No sooner had Blog 4/16 been posted that the answer to the question of the vote on the Colombian peace contract was known. Colombia voted “ no”. The feeling abroad the following day was strangely familiar to us having been in London a few days after the Brexit vote. The similarities were uncanny. There was low voter turnout and the “no” vote won by the slimmest of margins. There was also a similar bifurcation of the nation. Those who travelled or worked in the areas affected by FARC voted “si” because their lives were directly affected. The great  mass in the wealthy cities of the heartland voted “no” or didn't care enough to vote at all. The second group simply isn't impacted by the insurgency and has no sympathy for the old Marxists of FARC or their policies. The winners, it seems, were not feeling magnanimous.

All of which left us in Medellín with a few days off to explore. Medellín has had some bad press in the past as the home of the notorious Pablo Escobar but these days it is a modern, progressive and decidedly middle class burg of four million that would rather leave the wild past behind. Medellín's other, but far more meritorious, famous son is the artist Fernando Botero. It was Botero that had brought us to Medellín in the first place for his art is instantly recognisable and ironically Colombian. The Museo de Antioquia has the most important collection of Botero art with first class presentation and half price entry for over 60s. How good can it get!

Medellín also brought the usual share of problems. We broke some of our luggage on the road and our intercom system finally failed after 12 years of extreme service. We cobbled together a solution to the luggage problem with some parts gathered from a day of hunting around the Medellín shops. The intercom was another matter. We decided to order a complete new system from the USA to be delivered by DHL, at the cost of one arm and one leg plus Colombian taxes.

We chose the city of Manizales a little to the south for our DHL delivery then set off on the short, 200km, ride to find a place to stay near the DHL office. When we say short ride, however, this is a relative term. The journey took more than seven hours, much of it spent crawling along through extensive road works. If this sounds excessive, I can only say we were thankful to be on a bike. Motos were allowed to thread their way through the roadworks. Cars and trucks were held at the start of each section until work on that section was complete; a boon for roadside hawkers but a nightmare for “truckies”.

We finish the week on a lazy Sunday in Manizales, a university town (12 universities) at a coolish 2000m altitude. It is place of narrow ridges and hellishly steep 25% roads, coffee shops and cyclists in lycra, dog walkers and shopping malls, sprawling suburbs on adjacent ridge lines with neat rows of houses along spotlessly clean streets. It is conservative, catholic, prosperous and a great place to spend a few days.

Tomorrow, hopefully, we pay our import tax and get our replacement parts from Mr DHL before we drift south through the highlands. We are now starting to get a feel for Colombia and, hopefully, this week's photos will give a sense of the delightful country we are discovering.