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HobbesOnTour
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Day 814 Monday, December 06 Colón to Laguna de La Cocha* 39 km Total KM 14772
Min meters 2064, Max Meters 3220
Total Climb 1364 Total Descent 660
Min Temp 15 Max Temp 30 Ave Temp 21
*For Netman:
Osmand: 1.14287° N, 77.15440° W
Google: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wgaWUd99dir7FG7z5
Day of surprises!
I awoke to the sound of rain, got up and packed and slipped outside to survey the scene. The rain had stopped but the sky was ominous. I loaded up and left acquiring an amigo in the process. The Hospedaje's dog who had gone from open hostility when I arrived to bored acceptance as I shared a bench with him using the WiFi last night now decided to travel with me! I made it to a little stall for coffee and an empanada and he was still with me. He didn't seem to have a lot of "street savvy" so knowing I'd regret it if anything happened to him I set off back to the Hospedaje having to bang on the door for a good ten minutes to give him back!
The climbing started here. Steeply! 1100 meters up until I hit the top. For someone who used to be so nonchalent about hills I've swung the other way now - most of the time. Not only did I know I had 1100 meters up I also knew I had a fair whack of gradients above 8% and some above 12%. Osmand breaks this data down in categories of 4% (0-4, 4-8 etc.). There is always a few 12-16% (and steeper) but over the course of the day it normally breaks down into very short sections. 1km of 12-16% looks scary but not when its 20 sections. Today the steeper gradients were longer than usual. Much longer.
I was pretty lucky in that the dark sky didn't dump on me and that I had interesting, if dark, views. It was very slow going. Very hard. Traffic, even for a workday was very, very light and not an issue at all. After Santiago it seemed even lighter.
Rounding a bend and seeing a shop I pulled over and asked a young girl who came out of the house next door about coffee. It's not that my bike is so noisy that she heard my arrival it was that three or four little yappers went bananas at the sight of me. My request for coffee confounded her and required a shouted conversation with Mama in the field next door and lo and behold a much appreciated coffee was brought from their kitchen. I could sit down on a little bench and try to make friends with the yappers (no joy) and conversation with my coffee saviour. She was very shy so I stopped bothering her.
The climb seemed interminable and in all honesty felt like the toughest I've done in a long time. Perhaps tiredness, perhaps a lack of proper food but definitely the steepness had an impact. I'd take a break every 100 - 150 meters gained or so.
It was passing through the second of these abandoned (or so I thought) villages that a group of about 4 or 5 yappers came for me. This has become more common recently and is annoying and frustrating more than dangerous. They're cowards, typically, and run off if I stop. But they persist with the barking. If there are other dogs in the area it sets them off too. This time was different, though. One small shaggy fecker was particularly vocal and snappy and got a bit close so I stopped. Of course he ran away. The second time ditto. The third time he launched himself at my rear pannier and I heard a strange sound. I stopped to investigate. The little fecker had bitten right through!! I was furious! If I could have caught him I'd have kicked him to Patagonia and then followed on down just to kick him again! My rear panniers are sacrosanct - 100% waterproof. Not anymore.
It was about 1pm when I arrived at the summit and faced into a long, cold, gloomy and damp descent.
Mist was in the air, rain was threatening a few drops at a time and a cold wind was blowing.
I postponed the misery by stopping at one of the two cuy restaurants at the roadside, their cuy on display on a large skewer. I opted for something simpler, just a coffee and a fried arepa. Cuy, more famous in Ecuador, is a regional dish here. Skinned and roasted on a spit it's not hard to see what it is - Guinea Pig!
(Summit photos get their own post)
Except it didn't. They've obviously improved the road surface and didn't remove the sign and then I entered a part of the natural world that seems pretty unique, actually very pretty and unique. I don't know what micro climate causes it but Mother Nature put on a show!
