San Alberto, Colombia
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Wow, again. It's good here, a bit hot, but not as bad as I had imagined. We followed the river lowlands uneventfully to near Bucaramanga, where the small town of San Alberto offered a nice fairly new hotel for us to rest at. We would have never found it, but a local lad offered to take us there after he realized that we were probably lost. We followed his bicycle and sure enough, a nice little hotel with a pool. A pool FULL to brimming with kids! it was a little overwhelming at first, but after being assured by the owner that the noise would stop by six, we took the room. Right at 6, all the kids were gone. Apparently this day was some kind of festival (perhaps Corazon de Jesus, but no-one was really sure when we asked) and it must have involved water, and bathing.... every river or stream we saw that day was full of people fooling about, splashing around and drinking beer. As the day went on, many of these revellers were wandering along the roadside, apparently oblivoius of the racing traffic so close by. Probably most of the drivers we saw had also been involved with the same festical, so perhaps that explained the lack of accuracy regarding their driving acumen.
We wandered around this small town with a herd of young lads in tow, chattering excitedly, anxious to know about the outside world. They were really entertaining, and it was a pleasure to encounter such openness. We again are awed by the Colombian spirit.
