Wednesday 9th December

Guillaume took us to the bus terminal & we took the 10.40 bus to Barbosa, on the way to Bogota.

The bus was quite spacious & the ride was sensational. After following the gorge & crossing the Sogomoso River we climbed, twisted & turned for about 50km through the Andes, sometimes with drops of 100+m on one side & the vegetation kept changing as we went. In some parts the vegetation was tropical & lush whist in others it was almost Australian in its aridity, with thousands of tall cacti growing on the slopes & it was obvious that we were crossing watersheds.

As it is one of the main roads in the country the traffic mainly of heavy trucks is constant & to be fair, the standard of these drivers is very good, considering the width of the roads.

Later on we passed acres of sugar cane growing on the hillsides & also coffee bushes, mostly set under bigger trees. Both appear to be cottage industries rather than our type of farming & it looks to be a pretty hard life for them. The houses are often small & poorly constructed of bricks or rough timber.

Eventually we arrived in Barbosa & most unimpressive it is. Luckily the hotel is near to the drop off point although we are on the 4th floor, much to Dick's disgust. After Jenny had a swim we searched for a restaurant but settled for a chicken joint where the food was good & cheap.