Tuesday 1st December

Had an early start today as we were picked up in a dual cab ute for the next stage to Mompos or Mompox, as the Colombians call it, at 4.30 am. We all crammed in the back seat with our luggage & a heap of other stuff in the tray behind & off we went, mostly at a good speed, passing trucks & motor bikes at regular intervals in the most interesting places. After 2.5 hours we stopped for a coffee break before turning off the main highway on to a very tired road sitting beside 50k of unfinished, possibly abandoned, new highway. We crossed the Rio Magdalena on a high bridge & passed through many very poor towns & villages with speed humps to slow the traffic as there appears to be no policing of traffic speed anywhere here. Eventually we turned south & returned to the river which we crossed on a car ferry, consisting of a pontoon pushed by an outboard powered skiff. On the other side we travelled on a virtual track for about 15k until we reached the outskirts of Mompos, a town that time has passed by. We were welcomed at the hotel at about 10.30 & after a coffee, had a walk, some lunch & a well earned rest.
Mompos was founded by the Spanish in the early 1500s & was retreated to by the wealthy of Cartagena when Drake sacked the place. It has about 28,000 people & was apparently a wealthy port on the Rio Magdalena, when it was the main artery for travel in Colombia. It is a lovely example of Spanish Colonial architecture but is now a true backwater as freight uses another branch of the river & the main roads largely by-pass it. Our hotel is on the main street right in the centre of town but the traffic is mainly small motor bikes & tuktuks, the 3 wheeler, open fronted, cabs, pulled by modified motor bikes, as in Asia. Cars are very rare here in the countryside. There are also donkey & mule carts used in fair numbers. The pace of life appears to be very leisurely but the people are friendly. We are about a block from the river which runs parallel to the main street. The churches are very impressive externally but are rarely open & the shops seem very basic & old fashioned to us. Food is quite cheap but is rather bland but the beer is fine & is a lot better than the much vaunted coffee which is very weak by our standards.
Had dinner in a local square & went back for an early night.

Wednesday 2nd December

After a more reasonable start we had breakfast down by the river & then took a tuktuk to the cemetery as it was recommended. This was somewhat of a disappointment as it contains a few interesting memorials but otherwise is like others we have seen with the tombs piled up about 5 high. We then walked back towards the hotel via an ATM which gave d*** quite a scare. After waiting about 15 minutes for access he got some money but was unable to recover his card & after several attempts invited a person in the queue to help. Luckily he had a better grip & managed to pull it out!! We then visited the 2 museums & an open church which was very fine. In one museum a lady told us that her daughter is working in Perth cleaning to pay for her education there. She insisted on having a photo with us.
In the afternoon we met the man who will move us on tomorrow on our way to Ocaña at 5am. & then we walked down to the river & had an ice cream before returning through a very poor part of town.
In the evening we went & had an excellent dinner in a nearby cafe & returned to find the lady we had met before. She was so thrilled to meet Perth people & gave us her daughter's name & address in Perth,as we promised to contact her when we return. And so to bed.