everything from cabanas to massages on the beach.  Kind of a high-density, unregulated, no-rules, free-for-all.  Not our scene, but hey, we busted our butts to get here, so we stayed a couple of nights in a zero-air cabana where together we might have achieved 20 minutes of sleep.  Oh, did I mention the blaring latino top-40 till the wee hours?  Ah well, we made the best of it for 2 nights and enjoyed the fantastic swimming, pretty decent snorkelling, amazing sunsets, and walks on the beach.

So here we are, back to the reality of the big city, Cartagena.  Right back to the place we first landed – Hotel Villa Colonial – where to our surprise, the owners gave us the “apartamento” suite for the price of a room.  Words cannot describe how nice it was to pull into that reception.  A quick trip to the grocery store around the corner and we’re cheffing up (ok, Amy’s doing all the cooking) pasta along with a good bottle of Argentine Pinot Noir.  Life is good.

The plan for the next couple days is clothes washing, gear maintenance (the bikes need work – sand + salt + bikes = not good), and catch up on much needed sleep.  And then we set our sights on Medellin and the Zona Cafetera (coffee zone)!