My journey continued towards the Colombian coffee axis or Eje Cafetero. I have already learned something about coffee before my expedition to the hilly region. Nowadays, the most coffee in Colombia isn't produced in this area anymore, but in the department of Huila, which is located south of Bogotá. The coffee plant is a green bush with red fruits with white/green coffee beans inside. They get their characteristic dark color after roasting. The majority of the best Colombian coffee beans are being exported in the original white form. Every average Colombian coffee place has to use the coffee beans of lower quality. Nevertheless, the coffee shops with connection to farmers and fancy coffee places in the city centre's offer delicious coffee. If the coffee plant grows in the soil, where there was a lemon tree growing in the past, the cup of coffee from those beans may have a citric aftertaste. The coffee farmers can achieve different aromas and can get quite creative in their experiments. The Colombian coffee tastes amazing and is available in every form as it is in Europe, with tinto being the prevailing one, which is a long black coffee. Tinto is being sold on the street in thermos bottles in every Colombian town.
The unforgettable mountainous landscape with several shades of green impressed me. The local people are not only growing coffee on the steep slopes, but also bananas, plantains, strawberries and different varieties of decorative plants. I cycled on the side roads with light traffic and enjoyed the incredible views. After a couple of days of cycling up and down at high elevation, I arrived to the touristic epicenter of this region, a little village of Salento. The tiny place is crowded with tourists and is consequently full of souvenir shops, bars, restaurants and hotels. Even though that the village itself is very charming with narrow steep streets, adorable white one-storey buildings and a vibrant park, it attracts tourists because of its proximity to the Cocora Valley with the highest palm trees in the world and the national park of Los Nevados with an active volcano. My stay in Salento was special to me for another reason. My sister's friend was traveling around Colombia with an organized group and after an incredible coincidence we have met in Salento. I had a rare opportunity to speak in Slovene and we exchanged our thoughts about Colombia while playing pool in the local bar.
he Slovenians advised me to do a trek in the valley of Cocora and the next day I took the 10 km jeep ride from the main square. The 20-minute ride was a special experience because I was standing at the back - alongside with three other people - holding to the metal construction on the roof of the jeep. Our palms were numb after the exciting ride to the valley. The trek is around 12 km long and goes above the valley. I did it together with a Colombian from Bogotá, who was staying in a nearby city, working at a football Copa America for women. It was pleasant to have company and we ended up doing the whole trek together. The first thing we saw was the forest of high and slender palm trees. Cows and horses were chewing grass on the green pastures below them. The valley attracts a number of tourists, but the path never feels especially crowded. There are some viewpoints though, where everybody wants to take the best picture and fairly so, because the views of the green valley are truly mesmerizing. High palm trees are not only growing in the park, but also on the surrounding slopes, standing out among other, average-sized trees. The peak was covered in mist and we have hiked above the clouds to the 2800 m above sea level. One of the attractions of the park is also the house of colibris, where one can observe this tiny, colorful birds. They land on the bird house with their long beaks and high frequency flaps of wings. Tourists with all types of cameras try to gather around to take the best picture or video of the smallest bird species in the world. The price includes a warm drink of aguapanela, which is actually a cup of water with panela - a brown sugar, extracted from the sugar cane. We descended back to the valley, crossing some adventurous bridges and had a juice from guanábana. The most important part of the day was taking pictures in a special area for additional fee. Six hours of my favorite mixture of exercise and tourism was over and we headed back to Salento, standing in the back of the jeeps again.
The hilly region was behind me and I couldn't believe that cycling on flat roads for three straight days was possible in Colombia. I was pedaling next to the large plantations of sugar cane in the »sweetest« region in the country. I was also observing people, squeezing the sugar cane stems with the help of wooden machines along the road, making the sweet juice guarapo. It was getting hotter at lower elevation and my common question to the locals is, if they don't get bored by the weather without seasons. Especially because every day the sun rises at 6 am and sets at 6 pm. They usually answer no, because they have months with more rain and months with less rain. I noticed that there are more refugees on the road, specifically before toll stations, selling cold drinks or sliced fruit to truck drivers and other passengers. Some are peacefully walking along the road and hitchhiking. Two days of fast cycling under the hot sun and I reached the city of Cali with relaxed people and a special energy, my new favorite city of Colombia.
