Bits and Pieces

We have some photos that don´t really fit into any group big enough for a blog on their own but they are ones we wanted to share so it is bits and pieces.

This lady and her son, dressed traditionally, were most friendly and allowed us to take their photos.
Just a better picture of her son. He was so cute and liked the candy we gave him.
Just a very beautiful and very nice Colombian woman. You will learn more about her in a future blog.
If you make this picture larger you can see a man working in the field. On the mountains this is the way the work is done.
About a week ago the owners of our hotel in Pitalito invited us to take a jeep ride into the country to visit a small farm owned by a friend of theirs. The lady behind Nancy and the man at the end of the table are the owners of the hotel, the woman seated is the owner of the farm and the standing lady is her maid.
This is a cactus and you see two huge cactus berries growing on them. She picked them and gave them to us for breakfast in the morning.
This is what they looked like inside and they were oh so delicious.
A few people have asked us about the cocaine industry. It grows wild in Colombia and this tree is a coco tree that is growing in the back yard of this small farm. Only the leaves are used for making cocaine. And this picture is all we will be bringing home.
And again, if you make this picture larger you will see a different man working in a different field. The crop is coffee.
Just so damn much hard work. Two young men, two small spades and a huge pile of wet, wet clay to load in the back of this truck.


With the help of one of our techie sons Nancy put over 1000 songs and 9 books on her Ipod and it sure makes the time go by on long bus rides. We also have a splitter so we can each have our own headset rather than sharing one headset.

Just a partial list of the many wonderful juices that are made in Colombia. Not everyone has heard about Vatican II. The man is a priest so he got the message but didn´t pass it on to all of his parishioners. Actually, many of the nuns in Colombia are dressed in this manner.

A Journey Over the Mountains

There are three main mountain ranges in Colombia, one that is on the west side of Colombia, one that runs down the middle of Colombia and one that is east of the center mountain range and runs down into the jungle. And you would think that most of the people of Colombia would live in the valleys between these mountain ranges but that is not really true as they live where the land is richest and that is usually half way up the mountain or, as is true for Bogota, on top of the mountain.
We were in Armenia in the area between the western mountains and the middle mountains and our destination was a group of towns and cities between the middle mountains and the ones to the east and that entailed crossing over the middle range of mountains.
We knew, we heard, we read that the journey is not real easy as it is only 80 km and takes 3 hours. The road is reasonably good, two lanes for the most part but it so very busy as it is the main route between Bogota and Cali and the Zona Cafateria (coffee area). It just loaded with big trucks and busses, very few cars or taxis and nobody drives over 30km an hour. Great for taking pictures from the window of the bus.
The road climbs to 4000 m and hairpin turns so sharp that the big trucks and big busses need the whole road to go around them so they have hired people at these corners to direct the traffic around them. That is good but it does not stop some accidents from occuring as we saw two different trucks that had recently rolled down the mountain not too long before we had arrived at the scene.


The beginning of our journey and the vistas only get better.
This pack train was about 8 mules long but we were too close with the bus to get them all. We see so much of this type of transportation and we always seem to take a second look when one comes about. It is so very different from our home.
We see this often but never have an oportunity for a picture. As stated earlier the trucks are going so very slow and often bicycliers catch rides with them up the mountain. The three young boys are hanging on to the back of the truck catching a ride to their destination.
This was a military stop and it was right on top of the mountain and only men had to get out. I was in shorts and no jacket as it was quite warm when we left Armenia. It was not warm up here. The wind was blowing and maybe it was 10 degrees C. I almost froze and not only that, but they choose me for extra questions, like how long was I going to stay in Colombia and was I a tourist or a business man. And again, so very polite and kind.

We are above the clouds and just a beautiful vista.
Looking back on the road from the window of the bus. Nancy is an expert for taking pictures from the window of the bus.
We mentioned that the road was loaded with trucks and here are some of them. These ones look pretty good but most are old with little power and go slower down the mountan than up.
Dad is talking to his daughter and notice the bathroom down the hall. We were told that these waxy pines, the national tree of Colombia, only grew in the Cocora valley near Solento so we were so surprised to see them here on the mountain.
Many vistas just like this pretty little water fall and my it was green.
This time it was a police stop but this time the women had to get out also. Again there were most pleasant and not quite so inquisitive as the military. These photos are near the top of the mountain and as you can see the rich volcanic soil is farmed. Most are cold climate crops such as corn and potatoes and cabbage.
And to do the farming people need to live on top of the mountain. There are many homes such as this.

It was a very wonderful and scenic journey but 3 hours of the corners was enough. We would not like to do it everyday but in a week or so we have to get back to the other side of the mountain and not the same way we came. This time it will take 6 hours for the 100km. Will surely tell you about that journey also.

