Colombia wanderings

[OnlyMark]

The trip to Colombia wasn’t particularly spontaneous but for some reason, maybe because we were and had been quite busy, we didn’t plan as much as we’d normally do for where to go and what to see. We only had a rough idea.
One idea was to visit a couple of places on one of its most famous rivers, the Rio Magdalena.
In previous times this river served as part of the main route from the Caribbean coast to the capital, Bogota.

After the arrivals flights we had a night in the capital and then set off.
Our first view of the river -




We were going here -




On the way into town we stopped off for a break and a bite to eat. Nothing much to the cafe but a nice wall -




Honda is called "the City of Bridges" with more than 40 of them on the rivers Magdalena, Gualí, Guarinó, and Quebrada Seca.
The town, founded in 1539, wasn’t up to much until around 1850 when it became the transport hub, via the river, from the Caribbean coast to the capital. A railway was forced through from Bogota and met the river traffic at the town. Unfortunately, as you can see in the latter photos of the river, the river suffered a lot from silt/sand and had to be continually dredged. This led to its demise as the main way to transfer goods.
Finally in about 1910 they gave up and sought alternative road routes.

We went out for a walk to see a bridge. Some shots on the way -








Can just catch a view of it as we approach -




Pass underneath -




Not much really as to being a major site of interest but nevertheless, worth a walk to -




Up the side and to it -
















Coming back down we skirted the river to head back into town to continue wandering -




























There were quite a few bridges we found and would pop back and forth across them to get different views -


















Of course, there had to be a market. I’m sure in previous times it was all hustle and bustle. Now though, quite a sleepy and much smaller affair. This is the inside from the previous external shots -




































Probably the most famous street in the town, Calle de Las Trampas (street of the traps). The story is it could have been built straight, but as it would have been the most direct route for invaders to conquer the town, it was built with no clear line of sight from one end to the other and thus ambushes could be set. Nice story though -






We called past the last train that ran from here to the capital and it was outside the old head offices of the railway company -








Honda has supposed to have a reputation as one of the warmest towns in the country. When we were there it wasn’t, but still warm and humid enough that we slipped back to the hotel for a dip in the pool -










Had another walk round to stretch our legs, find out where we’d go for dinner and take some last shots -






This was actually the landing spot for the boats. Hardly seems big enough, plus the “port” building -






Moving around further -












The river is still used for transport, but not as you would expect for anything much but commuters and some tourists -




We moved on the next day.

[Voy]

thanks Mark ! you know we love your travelogues !

[sophie]

Envious! Thanks for the pictures.

[shrjeff]

where are you off to after honda, mark?

[Baz Faz]

Love the travelogue. I want to go to Colombia but I think I have left it too late in my life. I find my body no longer copes with heights above 5000 ft (1700 metres) and Colombia has a lot of mountains.

[OnlyMark]

Sophie, thanks.
Jeff, I am now back home. More will be revealed in later stuff.
Baz, there have been places in Colombia that have left me a bit breathless. Bogota itself, at 2640m/8660ft, is a difficult place to fly into for the first few days.

[OnlyMark]

We decided, as it was quite hot and humid, it was about time for a boat trip and a swim. There are several reservoirs and hour or so away so we headed out. Originally we’d thought of doing a thing where we’d body board down a river but after being advised the water wouldn’t be warm, in fact quite cold, as we’d be spending a few hours in it, we chickened out. Last time in Colombia we did the same kind of thing but on old truck inner tubes, so only our backsides were in the water. This time it was to be immersed and so didn’t appeal to us too much.

We moved off the Rio Magdalena to another one called the Rio La Miel (honey). Why it is called that I don’t know but it does eventually feed back into the Magdalena. The reservoir is the Amani.
Quite typical scenery for the area -




Somewhat also typical and nondescript cafe stop for a bite to eat and a coffee. Flat roof and picnic chairs. Usually do quite decent food though -




First close up view of the reservoir -






Organised a boat and set off for a look round for an hour or so. Even though the water was cold the air was quite hot but as expected a few degrees fresher and cooler coming off the water -
















The top of the dam, couldn’t get any closer for security reasons, thus not a lot to see -




Looking back down the reservoir from that point -




This was our boat driver. Quite regal looking and we thought he’d make a good film actor as a Colombian prince pre-colonial times. He had a very good knowledge of the fish and plants around and the history of the area. He’d once been to Bogota for a wedding but never anywhere else out of the region. Happy about it to, said he had no need to go elsewhere and had a poor impression of the big city. Not surprising really -

[auntieannie]

You know, Mark, I first caught a glimpse of a couple of the first pics on my phone and the river views made me think this was in your other haunt in the Balkans! incredible!

nice pics, thanks. and nice eye candy there with the boat driver.