My host Carlos took me to his home for a couple of days during my stay in Cali and introduced me to new food and the overall happiness of the people. Many residents of Cali migrated from the Pacific coast and brought the sea food and the dancing rhythms to the city with them. The city itself has not many historic sites or impressive architecture that would attract tourists, but it is the capital of salsa and in Cali one gets the feeling that dancing is the most important thing in the world. The history of salsa was brought to the city by the people from the coast and the city of Cali, seeking its cultural identity, embraced it with both hands. The people of Cali could see themselves in the positive salsa vives and it became a part of their DNA.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to see a salsa show or take salsa lessons because on the first night in Cali, Carlos took me to see a sport, called ultimate frisbee and we went to a birthday party of his friend on the second night. Ultimate frisbee is a contactless sport, played with frisbee and looks like some sort of american football. I enjoyed watching it because of swift movements and agility of the players. They even showed me how to throw the frisbee, but I could only do the standard one properly. The sightseeing started for me the next day. Similar to the situation in Medellín, the poorest people in Cali also live on the steep slopes. Moreover, the city had also built a special public transport system for them, and we took the cable car to ride above the neighborhood of Siloe. The system has three stations and each of them acts as a little museum. Leaving the station would be too dangerous and we stayed inside as the rain starting falling heavily. Cable cars resemble the ones at skiing resorts and due to heavy rain it was hard to take good pictures. Siloe has almost no public places and has narrow and incredibly steeps streets. Carlos explained that he wouldn't dare to drive his car there. The area has something like an invisible border and people from the outside are easy targets. After swinging above the favela-like part of the city, it was time to taste the typical dessert of this part of Colombia. Cholado is a mixture of fruits, crushed ice and condensed milk. There is a special cholado street in Cali with numerous stands. I took the medium size and it is refreshing, and for Colombian standards very healthy. I loved it and as we were driving back home, I noticed even more street acrobats, performing tricks at red lights. Carlos's cousin told me that they are sometimes also travelers from other South American countries. One was specifically noticeable because he was swinging from the bridge on a very long, stretchy rope. Another new thing for me were people with red flags who were standing beside the road and were helping people to park. They are usually useless, but it is a custom to leave them a coin or two.
In the evening Carlos had to work and I bought the ticket to see Colombian female national team play against Ecuador in the Copa America. The game started in the dusk at 7 pm and Carlos drove me to the stadium. Nearby, yellow kits and all sorts of other fan equipment were being sold. People were also selling sausages with potatoes and arepas everywhere. The atmosphere was great because every single person was wearing yellow. My seat was in the first ring and I was seating next to an old guy, who was also watching the game alone, eating peanuts before the start. The expectations were high and the stadium was quite full. In the end around 25.000 people gathered to watch the game live. South American fans are famous for their passionate support and the staidum was rocking, when the teams stepped on the pitch. Everybody sang the national anthem and the game began. Women played aggressively and attractively. They didn't waste time and simulate fouls. The Colombians scored and the people started to scream, jump and dance. The fluid Mexican wave began in one corner of the stadium and after a few circles, it was interrupted by the goal from Ecuador two minutes later. We were witnessing an exciting game with Colombians playing better football and creating a lot of chances. I had to go to the toilet, and when I was washing my hands, I could hear a loud roar from the stands and knew immediately that Colombia had scored the second. The old guy was laughing at me when I returned to my seat. During the game people were walking on the stairs, selling peanuts, sliced mangoes or beer. The second half started and miraculously the score remained unchanged. Cheerful mood continued after the game on the streets of Cali and I took the efficient public transport back to Carlos. I was prepared for new cycling adventures.
