On our way to Yarumal, Colombia

Have you ever had a day full of shits? Forgetting important things, acted clumsy or everything you did it just seems wrong? Or the opposite? Everything seems beautiful! On our way to Yarumal, Colombia, we had a little bit of everything.

When Luis and I started to pedaling through the Antioquia region, we knew that we will face the mountains. Almost every day we had to pedal our bikes up. Even though it was hard, the view along the way paid the sweat. The mountains, valleys, rivers, fincas, cows, and the clouds were always amazing. Both of us took hundreds of pictures of them. All of them look similar actually, but we never felt enough of it.

Plus, the generosity of the Colombian touched our hearts. Once, on a steep road, I had to push 35 kg of my bicycle because it was too hard. Suddenly, I felt lighter! When I looked back, a gentleman was helping me to pushing my bicycle.. Haha…

Slapped by a cow

Not too far from the steep road, we stopped in a local house next to the main road that sells water and snacks to refill our bottles. The owner was so smiley and energetic and she got impressed with our travel around South America by bicycle. She offered us fresh cheese with panela and salt, which was hard to resist. It was delicious! She made it by her self with the cow she has in the backyard.

And before we left, she allowed me to flush the milk directly from her cow! Que Rico… It was my first time and even though the cow slapped my face with her tail, I was so happy that I could still smiling.

To Yarumal

As we arrived at the hotel for that day, El Descanso, we met few guys who worked on the road. Their main duty is to make sure the marks on the road is in good visibility, if it’s not, they will repaint or replace the mark. During our talked with them, we found out that they saw us on the day before at Valdivia but they didn’t say hi to us. And when they knew that our next destination for the next day is Yarumal, they offered us a short trip to Yarumal and they would drive us back to the hotel. Of course, we said yes! It was like a teaser for us. They even helped us to find a nice and affordable hotel in Yarumal.

Until today, we still keep contact with one of them, Edison. Last time we talked with him, they were in Barranquilla. And every time I saw street workers with the same uniform, I always remember Edison and friends.

The generosity of Colombians has been trilling us. Those are only a few examples that happened in a day during the first two months. Receiving all of these love makes us feel grateful and blessed. Be more kind and give more. I heard good and bad stories of Colombia and all of them are real until now. But, if we ‘don’t give papaya’ and always be kind, you will see the deeper beauty of Colombia which is the generosity of the people.

See the route we did in this area – San Antero to Medellin – with detail informations. GPS Tracks also available to download!