126 | Cycling World
At San Jose de Nus , how pleasant to sit beside the river enjoying a beer before a short day to Caracoli . Arriving in the afternoon , the submanagement declared the hospital ' Super- Happy ' with the infants` medical equipment . The main street there is a riot of happy activity ; trotting horses , card playing , motos weaving in and out of Sunday strollers . No helmets , no lights , no drunkenness . A Christmas spent there would be a treat . Another day of 3000ft climbing followed , half on unmade roads and a steepness we had not experienced until now , so we resorted to pushing the bikes .
In Puerto Berrio , the heat of the Rio Magdalena valley hit 37C , but the ferocious highway was second choice to a mini-train that works its way through low hilled ranches , its once a day timing dictated by the school run when English speaking travellers are quite a novelty . Surely one of life ' s great pleasures is to sit by an open rail carriage window on an inside bend watching the scenery go by .
' Welcome to Barrancabermeja . 35-40C ' says the sign . It is one of the hottest towns in Colombia , famously so , but once you get used to it , it gets under your skin with its friendliness and vitality . Here we had a challenge to get the town hospital to request FOCSA equipment for infants . Four years ago we had failed . On to Puerto Wilches , a
hotel , luxury and quite a quiet town . The Tienda Garabato is the centre of our evening relaxation .
Route to Cepita near Bucaramanga
The next day a visit to San Pablo but too many loud motos so we cross the river in a canoe and back to some luxury in Pto W . Then back to Barranca where we stay in the heritage Hotel Pipaton , once of ill repute . Leaving Barranca , after regular visits over the last 38 years since working there , it was with heavy hearts and lumps in our throats . Even at 43C would it be the last time ? Bucaramanga is a tough 78 miles and 1835m of ascent , what used to be a one-day ride is now ( at our age ) one day plus two half days . With air-con
( Lizama ) absolutely ringing wet , worse , it was raining heavily so we couldn ’ t even leave the poor road-side motel .
Stop Press- the Barranca hospital equipment for infants came through . False alarm ! Nothing on the digital form ! That ' s Barranca-frustrating . Also frustrating are Internet cafe computers which insist on translating everything , even the surnames on the ' send to ' list .
Cycling World
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BUCARAMANGA AND AROUND Bucaramanga is surrounded on the south side by high mountains and the 30-mile climb towards Venezuelan border is popular on Sunday mornings with large numbers taking part . Certainly the 6 % gradient is not hard and the 20 miles freewheel back from 2400m after a two-hour training session is most exhilarating .
Soon it was time to think of the next FOCSA hospital visit which was to Malaga but colleagues said the route was impossibly steep
Rio Sucio , a home-made truck carries bamboo