CN - Monday
The day started pretty much as planned - we completed the import paperwork and inspection process at DIAN (Address of National Tax and Customs) and purchased the required liability insurance for riding through Colombia. We were even served coffee at DIAN while waiting for the agent to arrive for the day. The whole thing took 2.5 hours and after a quick breakfast and loading of the bikes we were on the road by 11:30am.
To back up a bit, we went back into old town on Sunday night after watching the sunset with our Wild Card friends at the old Spanish fort that surrounds much of the Harbour. The wall stretches around forever - pretty cool history in that Cartagena was once one of the most protected cities in the world. Google it - a pretty good read if you are a history buff. Old town projects it's colonial roots and has tons of character. Lots going on in the streets in the form of food vendors, musicians, street performers, etc. You can even buy beer through a "Magic Window" - which is someone's house that they sell ice cold beer in plastic cups out of. Right next to the Magic Window is another neighborhood homeowner who had a beverage cart moving up Mojitos, Cuba Libras, Pina Coladas and about 6 or 8 other classic cocktails. The laws are somewhat confusing on drinking in the streets - in plastic cups seems to be ok. But if taken into the public park area, the police often come by and make drinkers take their beverages back across the street. Bottles and cans from bars and stores are definitely not ok in the streets - so confusing. Anyway, it was our second straight night in Old town with our new friends from the Wild Card - really a great bunch of people that I will miss as we have all pretty much spent a week straight together. The whole sailing experience was a blast and thanks to Charli and crew for making it perfect!
Traffic was heavy and temps were in the 90's as we pushed our way out of the city. We finally broke free and were on some rural 2-lane roads motoring through the countryside - making good time now out of the city. Unfortunately after only about 80k or so of smooth sailing we came upon a long line of vehicles stopped along the right hand lane and no one coming from the other direction. Something had stopped traffic for quite some time - we passed hundreds of vehicles to make our way to the front. Ken and I were both saying to each other on the coms that this had the feel of the protest we encountered in Mexico. Sure enough we arrive to the front to find the road blocked by logs and dozens of villagers standing around with big sticks and clubs. There were also quite a few police around as well. Ken took off his helmet and tried to play the gringo card - it did end up workin for us in Mexico. But not this time as the villagers were shaking their heads no - we could not pass. A guy who was also waiting and appeared to be negotiating with the villagers approached us and gave us the story (he spoke English). The village had not had water in days and they were protesting the government by blocking the road. He advised we park or bikes off to the side and wait it out like everyone else - and that things could become violent at at any time. He stated he was with the government and was negotiating a solution while public works was trying to restore the water supply. He also said that the police would most likely not intervene if things got violent. So we pulled off to the side and tried to find some shade as the temp was in the mid 90's.
About 10-15 minutes later the villagers started shouting agua, agua and a few started running to the houses to get water. The police then started removing the logs and debris so everyone started making a mad dash to their respective vehicles and trucks started revving their engines. As we were getting on our bikes ( not 6 feet from the barricade) villagers with sticks started beating the police and stones were being thrown from the sides - shit just went super crazy in a matter of seconds. Police pulled their guns and started firing shots into the air and that scattered the villagers. By that time we were on our bikes and everyone was starting to go for it from both sides - cars, trucks, motorcycles going across the partially removed barricade. Ken was in front of me and we were in the left shoulder where the police had removed most of the logs and we went for it like everyone else. Unfortunately Ken clipped a motorcycle helmet that was among several that were on the ground in the shoulder and it kicked in front of my rear tire bringing me to a stop and breaking the helmet in two pieces in the process. It took several precious seconds for me to kick it out with my boot and before I could get going again the owner of the helmet (one of the protesters) saw I had broken the helmet and grabbed on to my rear rack. With the chaos of the moment and just fearing for my safety I tried to gun it out but just couldn't get any momentum - dragging him behind at slow speed for about 10 or 15 feet. He was yelling in Spanish and soon I had a small mob beating me with sticks and throwing rocks at me. Luckily the blows were to my back (thank you BMW back armor) so I barely felt the hits. But soon other villagers were in front of me and I had to stop and was quickly thrown to the ground with the motorcycle pinning my left leg under the bike. I thought I was doomed at that point. Everything had just happened in a matter of seconds and Ken was 50 yards ahead. Luckily a policeman appeared from nowhere and started shouting at the mob to let me go. He helped me from under the bike and to get it upright. I jumped back on but the guy with the busted helmet again grabbed on to my rear rack yelling to the policeman that I had broken his helmet. The policeman kept telling him to let me go but he continued to hold on. As the policeman put his hand to his gun holster I started shouting cuanto cuesta, cuanto cuesta (how much) - not wanting things to get any more out of hand - if that wa even possible. Broken helmet guy calmed down a bit and said 50 mil pesos (50,000 pesos or about $14US). I nodded to the policeman that it's ok, I will pay and handed him a 50 mil note. Broken helmet guy shook my hand and I was on my way with adrenaline up to my eyeballs. After catching up with Ken he said had heard some of the scuffle through the com before it went out - probably when I hit the ground, but he couldn't get back with all the traffic that had broken loose. He tried to enlist another police officer near him to go help me but the cop wanted no part of it. I'm thankful for the cop that did appear when I was on the ground - otherwise I have no idea how things would have turned out. Pretty scary shit - but all is good except for a sore knee where the bike landed on me. I guess it's all a part of the adventure 🙂.
We found a hotel in the small town of Planeta Rica where we are once again the only gringos in town (Cartagena had many tourists from all over the world). The street food was plentiful and delicious. Tomorrow we head for Medellin and continue our 5 day blast through Colombia to Ecuador.