[tzarine]

great photos, mark
love the colors of the buildings, the market, the river

[OnlyMark]

Time then to wander up and down a few streams and have a swim -








We found a local family having a BBQ and a strange thing. Behind me on this photo is a house being built on the river bank -




They’d set up a bucket type cable car and were transporting the river stones up to it. Crude but effective -






We had a wander round, a paddle and a dip to cool off and relaxed for a while -















Quite idyllic. Stopped off on the way back at another hut serving coffee at a viewpoint over the reservoir -









A grand day out was had.

[Baz Faz]

Lovely photos and a good place for a quiet wander. However I do wonder why anyone would choose to build a house in somewhere so isolated.

[OnlyMark]

Because it's isolated?

[Baz Faz]

Food? Drinking water? Medical help?

In 1968 I lived on a Greek island for 6 months. Finding somewhere to live took some searching. We were offered a cottage in a beautiful position, fantastic view, 15 minutes walk to a deserted beach. But there was no drinking water and no food shops. The town was 40 minutes walk away. There were 2 buses a day. Common sense triumphed over romance and we didn't take the house but found a place in the town.

[OnlyMark]

Different mind-set though.
It could be just a weekend/holiday home for someone from Bogota or a parcel of land inherited or knowing water can be delivered or obtained somehow, you often see plastic water pipe/hose pipe strung through the jungle from somewhere, same with food as the occupants are unlikely to want/need a lot of the foodstuffs we are used to, and medical care, or at least urgent needs, aren't thought of if they are young enough.
There could well be a track to the rear we don't know of and driving half an hour or so to get to a road is quite normal.

[auntieannie]

why all the old sewing machines and the like?

[OnlyMark]

Just a quirky thing for interest at the coffee stop. No other reason probably.

[OnlyMark]

Let’s divert for a moment and consider the food we were eating. Any photos I took of the food never turned out well enough to do it justice, so I’m going to cheat and pinch them from the internet. You will still see some in the posts but generally they are not too representative.
If I put it succinctly, it can usually be filling and heavy, especially considering the portions.
If we had a breakfast it was rare we’d have lunch as well other than something off the street. If we missed out on breakfast we’d grab a small thing a bit later and have a soup for lunch. A few times we stuck it out until lunch and had something substantial but then at night, a snack or two.

Some dishes do double or even triple duty and can be available any time of day. Things like juices often not so available after lunch as all the fresh fruit had been used up until the next day. But you could still get some if you hunted for it a little.
Whereas in Spain in many areas where lunch and dinners were late (after 9pm), normal times, like 8.00am, 1pm, 7pm were the done thing, though as mentioned, if you wanted a breakfast dish at night, it was usually still on the menu and could be served, no problem at all.

A lot of this will be familiar to those who know South America, some may be new, but a lot may be known by name but not by picture to those, who were like me for many years, thought all food from that region of the world was tacos and quesadillas. I admit it, I had no idea.
I’ll highlight quite a few things, but it is by no means exhaustive and due to a lot being regional, well, we didn’t go to that region this time so I’d probably be missing it out. Much though is country wide.

Just a mention of coffee - yes, Colombian coffee can be really good, yet at least half of what we drank wasn’t - unless it was cafe con leche (coffee with milk) in a morning. The rest of the day it varied a lot and I ended up not bothering with it. I was told on a few occasions that as expected, the good stuff was exported. I think not so much nowadays as there is a growing domestic market, but nevertheless, it isn’t greatly to my taste.
Tea was only to be had rarely, usually one or two types in a restaurant but not cafes.
I’d have a juice and coffee with breakfast, a juice at lunch and a coke zero at night.

By the way, bread. It may be bread, but not as we know it Jim. Poor quality and usually too sweet. The German/Slovenian part of our team of two craved good stuff always when she is there, but knows it’s like rocking horse crap. Never found. The toast was rubbish and sliced about the size of a postage stamp. One of the days when I had a soup the menu said it came with garlic bread. Jeez, it turned out to be two miniature slices of that packaged ‘toast’ bread, like Melba toast.

