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Hi AgainTravelling through Columbia is certainly an adventure. After the 'LostCity' I thought that my adventures would slow down a little but NO, there is never a dull moment here!After recovering in Taganga for a few days from the 'LostCity' hike I decided to make my way to a small town called 'Mompos'. Mompos is situated along the Rio Magdalena (Rio is river in Spanish) and to get there you must cross the river by barge (no bridges). It is a colonial town with little to do but the adventure lies in getting there and getting out again. I left Taganga early in the morning as I knew the trip could take the best part of the day to get there. At the bus station I looked around at bus schedules to see if I could work out a way to get to my destination. There would be no direct buses so it was a case of working out what town to get off at and get on another bus that would take me there or to the next closest town. Well I didn't have to work out anything as I was soon approached by bus people who asked where I needed to go and I said 'Mompos' and not much more as my Spanish has not improved at all. I was then given a ticket, paid my money and put on the bus which then departed in the next few minutes. I was expecting to travel about 5 or so hours before having to change but within three hours I was having the bus driver telling me to get off (and I was trying to argue back that I thought I should be getting off further down the highway - like I would know and he wouldn't). So I got off the bus in a town in the middle of who knows where and a little man got my backpack and carried it to another smaller local bus (thank god he carried it as I'm sick of carrying the bloody thing). So on the dodgy little local bus I got. It was not air-conditioned and looked like it had seen better days. Then I had to see how much I had to pay (the thing about Columbian buses is that you always end up paying a lot more than the locals and it really is starting to piss me off) and I was ready to argue if it seemed too much. The price was 20 000 pesos which is roughly $10us. This to me sounded a lot for a s***ty bus but then who was I to argue when I can't speak Spanish and so my protest was short lived as it was pay or get off. I was the only tourist on the bus and maybe the only one in town as guys where taking photos of me with their mobile cameras (god knows why when I was truly as always looking like something the cat dragged in). I wasn't sure how close I was going to get to Mompos on this bus but knew that if this bus didn't get me there then they would put me on another bus that would. A short time later we departed. The road was good (it was a sealed road) for about 30kms but then I was in for a rude shock. The road went from being a totally normal road to a dirt road, and a very rocky, bumpy, holey and muddy road. The trip was supposed to take about 4 hours and so I was in for a rough ride. At first it was quite enjoyable but then half way through the trip the bus broke down, not for long as they got it started quickly again but then it broke down again and then again and then again. The conditions of the road did not make it any better for the bus to not keep breaking down plus they kept taking bits off the motor which seemed to me a bit weird but it seemed to get it going again. It was a s*** and on top of that I was busting for a pee. Fortunately we eventually came to a small town where we stopped for about 15 minutes. Enough time for me to find a toilet and get a nice cold drink. I thought maybe that they would check the motor out but no we kept on our way and the bus continued to break down on this s***ty road that seemed to be taking me to the middle of nowhere. At one stage we broke down out front of a sign that stated that the plan for 2005 was to upgrade and seal the road (I may not speak Spanish but I can understand a lot that I read). Well that certainly hadn't come to fruition. I think it will be 2010 before that road is completed. We had initially departed at midday and I was hoping to get to Mompos before nightfall. By 4pm we were no-where near there as the bus just kept breaking down, it was still quite amusing and I was ready for a beer. By 5pm I was OVER IT big time and ready to get out and look for another ride but I had already paid my money and didn't want to have to pay again so I persevered. We then made it to Santa Ana, a town not too far away, and the bus was now going along ok. By now I had worked out that this bus would take me all the way to Mompos but first we had to cross the river by barge. By now the bus driver had taking a liking to me and we conversed in the little Spanish I knew and a lot of sign language. He was keen to marry us off and have babies but I politely declined. We finally arrived in Mompos 7 hours later, it was now very dark and I had to get to my hotel and I had no idea where the bus would stop. Well I needn't worried as they put me in a taxi (a motorbike with a covered trailer on the back to sit in) and within minutes I was at my hotel. So there you go door-to-door service and with knowing very little Spanish goes to show just how wonderful Columbian people are.Mompos was a delight, very little to do which is often nice. I spent just one full day there which was plenty of time to wonder around the town and visit the Botanical Gardens where a little old man gave me a tour in Spanish (and I just nodded as if to say yep I fully understand everything you just said) and he would also drop in the odd Aussie word like Koala and Cockatoo.My exit from Mompos was via a different route and so I was hoping that it might be a bit easier than getting there. My bus was to depart for El Banco (my first destination) at 6am so I was ready by 5:40am and the bus driver was at my hotel by 5:45am so I was happy to be getting an early start as it was going to be a long day getting to my destination of San Gil. But an early start it was not to be as we drove around for about an hour looking for more passengers and picking up stuff to be delivered along the way. Finally we got on our way, along bumpy roads once more and then a nice sealed road but this was short lived and then another long bumpy dirt road. Once arriving in El Banco I expected to change on to a big luxury bus and have a smooth sealed road out of there but again NO this wasn't to be. I first had to catch a Chalupa (small speed boat) to get to the road to where the big buses depart from as El Banco was on the other side of another big river. On the up-side the chalupa and the bus connect so it was easy going and I was excited to be on a big bus that shouldn't break down. Well the bus didn't break down but the air-conditioning was s***e and the road was even more s***e which when in a big bus is also s***e. I was told the trip should only take 5 hours. This pleased me as I wanted to make it all the way to San Gil and not have to stay overnight in Bucaramanga which is where this bus terminated. Well 7 hours later we finally made it. It was now 5pm and night was quickly approaching. San Gil was another 2.5 hours away but I thought b***** it lets just keep going and get this bloody trip over and done with so on another bus I got and we proceeded to San Gil, in the dark around windy roads and continually overtaking Mac Trucks. About 3 hours later I finally arrived at my destination. Into a cab I got and within minutes I was at my hostel, safe and sound and totally exhausted from my day's journey. The trip took a total of 14.5 hours, 3 buses a chalupa and a taxi.But now I am in San Gil, adventure capital of Columbia. My first day here and I was rafting in a small canoe down the river 'Rio Fonce'. This was a gentle river with only L1-2 rapids but I wanted to go on the BIG rapids and so needed to prepare myself. And prepare me it did. As we were in a small raft we got flipped twice. This was a good thing as I was worried about being on the big rapids and getting flipped out of the raft and so now I felt prepared. The following day 2 Israeli's an Irishman and an Aussie (me) went rafting on the Rio Suarez. It had rapids of L2-5 with 5 the highest that you can go. I was a bit nervous but not as nervous as the day before. The Israeli boys were actually quite nervous as they were not aware of how dangerous it could be and the Irishman just took it all in his stride. We had a great time and the rapids were pretty full on and pretty scary. We managed to get through all of the rapids without being flipped. The Irishman was quite disappointed as he thought it would be quite amusing to flip, the 2 Israeli's and me just wanted to live and so were glad that we managed to stay in. A few times we came close to being thrown out but we paddled fast and hard and made it through.Today I took it a bit easier with a visit to 2 neighbouring towns, Barachira and Guane. The Irishman came along with me and we caught the bus to Barachira and then we walked the 1.5 hours to Guane (both ways) along an old Spanish trail that was declared a national monument in 1997. It was an easy walk compared to the LostCity but the hills still got me.Now I await for another adventure to unfold. Will it be paragliding or rappelling down a waterfall? So stay tuned for Fiona's next big adventure!!!!!PS - Sorry but there will be no photos of my rafting as it was impossible to have my camera with me as you could well imagine.
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