life @ 13
Saturday, December 06, 2008
stroked
i met a german couple at the hostel in cartagena, sven and ilya. they had spent some time at an italian-run children's school in one of the poorer areas outside cartagena and convinced me to stick around one more day to see the school. which I did, and it was worth it.
so yesterday i was off -- i wanted to leave early in the morning but didn't make it out until 9:30. lots of traffic leaving the city. i missed a turn to stay on the main road and wound up in a little town where everyone thought i was looking for the beach (fittingly, playa blanca). once i was about 20k outside the city the road was pretty good and not too much traffic so i was pushing fairly hard, which turned out to be a mistake. i've had my fair share of experience biking in latin america, but i underestimated my lack of acclimation to the heat and the heat itself (100 degrees and very humid). so i think what i experienced was a little heat stroke (not dehydration, that much i can judge). after an hour an a half in the shade i felt better and was able to keep going, albeit slowly and with lots of stops. biked a little later than i should have, but it turned out well because just as it was getting too dark i found an open farm gate, walked in and asked the farmer living there if i could put up my hammock. he invited me to stay inside with himself and his two kids. they had a lot of questions but i'm coming to realize that colombians speak fairly quickly, with an accent í'm not used to, and like americans they seem to be making up the language on the fly. anyway, i gave him some rum i had in my bag (leftover) and showed him all my toys: stove water filter, etc.
went to sleep very early (didn't sleep well on the foam mat on the floor and lots of animal noises) and woke up around 5am. made some oatmeal with my alcohol stove and got moving early to avoid the heat. there was lots of traffic for the first 10K or so and i was very lethargic. afterward the road improved and the traffic was much, much better. lots of little 200-300' hills. took a nap under a tree and afterward felt my legs come alive for the first time. towards the end of the day today I ran into a man who had been walking around colombia, peru, venezuela, and bolivia for 10 years. he was very friendly and he rattled off his favorite bands (def leppard, bon jovi, ac/dc, kiss, etc).
now i'm in Sincelejo, a local capital, univeristy town and cattle town. leaving early tomorrow, south toward medellin (med-ah-jeen). should be good riding, but i might not have internet again until medellin, 457K away
98K yesterday, 105 today. not very much, but i've been stopping a lot to stay cool.
will have some pictures and videos next time.
i met a german couple at the hostel in cartagena, sven and ilya. they had spent some time at an italian-run children's school in one of the poorer areas outside cartagena and convinced me to stick around one more day to see the school. which I did, and it was worth it.
so yesterday i was off -- i wanted to leave early in the morning but didn't make it out until 9:30. lots of traffic leaving the city. i missed a turn to stay on the main road and wound up in a little town where everyone thought i was looking for the beach (fittingly, playa blanca). once i was about 20k outside the city the road was pretty good and not too much traffic so i was pushing fairly hard, which turned out to be a mistake. i've had my fair share of experience biking in latin america, but i underestimated my lack of acclimation to the heat and the heat itself (100 degrees and very humid). so i think what i experienced was a little heat stroke (not dehydration, that much i can judge). after an hour an a half in the shade i felt better and was able to keep going, albeit slowly and with lots of stops. biked a little later than i should have, but it turned out well because just as it was getting too dark i found an open farm gate, walked in and asked the farmer living there if i could put up my hammock. he invited me to stay inside with himself and his two kids. they had a lot of questions but i'm coming to realize that colombians speak fairly quickly, with an accent í'm not used to, and like americans they seem to be making up the language on the fly. anyway, i gave him some rum i had in my bag (leftover) and showed him all my toys: stove water filter, etc.
went to sleep very early (didn't sleep well on the foam mat on the floor and lots of animal noises) and woke up around 5am. made some oatmeal with my alcohol stove and got moving early to avoid the heat. there was lots of traffic for the first 10K or so and i was very lethargic. afterward the road improved and the traffic was much, much better. lots of little 200-300' hills. took a nap under a tree and afterward felt my legs come alive for the first time. towards the end of the day today I ran into a man who had been walking around colombia, peru, venezuela, and bolivia for 10 years. he was very friendly and he rattled off his favorite bands (def leppard, bon jovi, ac/dc, kiss, etc).
now i'm in Sincelejo, a local capital, univeristy town and cattle town. leaving early tomorrow, south toward medellin (med-ah-jeen). should be good riding, but i might not have internet again until medellin, 457K away
98K yesterday, 105 today. not very much, but i've been stopping a lot to stay cool.
will have some pictures and videos next time.
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