When you’re in the North of Colombia travelling by road, and you have a time limit, you have a decision to make.

…by motorbike or by donkey cart?

Do you want to ride down the West side of the Rio Madeira and see Cartagena, Medellin, Cali and Popayan?
Or will you chose the East side, and see Bucaramanga, Bogota and Cali and/or Popayan?

You see, the thing with Colombia is that, in this large country there are two North-South highways reaching down the country. They run more or less in line with the two cordilleras that divide up the country, and the cross-overs are considerably long and few and far between. Therefore if you want so see Bucaramanga and Bogota as well as Cartagena and Medellin, you’ll be spending quite a lot of time and mileage zig-zag-and-looping across the land. – All time well spent, of course! 🙂

Cartagena everybody wants to see, and most trans-continental bikers arrive at so that already puts you on the West side. That road down takes you past Medellin, Salento (ca. Armenia), Cali, Popayan, Pasto and Ipiales – the exit point. On the East side the attractions are mainly San Gil (ca. Bucaramanga) and Bogota.

If you want to have the cake and eat it, the most recommendable cross-overs would be:
– Magangue to El Banco (with a few days stop in Mompox)
– Salento (via Armenia) to Bogota
– The Medellin to Bucaramanga road is mostly good road and has some nice scenery, but there’s not much out there.
– There is also an El Carmen to Bosconia route but my research found that there’s not much out there and it’s largely bad road.

We have it in mind to see Mompox, an old colonial settlement of (past) great importance, and during our test rides beyond Cartagena we liked the scenery, so we pass up the idea of heading down the 45 at Cienaga and instead return to Cartagena, to do the loop that way. Besides, we haven’t really had much chance to enjoy this beautiful Catragena. Most of our time here was just quick rest stops during test rides. We deserve our chance to be tourists as well no?

Decision made: Cartagena, here we come again!

We get a place at Hotel Familiar once again and spend a three days exploring the city. It’s awesome, and a feast for the eyes! I’ll let the photos do the talking….

Pssst! There’s a mini carnaval in town…

When you’re in the North of Colombia travelling by road, and you have a time limit, you have a decision to make.

…by motorbike or by donkey cart?

Do you want to ride down the West side of the Rio Madeira and see Cartagena, Medellin, Cali and Popayan?
Or will you chose the East side, and see Bucaramanga, Bogota and Cali and/or Popayan?

You see, the thing with Colombia is that, in this large country there are two North-South highways reaching down the country. They run more or less in line with the two cordilleras that divide up the country, and the cross-overs are considerably long and few and far between. Therefore if you want so see Bucaramanga and Bogota as well as Cartagena and Medellin, you’ll be spending quite a lot of time and mileage zig-zag-and-looping across the land. – All time well spent, of course! 🙂

Cartagena everybody wants to see, and most trans-continental bikers arrive at so that already puts you on the West side. That road down takes you past Medellin, Salento (ca. Armenia), Cali, Popayan, Pasto and Ipiales – the exit point. On the East side the attractions are mainly San Gil (ca. Bucaramanga) and Bogota.

If you want to have the cake and eat it, the most recommendable cross-overs would be:
– Magangue to El Banco (with a few days stop in Mompox)
– Salento (via Armenia) to Bogota
– The Medellin to Bucaramanga road is mostly good road and has some nice scenery, but there’s not much out there.
– There is also an El Carmen to Bosconia route but my research found that there’s not much out there and it’s largely bad road.

We have it in mind to see Mompox, an old colonial settlement of (past) great importance, and during our test rides beyond Cartagena we liked the scenery, so we pass up the idea of heading down the 45 at Cienaga and instead return to Cartagena, to do the loop that way. Besides, we haven’t really had much chance to enjoy this beautiful Catragena. Most of our time here was just quick rest stops during test rides. We deserve our chance to be tourists as well no?

Decision made: Cartagena, here we come again!

We get a place at Hotel Familiar once again and spend a three days exploring the city. It’s awesome, and a feast for the eyes! I’ll let the photos do the talking….

Pssst! There’s a mini carnaval in town…