First of all there were fields of strange, miniature, mongrel trees that seemed to sprout out of the ground and explode with a whitish crown. Thousands of them! Then the "normal" vegetation seemed to become more dense and colourful with oranges and reds and yellows livening up the various shades of greens. Photos taken in the dark gloom can't do it justice but it was a surreal, beautiful vista - and, of course, with so little traffic I had it all to myself!
Better research would have told me this was here but the surprise of it was far, far better than knowing in advance. It was a great excuse to put off the descent as I parked up several times and walked hither and tither to marvel.
Such was my elation at having completed the very tough climb and then finding this beautiful and wonderful reward at the top that I noticed I was swaggering and strutting along the road as I walked from one view to another. I mean John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever strutting!
Thank the Touring Gods that there was little traffic to laugh at me!
He was making a documentary and wanted to interview me.
If the other smiley chap had asked I'd have had no problem but with this guy I wanted more detail. Back in México the lady waiting for me at the prison had introduced herself and told me who she worked for. This guy didn't.
It was a documentary about tourists' reactions to Narina (my latest department or state) for example, what I thought of this area I was passing through.
That presented me with an out explaining my method of travel was so disorganized that this area was a wonderful surprise.
He started firing questions at me rapidly without paying a lot of attention to my answers but when he asked me about the Trampoline I paused to gather my thoughts and started to explain what a magical trip it is on the bike between the beauty of nature, the adventure of the road, the hospitality and welcome of people along the way....... When he cut me off mid answer I decided enough was enough.
I was reminded of the Devil's Backbone in México with tall cliffs on one side and drops on the other, of bends that I could sweep around at top speed and others that required heavy braking in advance like I was in a high speed race car. Pure joy! Pure fun! Each curve knocked a year off my age so a teenager ended up on the side of the road looking at Laguna de la Cocha, a sinister, steel grey body of water below me.
This is the second largest body of water in Colombia and quite famous containing Colombia's smallest nature reserve (an island). Unusually for me and large bodies of water it left me cold. Ahead of me lay the small town of El Encano and a place to stay.
I located the most decrepit and rundown Plaza so far and a Church that wasn't much better. I took off up the road to the only hotel and set off about a dozen dogs of various sizes some of whom got too close. The racket was intolerable. Nobody gave a damn so neither did I. Pasto is only about 25 km away but up another big hill. No thanks. I turned around and headed for the lake. There's a little village down there that has to be better than this place.
I found a cheap hospedaje and checked in. "Hot water" from the shower was a scalding trickle from the electric showerhead, my room had no lock and the wall to the next room didn't run all the way to the roof which was just bare corrugated metal. Ah, it's a quiet Monday there won't be a problem. I set off to explore.
Chat? Yes Please!
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098
Min meters 2064, Max Meters 3220
Total Climb 1364 Total Descent 660
Min Temp 15 Max Temp 30 Ave Temp 21
*For Netman:
Osmand: 1.14287° N, 77.15440° W
Google: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wgaWUd99dir7FG7z5
Day of surprises!
I awoke to the sound of rain, got up and packed and slipped outside to survey the scene. The rain had stopped but the sky was ominous. I loaded up and left acquiring an amigo in the process. The Hospedaje's dog who had gone from open hostility when I arrived to bored acceptance as I shared a bench with him using the WiFi last night now decided to travel with me! I made it to a little stall for coffee and an empanada and he was still with me. He didn't seem to have a lot of "street savvy" so knowing I'd regret it if anything happened to him I set off back to the Hospedaje having to bang on the door for a good ten minutes to give him back!
I don't normally photograph people's homes but this one caught my eye on the side of the road. With all that corrugated metal on the roof there must be some racket when it rains!
Now I set off properly. Rolling roads back to Santiago, a stop for bananas another for peanut butter - no joy so sweet arequipe instead and I set off out of town.
My nearly travelling companion...... And below ..... It was bound to happen! I'm just surprised it took this long!
