Chat Zone for The Big Big Trip Journal!

[HobbesOnTour]

@Shadow

Especially for you......

My typical "tinto" served in a big plastic cup in a little plastic cup. (The little is the "normal" size.

My preferred type of coffee vendor. Just flasks of premade coffee. It keeps very well and service is fast. There are invariably people hanging around so the transaction is often very sociable. And cheap! For me the taste is only a part of the overall experience.

The typical setup. All coffee. All the same!

You'll have to excuse me..... I have coffee to drink!

 

[Scoosh]

Seeing those plastic bags hanging on the side of the coffee flasks reminds me of being in Singapore, where many of the drinks stalls used to have Coca Cola in small plastic bags.
Cue my wife writing (way before mobile phones, this was ) to her brother and telling him how we were buying "coke" in small bags ...

I took the card and showed him where I put it, on top of my bar bag where maps are supposed to go. Nice and visible.
.....
His sister smiled at me appreciatively as I pushed away, happy, I believe, to see him so happy.

That is lovely – so kind of you.

Then I had a coffee and a couple of "croissants" in a bakery. I'd love to know what French people make of Colombian croissants!

Got a pic, so we can make up our minds ? Please ???

A quarter of an hour after starting this was my view. I just knew it was going to be a good day!

Now that is stunning !

Now, try to not notice the cairns!

Are they just a place where someone has piled up the stones ? Who stacked them ? Why ??

On the Río Magdalena! This was a thrill! And I didn't get sick!

Now that's the seasoned traveller ! One who doesn't get sick on a pan-flat bit of (ok – moving) water !

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Got a pic, so we can make up our minds ? Please ???

They look just like "normal" croissants, at least ar first glance. Where a normal croissant melts in my mouth, sometimes almost with a bit of fizz these ones are dense and heavy. They require work to eat!
Come on over and see for yourself!

Are they just a place where someone has piled up the stones ? Who stacked them ? Why ??

I don't know! The museum was closed!

Now that's the seasoned traveller ! One who doesn't get sick on a pan-flat bit of (ok – moving) water !

Less of the sarcasm! That's my thing!
I'll have you know the river is incredibly fast and the ferry was initially swinging wildly!
I thought I had sea legs until my first night leaving Panamá! Panamá of all places!! I won't be so cocky again!

 

[HobbesOnTour]

More piccies of the amazing Tatacoa desert are here.....
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BJe3FSMWMAzxgM8o6

 

[cwskas]

Now, try to not notice the cairns!

A very interesting picture!

Surely there is some significance to those who travel that way.

Willie

 

[cwskas]

More piccies of the amazing Tatacoa desert are here.....
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BJe3FSMWMAzxgM8o6

What a fabulous collection of photos!

Willie

 

[Scoosh]

What a fabulous collection of photos!

Willie

... and what a fertile desert. It obviously gets a fair bit of rain sometime.

 

[Shadow]

Especially for you......

...thank you, I can almost taste it!

 

[netman]

For @netman
Wild camp spot google
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fXcDVZG3rWtvBoWh9
And
Osmand
https://osmand.net/go?lat=3.19746&lon=-75.08069&z=13
Thank you!😊

Thanks! Was actually trying to figure it out as I went through the post... and then there it was for me!

One thing that I have learned from this trip is that language enhances the experience on so many levels that any future trips will be to places that I can communicate with people. All the views, the mountains, the rivers, the deserts aren't half as impressive as chatting to people. At least for me.
Uprooting and continuing somewhere else just isn't on the agenda for now. Not philosophically and certainly not budget wise.
Stopping now leaves me with the Big, Big Trip Part Two for dreaming and inspiration.
Instead, I'm going to ask the Colombians to extend my visa (straightforward, I believe) and pass another couple of months here then head back to Europe, probably Spain. More language practice!

Fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time and making the effort to share your travels with us here. It's been hugely inspirational and extremely interesting and I'll look forward to the final chapters (as well as any possible future ones!). Thanks again

 

[cwskas]

... and what a fertile desert. It obviously gets a fair bit of rain sometime.

More info on the Tatacoa Desert. And a very cool aerial view.

Willie

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Thanks! Was actually trying to figure it out as I went through the post... and then there it was for me!

You're the one doing all the work! It's me that's grateful to you!
I really, really love it and use it to show off to people!😊

Fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time and making the effort to share your travels with us here. It's been hugely inspirational and extremely interesting and I'll look forward to the final chapters (as well as any possible future ones!). Thanks again

The bolded bit is the most satisfying for me even if some is inspiration for what not to do!

I'll say it again - it's a very worthwhile thing to do, even if only for ourselves, never to be "published".
Sometimes I'll "spin" through Google Photos and land on a random day. The memories are so vivid. Much more than previous adventures.
And with a smartphone giving photos, voice memos and notes it is surprisingly easy.
It has been my pleasure!
And I can't wait to sit down and go through it properly😊

Oh, it's not finished yet!😊

 

[HobbesOnTour]

More info on the Tatacoa Desert. And a very cool aerial view.

Willie

Thanks Willie!😊

 

[cwskas]

Best municipal sign yet, I think. Great shot!

 

[IaninSheffield]

Hop on a loaded bike and roll into town. It's important to pack one thing - a smile. People will stare curiously, some will smile back shyly, the motorbikers will wave and when you pull up at the little Plaza an old man will give you a coffee that you have to fight to pay for. For the people around you'll become the centre of their conversations. They'll speculate where you're from, where you're going - not in any way disrespectfully, just curiously. They'll comment on snippets they can glean from your conversation with another. They'll watch you wander over to the church and perhaps slyly approach the bike for a better look. In most places that's a cause for concern. Not here. Away from the bike looking up this street and down that one you'll hear "that's him, the guy on the bike". You're a celebrity! In a far off country, in a little town, in the middle of nowhere (a beautiful, mountainy nowhere). It feels pretty good!

If a stranger who looks so different to 'us' pulled up in an English village, would she/he/they receive a similarly curious but warm welcome I wonder?

Interestingly, the way I am being addressed has changed. Up north people called out "Amigo" - friend or mate. In a shop I may be referred to as "Caballero" (Gentleman) or Señor (Sir/Mister). Of late, people reger to me as vecino (neighbour). I'm taking that to mean that I'm different, but welcome.

Now this (how you are being addressed) would be different in different parts of the UK. I wonder how someone with English as a second language, when arriving in a Yorkshire village shop, would react when welcomed as 'duck'?

 

[cwskas]

Different animal warning signs

"Before accelerating, let us cross" "I brake for animals"

I really, really have no idea!!

unexploded ordinance???

Willie