From Cartagena to San Gil

Friday 5/08/2011
Cartagena-San Gil = 500 miles

When it comes to road planning over the years I have acquired a reputation of being "over ambitious".
When we left Cartagena in the morning my plan was to make it in 1 day to San Gil.

Even the owner of Casa la Fe (who took these pictures) told us we would never make it.....
It took us well over 2 hrs to cover the first 20 km from Cartagena to Turbaco.
The calle 31 in Cartagena's suburbs is hell on earth. A narrow road packed with trucks and buses with black fumes and a temperature reaching well over 40 degrees.
After that things get much better and I can say we almost enjoyed the sorrounding until Carmen the Bolivar.
This is where we turned left on the B road to Bosconia.....100 miles of countryside full of holes in the tarmac and, even a fallen bridge (where we had to push the bike accross).
Here we find some cover from the heath under a tree on the road.

By 3.30pm we finally made it to Bosconia where we hit the Road 45.
This is a beatiful road where you can cruise at 50 miles with trees at both sides of the road and a country side that looks like Tuscany.

As the sun went down we decided to stop at Aquachica (175miles from San Gil).
Not a bad choice considering that you can get the best meat ever for £3!!!

The following day we began to climb and once again Colombia's sceneries left us breathless.

This is the view of the Chochamocha valley, between Bucaramanga and San Gil.

The road is paradise for bikers. The tarmac, the corners, the views.....if you come this way make sure you don't miss it.