The climbing started here. Steeply! 1100 meters up until I hit the top. For someone who used to be so nonchalent about hills I've swung the other way now - most of the time. Not only did I know I had 1100 meters up I also knew I had a fair whack of gradients above 8% and some above 12%. Osmand breaks this data down in categories of 4% (0-4, 4-8 etc.). There is always a few 12-16% (and steeper) but over the course of the day it normally breaks down into very short sections. 1km of 12-16% looks scary but not when its 20 sections. Today the steeper gradients were longer than usual. Much longer.
I was pretty lucky in that the dark sky didn't dump on me and that I had interesting, if dark, views. It was very slow going. Very hard. Traffic, even for a workday was very, very light and not an issue at all. After Santiago it seemed even lighter.
There's always a splash of colour in the gloom. (I'm delighted this photo came out so well, do many don't. The light near the equator is pretty powerful).
Rounding a bend and seeing a shop I pulled over and asked a young girl who came out of the house next door about coffee. It's not that my bike is so noisy that she heard my arrival it was that three or four little yappers went bananas at the sight of me. My request for coffee confounded her and required a shouted conversation with Mama in the field next door and lo and behold a much appreciated coffee was brought from their kitchen. I could sit down on a little bench and try to make friends with the yappers (no joy) and conversation with my coffee saviour. She was very shy so I stopped bothering her.
The climb seemed interminable and in all honesty felt like the toughest I've done in a long time. Perhaps tiredness, perhaps a lack of proper food but definitely the steepness had an impact. I'd take a break every 100 - 150 meters gained or so.
Today's río. They're a lot calmer these days
I passed quite a few ruined houses, long deserted with entire ecosystems filling the shell. Most were scattered, lonely dwellings but twice I passed clusters of ruins alongside the road. The land that was cultivated after Santiago was wilder up here and I reckon life just got too hard.
It was passing through the second of these abandoned (or so I thought) villages that a group of about 4 or 5 yappers came for me. This has become more common recently and is annoying and frustrating more than dangerous. They're cowards, typically, and run off if I stop. But they persist with the barking. If there are other dogs in the area it sets them off too. This time was different, though. One small shaggy fecker was particularly vocal and snappy and got a bit close so I stopped. Of course he ran away. The second time ditto. The third time he launched himself at my rear pannier and I heard a strange sound. I stopped to investigate. The little fecker had bitten right through!! I was furious! If I could have caught him I'd have kicked him to Patagonia and then followed on down just to kick him again! My rear panniers are sacrosanct - 100% waterproof. Not anymore.
This is an agricultural area and seemed quite productive. As I got higher the crops became scarcer as the land became more wild
Normally a bit of anger can be used to power up a hill but not today. It was a slow, hard slog.
It was about 1pm when I arrived at the summit and faced into a long, cold, gloomy and damp descent.
Mist was in the air, rain was threatening a few drops at a time and a cold wind was blowing.
I postponed the misery by stopping at one of the two cuy restaurants at the roadside, their cuy on display on a large skewer. I opted for something simpler, just a coffee and a fried arepa. Cuy, more famous in Ecuador, is a regional dish here. Skinned and roasted on a spit it's not hard to see what it is - Guinea Pig!
(Summit photos get their own post)
Two roadside scenes. Bottom is one of many ruins along the road and visible on the hills, while top is a very bright mural. I don't know if it's a local character or perhaps a unique tribute to a victim of the road.
Setting off again I saw one of those roadsigns announcing the end of the surface and my heart sank. A bumpy, cold, wet descent lay ahead.
Except it didn't. They've obviously improved the road surface and didn't remove the sign and then I entered a part of the natural world that seems pretty unique, actually very pretty and unique. I don't know what micro climate causes it but Mother Nature put on a show!
First of all there were fields of strange, miniature, mongrel trees that seemed to sprout out of the ground and explode with a whitish crown. Thousands of them! Then the "normal" vegetation seemed to become more dense and colourful with oranges and reds and yellows livening up the various shades of greens. Photos taken in the dark gloom can't do it justice but it was a surreal, beautiful vista - and, of course, with so little traffic I had it all to myself!
