INSIDER
Starting point on the way to Barranquilla was Bogotá, as the famliy holiday officially ended here when my parents boarded their plane back home. I had organised a 2 nights stay via Couchsurfing in order to give me a little time to plan the next few steps and visit Medellín before going up north. Also, I would have the chance to see a few things I missed out on the first time here.
My host was Cristhian and I got to stay with him and his famliy in San Lucas, a sout-western Part of the capital. Cristhian was a great host and took me across the city on his Suzuki X4 motorbike. Having driven a car here before, this gave me a completely new perspective on the traffic in Colombia.
The streets are generally full of vehicles of all types. Lots of trucks, busses, cars and countless motorbikes – also a number of cyclists are in the mix. Concerning the traffic itself, I’m sure there technically are rules but they are not being taken seriously as the whole flow is very dynamic. You overtake wherever you can, safety distance doesn’t really exist and the horn is almost as important as your breakes. Not seldomly you can find more vehicles next to each other than the street actually has lanes, with only a few inches between them.
And exactly through these gaps is where the motorcycles go – no matter if in free flowing traffic or while stopping at traffic lights. You basically zig-zag you way through, just inches away of touching the bus or truck besides you. As a passenger you can do nothing but relax and trust in your driver, and Cristhian – like the other motorcyclists – knew what he was doing.
The evenings were laid-back fun as we went to a local tavern across the street from our place for a couple of beers, while YouTube music videos of Colombian popstars jammed on a screen with an oversized sound system. This setup is quite popular in Colombia and quite entertaining when you actually watch the videos – our favourite of the night was „la vecina con antena“, just watch it and you’ll know what it means.
On the last day in Bogotá we went for another spin on the bike and I took my camera with me to shoot a few pictures you can find here – we even went to the Ciudad Bolívar, an infamous district of the city. After buying a few flowers for Cristhian’s mum for the hospitality and the delicious Bandeja Paisa she cooked for us that day, it was time for me to leave and get the night bus to Medellín.
Thanks again for the great time in your city, Cristhian!