The City of the Bikes

Bienvenidos a Mompos

Meg and I decided we needed a vacation from our constant vacationing, so we headed out for a relaxing weekend in Mompox, a sleepy town a few hours southeast of Cartagena. Honestly, the most exciting part of the trip was getting there and back (although back was much more entertaining because we were accompanied by a British man who spoke no Spanish, but definitely spoke his fair share of English, if you catch my drift...)

It is a nice town on the banks of a river (requiring a ferry ride to reach). We really didn't find much to do there, so we mostly ate and read. Not a bad weekend if you ask me. One interesting thing I found was that there were hardly any cars there; most everyone chose bicycles or motocycles as their mode of transportation. Megan and I indulged ourselves in a moto ride one afternoon, and our new friend took us all over the town, pointing out the highlights (like, "Here is a church. Here is another church. Here you can buy cheese. Here is church.")

We also took a boat ride up the river. Since it is not high tourist season right now we ended up being the only people on the boat ride with our guide, a friendly man who loved to point out all the wildlife and share all of his knowledge about the river (and so naturally we ended up talking about politics and the upcoming presidential election and the changes that need to be made in Colombia. An excellent conversation.) Basically, we got to see a zoo-full of animals, but with no bars, no glass, and no protection from flying poop...

King Fisher

Iguana

(We saw too many of these for my liking.)

Our guide and a flock of birds he scared out of the tree for us.

Monkeys!

(Yes, poop throwing was attempted.)

Cow

(Never a complete trip in Colombia without a cow.)

Just beautiful.

El Mango

Since my last entry on public transportation I have really begun to take mototaxis a lot more, against the advice I receive from pretty much anyone I talk to here. I don't know why but I just love the thrill and the breeze. Plus, when you are running late, you can always count on a mototaxi to get you somewhere quickly.

(Erin on a mototaxi)

Well, almost always. The other day was one of those days when I was running late and had to get to class quickly. I decided to hop on a mototaxi, and like always, I looked for the kindest face amongst the throng of mototaxistas calling for customers. I choose a round-faced man, waving his extra helmet at me with a big smile. We negotiated our price and were on our way.

Usually the drivers like to talk to me, which makes me a little nervous because this usually involves them turning around to try and see me while navigating the crazy streets of Cartagena, but this guy decided to talk to me in English. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what he was saying; his English was not that good to say the least. So our conversation consisted of him talking in "English" and me making affirmative noises whenever he paused.

Somewhere along the way I must have responded in the positive to something about a mango, because as we passed the market, Bazurto, he slowed down and checked every stall for one. When he finally found one, he pulled over and bought me the mango. He handed me the gift proudly, and I accepted, fully confused, but grateful. Then we continued on our way.

When we finally arrived at the University (actually late because of our mango stop and how slow he was driving since he was distracted talking to me), he promised to bring me a watermelon later on in the day. I never received the watermelon, but I did eat the mango after class on the bus, making a huge mess. It was delicious.

Thanks mototaxi man!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

I have deemed it time to write about the streets of Cartagena. Now, many of you already know about the dangers of transportation in third world countries. Colombia is no exception. And although the drivers are crazy and I have yet to find some sort of rules or method to the craziness, I have to admit that I have not seen any accidents; not even a fender bender or minor tink. But still, the drivers scare me. The part I love best is when we are waiting at a traffic light (yes, they are generally obeyed, except one time when I was in Cali, we were in a taxi that kept speeding through red lights at night and my friend just kept yelling "rojo! rojo! rojo!" everytime we went through) and the very moment the light turns green everyone starts honking, as if the person at front didn't realize it, even though it would be impossible to start up that fast. It makes me giggle.

There are four main forms of transportation in Cartagena. First you have the bus. Many of you may remember my love affair with buses in Argentina. I have developed another one here in Cartagena as well. I love the buses, and this makes everyone here laugh because they hate them. They are loud, crowded and either drive way too fast or way too slow. The thing is, they have a certain time limit in which to make their round and if they are late they have to pay a fine. So sometimes, in order to avoid the fine, they go super fast, weaving, and not picking up people who are trying to flag them down. If they are early, they go so slow, like, never leaving first gear. There is nothing more annoying than getting on a bus when you are late only to find it moving slower than you could walk. The buses have helpers who take your money for you while the driver drives. It cost 1.200 pesos, but they let you pay 1.000, or if you are really cheap and not going very far, you can negotiate. The helpers can be pretty rude people tell me, but I've never had a problem. In fact, they have been very helpful, telling me when to get off if I don't know where I am going and giving me a hand when I get off the bus. The buses are also all decorated to the driver's taste and usually blast music. If the bus is really full and you have to stand, people that are sitting usually offer to hold your bag for you. That's nice. The worst part about the buses is the heat. Especially if it is raining because then all the windows get closed and the sweat just drips down your back. Gross. There are a couple that are air conditioned, but they don't generally go to where I need to go. Plus, I am too cheap to pay 300 pesos more (that's like 15 cents... wow, I am cheap.)

There are taxis, of course, but I generally avoid those because they are too expensive for my taste, although sometimes it is necessary. At night, the buses change their route and no longer pass my hotel, so we have to take taxis, but if you split them between five people, it is the same as a bus ride. Similar to taxis are colectivos. These are taxis that are shared. You can pick them up anywhere on their route, although it is best at the beginning because they get filled and in the mornings you have to wait a long time to find one that has an empty spot. It costs the same as the bus, but is faster and a bit more comfortable. I take these in the morning on the way to the center because the buses don't pass in that direction.

Lastly, there are moto-taxis. These are the most interesting, and definitely the most dangerous. They are motorcycles that carry people to whatever destination they want. They are everywhere! But they weave in and out of traffic like crazy. If traffic is stopped they find their way to the very front, going in crevices I would never dare to enter and over grass and medians. There really are no rules. I have been on these moto-taxis twice, but only when I was traveling with other people. I don't know if I have enough faith to get on one by myself and let him speed off with me. I don't know, I am super intrigued by them, but have received many mixed messages about them from friends.

My absolute favorite part is that on the back of every public transportation vehicle, they have this sign: "¿Cómo conduzco?" and then a telephone number.

Translation: "How's my driving?"

HAHAHAHA!