Better research would have told me this was here but the surprise of it was far, far better than knowing in advance. It was a great excuse to put off the descent as I parked up several times and walked hither and tither to marvel.
Such was my elation at having completed the very tough climb and then finding this beautiful and wonderful reward at the top that I noticed I was swaggering and strutting along the road as I walked from one view to another. I mean John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever strutting!
Thank the Touring Gods that there was little traffic to laugh at me!
The advantage of climbing - great views
Eventually I moved off again, the road changing to interlocking bricks, a bit rough. Relatively level still I was working enough to keep we warm when a car pulled up in front of me and two guys jumped out. One had a quiet, kind face with a gentle smile the other was all action and a bit brusque.
He was making a documentary and wanted to interview me.
If the other smiley chap had asked I'd have had no problem but with this guy I wanted more detail. Back in México the lady waiting for me at the prison had introduced herself and told me who she worked for. This guy didn't.
It was a documentary about tourists' reactions to Narina (my latest department or state) for example, what I thought of this area I was passing through.
That presented me with an out explaining my method of travel was so disorganized that this area was a wonderful surprise.
He started firing questions at me rapidly without paying a lot of attention to my answers but when he asked me about the Trampoline I paused to gather my thoughts and started to explain what a magical trip it is on the bike between the beauty of nature, the adventure of the road, the hospitality and welcome of people along the way....... When he cut me off mid answer I decided enough was enough.
The disadvantage of climbing - views lost in the mist.
Dreading the descent as I was I had another wonderful surprise. Yes, it was cold and yes it was damp and yes views were limited by low clouds and mist but the road surface was surprisingly good, the gradients were steep and the curves were pure fun! Feck photos! This one is for riding not recording!
I was reminded of the Devil's Backbone in México with tall cliffs on one side and drops on the other, of bends that I could sweep around at top speed and others that required heavy braking in advance like I was in a high speed race car. Pure joy! Pure fun! Each curve knocked a year off my age so a teenager ended up on the side of the road looking at Laguna de la Cocha, a sinister, steel grey body of water below me.
This is the second largest body of water in Colombia and quite famous containing Colombia's smallest nature reserve (an island). Unusually for me and large bodies of water it left me cold. Ahead of me lay the small town of El Encano and a place to stay.
WooHoo!!! A Time Traveling Descent!
El Encano and I didn't hit it off. Not much more than a street packed with stores and restaurants (the lake draws lots of tourists) it had a heavy Police/Military presence. (The Police here dress in Military gear so diferentiating the two is difficult.)
I located the most decrepit and rundown Plaza so far and a Church that wasn't much better. I took off up the road to the only hotel and set off about a dozen dogs of various sizes some of whom got too close. The racket was intolerable. Nobody gave a damn so neither did I. Pasto is only about 25 km away but up another big hill. No thanks. I turned around and headed for the lake. There's a little village down there that has to be better than this place.
Laguna de la Cocha. Very unusually for me the cold, grey lake didn't excite me at all.
I'm not actually sure if it's a village or just a long line of restaurants, hospedajes and a few shops (I saw no church or municipal buildings) but it's like a Colombian Venice! Built on both banks of a little river filled with local boats for fishing or tourism it was not what I was expecting! With no Plaza the only coffee I could locate was in a modern, ranch style restaurant. Overpriced and it took twenty minutes! I guess at weekends this place is packed but on a dull, Monday afternoon it was eerily quiet. I found it both charming (boats!) and a tad uncomfortable since I got a lot of stares.
I found a cheap hospedaje and checked in. "Hot water" from the shower was a scalding trickle from the electric showerhead, my room had no lock and the wall to the next room didn't run all the way to the roof which was just bare corrugated metal. Ah, it's a quiet Monday there won't be a problem. I set off to explore.
Chat? Yes Please!
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098
