On the Road - On the road with photo enthusiasts - Colombia 2025 - 4
2025-02-14 - On the Road
Somehow the jet lag has returned. I wake up at around 3am and don't really sleep after that. The benefit, however, is that I can easily get up at 5:30am to take photos at dusk.
It may not be a beautiful sunrise, but the lights are still on and, unlike yesterday, the sky has some structure. I walk through the streets for an hour and then get ready for breakfast.
We don't leave until 9am today because we don't have far to go anyway. We are heading to Barichara [↗]. About a 4-hour drive with a short photo stop - in theory.
As the minibus was quite uncomfortable the day before yesterday with all the luggage, Thomas has organized an additional van to transport our suitcases. The photo backpacks can go in the trunk, and we have more space.
We take the same road as yesterday to the waterfall. We are stopped by the police about where we turned off onto the dirt road. They scan the status of our cell phones and are now probably able to track us.
A few weeks ago, a state of emergency was declared because of fighting between criminal gangs in the border area with Venezuela. You don't notice much of this in the regions where we are traveling. But this police checkpoint probably has something to do with it.
The police officers are cool and joke with us. We were even allowed to take photos of them during the check.
By the way, traffic rules here are rather non-binding recommendations. This is especially true for overtaking restrictions.
Unfortunately, the van with our suitcases has a problem with the brakes. We drive to the next town. The van is supposed to be repaired there and should then follow us.
In reality, we also drive to the garage, where our driver spends an hour watching the mechanics at work. It looks quite adventurous. The main tool is a large hammer. Jacks are a recent invention that has not yet made its way around here. They use an old engine casing and a block of wood.
Only the driver knows why we now have to wait here in the middle of nowhere next to our bus and couldn't walk around the city below - super annoying.
At some point, we move on. The van still has to be repaired and follows with the suitcases.
The journey to Barichara drags on. We finally arrive at 4:30pm. In contrast to San Gil, the main tourist city in the area, Barichara makes a nice, pretty impression.
We check in and set off quickly to find a spot for the sunset. The spots on the edge of the valley below us are so-so and the sunset doesn't really mean well for us either. When we get back, our suitcases are already waiting for us.