The day started pretty much as planned - we completed the import paperwork and inspection process at DIAN (Address of National Tax and Customs) and purchased the required liability insurance for riding through Colombia. We were even served coffee at DIAN while waiting for the agent to arrive for the day. The whole thing took 2.5 hours and after a quick breakfast and loading of the bikes we were on the road by 11:30am.
To back up a bit, we went back into old town on Sunday night after watching the sunset with our Wild Card friends at the old Spanish fort that surrounds much of the Harbour. The wall stretches around forever - pretty cool history in that Cartagena was once one of the most protected cities in the world. Google it - a pretty good read if you are a history buff. Old town projects it's colonial roots and has tons of character. Lots going on in the streets in the form of food vendors, musicians, street performers, etc. You can even buy beer through a "Magic Window" - which is someone's house that they sell ice cold beer in plastic cups out of. Right next to the Magic Window is another neighborhood homeowner who had a beverage cart moving up Mojitos, Cuba Libras, Pina Coladas and about 6 or 8 other classic cocktails. The laws are somewhat confusing on drinking in the streets - in plastic cups seems to be ok. But if taken into the public park area, the police often come by and make drinkers take their beverages back across the street. Bottles and cans from bars and stores are definitely not ok in the streets - so confusing. Anyway, it was our second straight night in Old town with our new friends from the Wild Card - really a great bunch of people that I will miss as we have all pretty much spent a week straight together. The whole sailing experience was a blast and thanks to Charli and crew for making it perfect!
Traffic was heavy and temps were in the 90's as we pushed our way out of the city. We finally broke free and were on some rural 2-lane roads motoring through the countryside - making good time now out of the city. Unfortunately after only about 80k or so of smooth sailing we came upon a long line of vehicles stopped along the right hand lane and no one coming from the other direction. Something had stopped traffic for quite some time - we passed hundreds of vehicles to make our way to the front. Ken and I were both saying to each other on the coms that this had the feel of the protest we encountered in Mexico. Sure enough we arrive to the front to find the road blocked by logs and dozens of villagers standing around with big sticks and clubs. There were also quite a few police around as well. Ken took off his helmet and tried to play the gringo card - it did end up workin for us in Mexico. But not this time as the villagers were shaking their heads no - we could not pass. A guy who was also waiting and appeared to be negotiating with the villagers approached us and gave us the story (he spoke English). The village had not had water in days and they were protesting the government by blocking the road. He advised we park or bikes off to the side and wait it out like everyone else - and that things could become violent at at any time. He stated he was with the government and was negotiating a solution while public works was trying to restore the water supply. He also said that the police would most likely not intervene if things got violent. So we pulled off to the side and tried to find some shade as the temp was in the mid 90's.
About 10-15 minutes later the villagers started shouting agua, agua and a few started running to the houses to get water. The police then started removing the logs and debris so everyone started making a mad dash to their respective vehicles and trucks started revving their engines. As we were getting on our bikes ( not 6 feet from the barricade) villagers with sticks started beating the police and stones were being thrown from the sides - shit just went super crazy in a matter of seconds. Police pulled their guns and started firing shots into the air and that scattered the villagers. By that time we were on our bikes and everyone was starting to go for it from both sides - cars, trucks, motorcycles going across the partially removed barricade. Ken was in front of me and we were in the left shoulder where the police had removed most of the logs and we went for it like everyone else. Unfortunately Ken clipped a motorcycle helmet that was among several that were on the ground in the shoulder and it kicked in front of my rear tire bringing me to a stop and breaking the helmet in two pieces in the process. It took several precious seconds for me to kick it out with my boot and before I could get going again the owner of the helmet (one of the protesters) saw I had broken the helmet and grabbed on to my rear rack. With the chaos of the moment and just fearing for my safety I tried to gun it out but just couldn't get any momentum - dragging him behind at slow speed for about 10 or 15 feet. He was yelling in Spanish and soon I had a small mob beating me with sticks and throwing rocks at me. Luckily the blows were to my back (thank you BMW back armor) so I barely felt the hits. But soon other villagers were in front of me and I had to stop and was quickly thrown to the ground with the motorcycle pinning my left leg under the bike. I thought I was doomed at that point. Everything had just happened in a matter of seconds and Ken was 50 yards ahead. Luckily a policeman appeared from nowhere and started shouting at the mob to let me go. He helped me from under the bike and to get it upright. I jumped back on but the guy with the busted helmet again grabbed on to my rear rack yelling to the policeman that I had broken his helmet. The policeman kept telling him to let me go but he continued to hold on. As the policeman put his hand to his gun holster I started shouting cuanto cuesta, cuanto cuesta (how much) - not wanting things to get any more out of hand - if that wa even possible. Broken helmet guy calmed down a bit and said 50 mil pesos (50,000 pesos or about $14US). I nodded to the policeman that it's ok, I will pay and handed him a 50 mil note. Broken helmet guy shook my hand and I was on my way with adrenaline up to my eyeballs. After catching up with Ken he said had heard some of the scuffle through the com before it went out - probably when I hit the ground, but he couldn't get back with all the traffic that had broken loose. He tried to enlist another police officer near him to go help me but the cop wanted no part of it. I'm thankful for the cop that did appear when I was on the ground - otherwise I have no idea how things would have turned out. Pretty scary shit - but all is good except for a sore knee where the bike landed on me. I guess it's all a part of the adventure 🙂.
We found a hotel in the small town of Planeta Rica where we are once again the only gringos in town (Cartagena had many tourists from all over the world). The street food was plentiful and delicious. Tomorrow we head for Medellin and continue our 5 day blast through Colombia to Ecuador.
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| Cartagena Skyline from the anchored Wild Card. |
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| Cartagena Harbor. |
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A portion of the Wild Card gang.
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| Just before things went pear shaped at the protest. |
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