Pijao (pee-how), a Small Colombian Town

A while back we heard of this town from Tim, the owner of our hostel in Salento. He thought it was definately worth a visit so one day while we were in Armenia, we causght a bus for the hour drive to Pijao, just for a day trip. As the bus arrived it was just the end of the morning and school kids filled the streets with all the happiness of school children. It seemed to really impress us among other things so we decided we would search for a hotel and then come back the next day and stay over night. At first look there were no hotels but people started asking us what we were doing there and we told them, looking for a hotel for the next night. Well the town is very small and there are no hotels but people will let you rent out a chunk of their homes. We were led to two places and finally a lady came and found us and told us she had a hostal. So that day we went back to Armenia and early the next morning we went back to Pijao, knowing there was a bed for us for the night.



Here are new administration buildings being built on one side of the central park.

And this is a panaramic view of the central park in Pijao.
A view of the surrounding mountains and clouds that day with the church steeple in the middle.
The central bus station in Pijao. There is a bus coming and going every 25 minutes and the town is not much bigger than Milk River.
We were sitting having juice the first day we were there and these two little girls who were just out of school came in to buy candy.
Some of the people of Pijao live on the surrounding hill sides many of which are covered with coffee plants. And it is all so very green. Lots of stairs to get home in this picture.

This photo is not so good but it shows a typical corner grocery store in Colombia. It is not only a grocery store but Nancy and I were sitting in the corner having a beer.
This is the living room of the hostal that we chose to live in for a night. The lady was very nice but also very busy as she is a town councillor so we did not get much of a chance to talk to her. The table in this picture was used for a council meeting the night we were there.
This is the kitchen in our hostal that we could have used and cooked our own supper but we chose to eat out in one of the two restaurants in town.

Other people in Colombia call this area of Colombia "bandit country" as it is very high in the mountains and not so many years ago was guerilla territory. But not any more. The place is swarming with military and police who are oh so present and oh so friendly to Nancy and I anyway. This picture is a bunker to one side of the police station.
Needless to say, the police and military have more to do than visit with Nancy and I as the above photo shows. We think they were in love as the conversation went on for a very long time.
Just a pretty home we saw across the river. The river looks as if it would be a great kayaking river.
We were sitting in the central park and these three girls so badly wanted to find out about us. They kept moving closer and closer and finally Nancy started talking to them and then they got real close. They all spoke at once in english and spanish and were so happy to have us take their picture. The two outside ones are twins and their ages are 12.
It is cowboy country. Actually all of Colombia is cowboy country and we see this scene so very often. Because of the moisture, instead of cowboy boots they wear rubber boots.

Otra Cosas (other things)

Way back when we were in Santa Rosa, on a Sunday afternoon, we heard sirens and shouting coming from the street below our hotel window. We looked down on the street and what it was was the completion of a bike rally and the bikers were being lead into town by police and military and in the midst of the parade were trucks with broken down bikes and their broken down riders. They came from near and far and there was every type, color and description of bike

Not only in parades but we see military transportation like this often. They also have other jobs like stopping our busses and frisking us, keeping the roads safe.
One of the many trucks with broken down bikes and riders.
All the riders congregated in the central park and prizes were awarded for various catagories.
As mentioned earlier, the riders came from great distances and this truck was used to transport the bikes home from the rally. This is the beginning of loading this truck and you can just see the bikles peaking over the sides.
And here they have them heaped up and overflowing. My we chuckled watching them load them. There were many bosses but finally it got finished and they used rope to wrap it all together. This truck had over a 100km to go and it held over 100 bikes. What a puzzle to sort them all when they arrived home.

As soon as we arrived in Armenia. we were hungry so went to the 7th floor of our hotel for a quiet lunch. It didn't stay quiet for long as Nancy was looking out over the city and noticed smoke coming from a building about a block away. It only took a few minutes for it to look like this and we could feel the heat from our open air restaurant. We didnt know whether to run or hang out for the good view. We finished our lunch and paid the bill in case we had to evacuate. We could hear fire sirens from afar but no fire trucks arrived for at least 30 minutes and by that time there was only a shell left.

The building was a bank and the picture below shows how they blocked off the street to prevent any body entering the area. They had 4 different streets blocked off in this manner.

Last year we visited with Javier who has concessions in the Coffee Park out of Armenia. This year we returned to his home and were greeted by two margaritas. It was the first time Nancy and I had tasted margaritas but we no doubt will try them again. They were yummy.



And this is Javier and Ron and Javier's Willys. He gave us a ride from the coffee park to his home and it was pouring rain but he also gave us rain gear so we didn't get too wet. We spent a few very enjoyable hour with Javier and learned lots from his knowledge of Colombia. By the way, he speaks perfect english.

And finally, a blood donor clinic in Colombia. In the central park in Armenia. No need for walls and windows and insulation here.