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I took a taxi to the Terminal de Transporte in Girón, then a Copetran bus to Pamplona at 7000 ft. Nice and cool.
Now, where to stay? Only two hotels mentioned in Lonely Planet: picked one, and got lucky. Huge room, balcony with view, attached kitchen, and restaurant with central stove and overhead lights. Zero tourists. Dinner of pasta with seafood - I’m getting closer to the coast!
Back to the hotel, where WiFi mostly works in the lobby, and caught up on the news. More and more it looks like Trump is going to win - so depressing.
No time for breakfast the next morning. Nice 3 hr bus ride to Cúcuta (sharing the road with an awful lot of cyclists; and almost continuous construction), where the terminal was also under construction and it was a zoo. Next a bus to Ocaña, but unclear how to get to Playa de Belén from there- several people I asked didn’t know the place.
The bus to Ocaña went up, over, and down a magnificent mountain pass - took lots of photos of course.
I got off the bus to Ocaña where the road to Playa de Belén begins, then paid a guy to drive me the 10 or so kilometers on the back of his motorcycle: my second such ride, but this time with no helmet provided (what do you expect for 40 pesos?). The town was an amazing sight: streets with identical clean white buildings and potted plants hung beside every doorway and window.
The town is surrounded on all sides by columns, pedestals, and caves that have formed over time by rainfall and tectonic shifts. Think Cappadocia without the tourists floating by in hot air balloons.
I believe I am the only tourist in the town - this is the off season - although I was assured by Libby, my host, that it gets lots of visitors in the December holiday season. The area is actually a park: Área Natural Única Los Estoraques, one of the smallest in Colombia.
I had arrived around 3 PM, but it took awhile to locate a place to stay, so I only had a short while to walk around the streets and up to the cemetery for some grand views. Certainly the quietest town I had ever visited, with a rare vehicle and occasional person on the otherwise empty streets.
Well, almost empty: three friendly dogs attached themselves to me early on and accompanied me on my walk.
My home for two nights is a guest room in a lovely home with a central open patio and flowers and antique bric-a-brac everywhere. Here is the entrance:
And here is the interior:
Libby, the owner, likes house plants:
And here I am, enjoying a home cooked meal.
Libby is loud and friendly, and hosts several young girls (daughters? nieces?) as well.
Tomorrow I will visit the park. See you then!
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