Facing your fears and if things go wrong

Lesedauer // reading time 6 Min.

After 5 weeks in Colombia I can confidently say that this country is giving me the full experience. Colombia can be mayhem - but you get used to it. I actually find it kind of nice, knowing that nothing will go as planned. Sometimes it goes a bit too far though… 

The last 2 weeks, nothing went like planned. From my blister that got infected, the trekking in the tropical storm and the road blocks that I told you about… Well, there‘s more. Let me update you. 

Well, firstly I felt like I was 14 months pregnant with the antibiotics. That made everything harder, slower, less fun. Then I was on a night bus, that was good but a bus sleep is only half of a bed sleep… 

San Gil is known to be the adventure capital of Colombia. Rafting, Caving, Bungee jumping… whatever the adrenalin lover desires, they have it. Except for skiing, it‘s only like 30° too hot for that. 

Most of these activities I can‘t do with my still open wound. Not a problem though, as I don‘t like adrenaline anyways. But the jacuzzi in the hostel or a few of the waterfalls did scream my name. 

Well. What do you do in the adventure capital without adventuring? Yes, you hike. So I took the bus to Barichara, which is - and I can kinda confirm it - the most beautiful village in all of Colombia. I just wanted a quick breakfast before walking to Guane, but you know what I randomly found? Correct, sourdough bread. 

Nothing is fast in Colombia. When I finished my breakfast, it was already 10 am, the latest I wanted to start hiking to stay out of the midday heat. But after such a long time without real bread, I had to get more. I told the boss of the café that I am Austrian and I pleeease wanted a few more slices. That must have been the best compliment I have ever made, he was so happy! Nobody here know‘s where Austria is, he did - I guess bread connects people. 

The hike / walk to Barichara was hot. But nice! At first I was insecure, afraid of finding cows, street dogs - although all of them so far have been nice - or whatever. 10 minutes in an old man came my way. He said the friendliest „buenaaaas“, smiled and showed me his few remaining teeth and I knew I was good here. 

Halfway I overtook a guy taking photos. I just said Hi and continued. A few minutes later it happened again, the other way. Since I always make friends in the strangest ways - brushing my teeth, changing, almost falling, forgetting to lock the bathroom door or screaming „Scheisse“ - i didn‘t think much. I just looked at him and asked if he was following me. 

We walked the rest of the way together, explored Guane, took the most bumpy bus back to Barichara and stayed there for a bit longer. As tempted as I was, I still didn‘t get more bread. Perhaps I should have brought a whole loaf… 

I had another day (without good bread) in San Gil, where there‘s nothing much to do except adventuring. At dinner an Australian took out an argentinian 2 Peso coin - there everything is in the 1000s, so 2 pesos are rare and nothing but paperweight - one side had a sun, the other the number 2. She said if it falls on the sun, I will go touch it tomorrow, and if it landed on the 2 i would safe money. What for? If I would go paragliding or not. 

Of course it landed on the sun side. I am a woman of my word, so i booked it. And couldn‘t think about anything else anymore. 

As i woke the next morning, I instantly knew what would happen today - and up went my blood pressure. I was so nervous, I just uselessly fidgeted around while we waited - and again, this is Colombia, waiting is normal. Everyone else, except for one woman, was super chill about it. 

We drove into the Chicamocha Canyon, the largest canyon in Colombia. I still think about wether the drive there or the paragliding was more dangerous. The views were nice on both. 

Finally it was my turn. My pilot, Santiago, has been doing this for 16 years, so I surely was in good hands. The start went great. Who knows me knows that I always make noises, it was no different here. As soon as we were in the air, i loved it! Until we hit the first air pocket and I thought we would go straight down and kiss the earth. 

I can‘t explain why I thought paragliding would be nice, calm, relaxing. It‘s pretty bumpy up there, actually. One moment you spiral upwards, the next you fall, then you are shaken by the wind coming from the side… 

I payed extra for taking a GoPro. I will probably never do this again, so I needed proof. Well, the photos turned out not so great. But proof they are. 

Santiago‘s intentions to calm me down didn‘t work at all. I could no longer speak any language, let alone Spanish. If he laughed and told me to „relaaaaax“, i just screamed „I CAN‘T“. He must have his very own opinion of me. 

If it was quiet for a short time, I actually enjoyed the views. Of course there‘s no picture of this, and the next air pocket was never far away. I held on to the harness so hard that both of my arms were asleep after. 

I‘m glad I did it, but probably never again :D 

The next day I was at the bus stop. They told me I wouldn‘t need to prebook my tickets, as busses leave every 30is minutes. Well, wrong. First they told me the next bus would be 3 h later. With a different company I was rushed through because the bus is leaving right now, but then it still came an hour late. 

The best thing about Colombia is that it is touristy, but you can still easily have local experiences. On this bus, for example, I was the only tourist. 

Everything went well, we stopped for lunch - everyone was eating, i made friends with the stray dogs - and we moved on. Shortly after, we stopped on the side of the road and all hell broke lose. People were screaming, some ran out of the bus, the drivers were super stressed and loudly on the phone with someone. 

A part broke and we couldn‘t continue driving. It was sunday, so no mechanics were open and there was no other available busses. One of the drivers left in search of the part, and we waited - for him, another bus, whatever. 

First it was one hour. Then, they told us two, then nothing. We waited and waited, chatted, laughed a bit, watched the sunset. Taxis don‘t go in between cities on sundays. 

At one point I gave up on reaching Villa de Leyva this evening, and booked a hotel in Tunja, where I was supposed to change busses. 4 hours later the driver came with a spare part and shortly after, we left. 

I got to my hotel in Tunja at 11 pm, I was on my way for 12 hours. 

The next morning I left for Villa de Leyva, but not without the man that sold me the ticket running after me because I walked in the completely wrong direction. 

After a total of 25 hours instead of 6 I finally made it. At home this is absolutely out of the question, this would be unacceptable, especially without money back or something similar, but here it‘s normal. And you know what? It doesn‘t matter. At the end everything was fine. I got to see a bit more, met some more nice people - one of the women called my name as we were waiting and gave me a piece of cake that she bought for me - and the people here at the hostel didn‘t charge me for the night, they just added it on on the back. And the 20€ night in that hotel was awesome, I was finally alone in a room, with my own bathroom with HOT water, and a huge bed.