Wednesday was my 4th day on the road and another extremely rough ride, however the most beautiful yet as well. I was on the road heading north of San Gil by 6:15 and right away it was 15 miles of climbing. I must say it didn't bother me as much to start off that way as I was hoping to get whatever up hill there was out of the way. As you can see below, the mountain roads were pretty intimidating but also had quite the views. I stopped at an old trucker restaurant type place that reminded me of the places in the middle of no where out West in the U.S. Soon I reached Chicamocha national park and canyon which was no Grand Canyon but extremely impressive and by far the most scenic road I've ever rode. After climbing to the top you could see the road ahead carved into the side of the canyon weaving downward for miles. It was such a relief to see the road ahead and across the canyon that kept going downhill knowing that I had miles of coasting ahead of me. It was also pretty cool to see big trucks way across the canyon and know that I would be passing them in a couple miles while they had their Jake brakes fully engaged. Of course this great moment came to an abrupt halt when I reached the valley below, crossed the river and started about a 12 mile steep climb while all those trucks I passed smoked past me uphill leaving thick billows of exhaust for me to inhale. Something I forgot to mention before that came up again on my way to Piedequesta was the occassional psychopathic dog that would come after me as if I just stole his life savings of bones. They're really sly those dogs, for example after spotting me riding along they would slowly prance towards me at an angle, looking ahead at something else and me out of the corner of their eye only to then expose their fangs and start furociously barking and chasing me. This was the second one to almost catch me and I must say that the little dudes are quick.
I made it to Piedecuesta by about 1 just in time to have lunch with Tony, Sandra and Sandra's daughter Catalina at their farmhouse turned golf course about 2 miles down a dirt road. Tony is a guy that grew up in the Pittburgh area and went to school with my Uncle John, spent the majority of his career organizing golf outings and assisting famous golfers and corporate clients at clubs around the world. He met his Colombian wife Sandra at one of his outings and after marrying her about 4 years ago packed up shop and moved to Colombia with her to start a daunting project called "A Game for All" (check it out at - agameforall.com), which is their small country golf course opened here in effort to bring the game to children and others in Colombia who otherwise would have no chance at holding the club of what is a rich man's sport here. To say the least about my two night stay with Tony and Sandra, they were some of the friendliest, hospitable and generous people I have ever met. As many of you know I travel and meet people a lot and thus play the role of a "mooch" more than I would like to. Of all my encounters I can only think of one time where I met people who gave me such royal treatment and that was with the Tuffins in Australia (if you guys are reading I hope all is well in Ayr!). Man as soon as I got there I had a hot shower and amazing lunch with a big glass of what is like a mixture of fresh squeezed juice and fruit salad with chunks of tropical fruit all through it, very popular here. That was followed by one of about 7 coffees over those 2 days, a round of pitch and put on Tony's pride and joy, some beers, a tour of their garden (which amazingly has about 20 fruits), a personal pan pizza making session, and finally drinks and smokes over great conversations at night. While trading stories Tony mentioned that I lived close to one of his favorite courses thunder hill, and then I was like "dude I worked there in highschool"! Talk about a small world eh? The next day was equally great with a tour of Bucaramanga to the north, a trip to the local market which was a lot like China with much less people, more great meals, more golf, beers and coffee. Sandra's sister and her daughters came over for the last half of the day and it was quite an experience as well. You think women, especially sisters in the US can talk fast? Try experiencing the same in a Latin American country. Tony and I were basically ducking through a warzone of machine gun sprays of comments and questions for the afternoon, all we needed was camo and helmets. I can say this because quite humorously Tony is open about not understanding a lot of what he hears when people talk fast, especially the women and even more humerously he pretends to like it that way. We talked a lot about the complications of getting things done in a non-western country (let alone build a golf course) and it gives me all the more respect for their efforts.
You know it's funny when you have an opportunity like that to get to know people in such an environment. Even though it's short you leave with this feeling like you left your aunt and uncle's house and will be back again or something. For better or worse, you realize that these people now know you just as well if not better than some in your non-immediate family. Regardless I couldn't have asked for a better stay.
To elaborate on some of the traditional foods which Sandra made a big effort of making for me to experience, the coffee tasted great and was made the traditional way of boiling water, adding the grounds and straining with a cheesecloth type strainer. After expressing that I love Guava juice she made it fresh with blending the fruit with some water and sugar, a real thick and mildly sweet juice. We had brebidos (I may have butchered that one) figs boiled in sugar water, refrigerated and toped with caramel, and mute (moo-Tay) which is tripe soup with potatoes, corn and cilantro. Tony and I were ironically joking about how we would digest the cow digestive organs. By the way don't knock something like that til you try it, it was great. With that dish she made Yuca, a potato like root with a better texture. Sandra also made arepas which is like a fried cornbread patty with cheese and panels melted within, and also both morning had eggs and chorizo which is pretty close to sausage. That last night we hung out on their porch of their beautiful house, all open air spaces, quite traditional of here and relaxed a bit. Right next to their place is a panel factory (panels is a product of sugar cane that is produced into waxy molasses like blocks for cooking, teas etc.) and you could smell the strong sweet aroma coming from the boilers carried over by the breeze. It was so nice I thought to myself I would pay extra to have a house next to a joint like that. The next morning I we had an early breakfast (for me at least...5:45), Sandra packed me some mangos and as mentioned they sent off in the nicest manner. Hopefully you all don't mind my detailed account here, however I wrote a lot so I remeber as much as possible there. Take care and please email.