Part of going to a country is the food, I doubt many of us enjoy any length of time anywhere if the food isn’t up to snuff. Ethiopia was the worst for me though I know many enjoy injeera. Smells of sick to me. At the end we were looking forward to getting back to bread, vegetables (though available but rarely form a good part of a meal except some soups) and salads (though a poor imitation of Caesar salad can be found it better restaurants and some tourist areas).
I’m droning on, let’s make a start.

For breakfast, eggs could always be had in their varied forms, though soft boiled or ‘sunny side up soft’ not.
Much of what you could have, as said, was available most of the day and served as a snack at other times.
Some dishes tended to be just for lunch and/or dinner though. Lunch is often the biggest meal of the day and dinner not so much so but can range from a snack to a full meal.
Here’s run down of the traditional/usual food to be had. Then juices and after are the street snacks available all day.

Ajiaco - chicken potato stew -




Arepa paisa - soaked corn that is shaped and eaten it with salt, butter and cheese -




Bandeja paisa - red beans cooked with pork, white rice, carne molida (ground meat), chicharrón (fried pork belly or fried pork rind), fried egg, plantain, chorizo, arepa, hogao (tomato and onion) sauce, black pudding, avocado -




Caldo de costilla - a beef soup made by boiling beef ribs with potato slices, onion, garlic and cilantro leaves -




Calentado - last night's leftovers that are reheated. Includes rice, beans, plantains, steak, fried eggs, and arepas -




Changua - broth made from milk and poached eggs, cilantro and chopped green onions -



Colombian fritanga - fried meat platter -




Huevos pericos - scrambled eggs, scallions or green onions and tomatoes -




Posta negra - contains beef, cooked in a dark sauce made with Cola, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, cumin and panela (local sugar) or brown sugar -




Puchero Santafereño - stew that usually includes beef, chicken, pork, plantain, yuca, potatoes, corn, chorizo, and cabbage -




Sancocho soup - can be oxtail but also most meats and often mixed meats -




Sopa de mondongo - soup made from diced tripe slow-cooked with vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, carrots, cabbage, celery, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic or root vegetables -

[kuskiwi]

Thanks Mark. I do enjoy your rambles.

[OnlyMark]

You're welcome.

[auntieannie]

simple, filling dishes. the bandeja paisa seems similar to Brazil's feijoada??

[OnlyMark]

Had a travelling day, went to see some friends that were renovating a house and stopped off at a sugar making place. So I’ll put it in just one post.
First, a gratuitous photo -




The friends live in the hills to the north of Bogota. They bought the place quite some time ago and it had a residence on it. But they knew they’d need to renovate it.
It’s for them not so much the house itself, but the land and views from it. The workers, obviously not doing alot of work-




Renovations and views -














You can buy normal refined sugar in Colombia but the vast majority is unrefined cane sugar - called panela. It’s known by other names in other countries and I know it well as jaggery in India.
It’s quite a cottage industry to make it but is also made on an industrial scale. It’s not a difficult process but needs a certain expertise to decide when it is “done”.

First you extract the juice from the sugar cane -




It flows down pipes and also by hand transferred to various stages of boiling the juice.
The fires used to heat the juice are fuelled by the wastage from the cane -
















The main producer of panela in the world is Colombia - about 1.4 million tons/year.
The industry is an important source of employment with about 350,000 people working in nearly 20,000 trapiches (panela farms). An estimated 350,000 people are employed in producing the sugar and it is the 2nd largest activity of the rural population after coffee production.

Worldwide, the Colombians are the largest consumers of sugarcane, at more than 34.2 kg (75 lb) per capita.
Since it is a very solid block, some Colombian homes have a hard river stone (la piedra de la panela) to break the panela into smaller, more manageable pieces. I would have to ask if it’s the same stone or a different one they use to squash the plantain before frying it again.

After it is boiled to the right consistency it is left to cool and solidify. Then scooped out -






And moulded -












Sold then at the stall/shop that will always be at the side -








Short one today. But gives you an insight into rural life.
More another time.

[Voy]

looks like sugaring time in New England ! ( but there's no snow to pour it on and make it brittle and yummy ) but they don't stop until it's solid..