Colombia has been on our radar for the last 15 years and we were about to make it a reality! We had heard many good reports of Colombia and were not to be disappointed!
We crossed into Colombia in the mountains and the heavens opened as we drove on a road in great condition and with hardly any traffic to Pamplona. Pamplona was around 3000m high, so we were very wet and cold when we arrived, but enjoyed the awesome mountain riding.
The next day we came across road construction and while changing lanes from a lower level to a higher level our front tyre slipped along the unseen ridge and down we went at 70km/hour!! Belinda jumped up to alert the cars behind us not to run over us! Pat picked up the bike and moved it off the road. We then realised how many things we keep in our tank bag as they were spread all over the road... the SPOT was hidden in the grass on the side of the road! Adrenalin is a great thing!
We then surveyed the damage to us and the bike... all cosmetic... and all easily fixable! We were very lucky as there were many trucks on that road and all in a hurry!
We then rode on for another 2 hours... amazing scenery but heaps of trucks and coasted into Hostal Mission Santa Barbara in a gorgeous Colonial town called Barichara. This was another recommendation from our Venezuelan biker friend Francisco Sanz Brandt, who was still giving us daily advise and awesome accommodation suggestions!

Jesus and his crew from the hotel were wonderful to us as we proceeded to fix the damage to our clothes, Belinda's hand and the bike, we were very sad to leave and even had a cry as they gave us flowers as we departed, which we later gave to a lady who also cried upon receiving them!!??
We then set off to another Colonial town "Villa de Leyva" which we quickly fell in love with, staying at the stunning Posada San Antonio.

We had to tell Francisco to lower the standard of his recommendations as Colombia was a lot more expensive than Venezuela! Two days later we dragged ourselves away and drove to Zipaquira and the amazing, huge underground Salt Mine/Cathedral.

Bogota, the capital of Colombia with a population of 9 million was our next stop. We stayed at Santa Barbara Hotel on the north of town which was very easy to find! We had a few days to spare before our daughter, Kate arrived, so we decided to get some dental work done with a Dentist recommended by Francisco again! Colombia has highly qualified Dentists who charge about 25% of what an Australian dentist would and as many of you know, we cannot pass up a bargain!
We found Adventure57 on line who agreed to supply Kate with a BMW700GS for her 17 days in Colombia. They not only delivered the bike to our Hotel, but they picked it up at the end, which made the logistics of the bike rental so easy!
Kate arrived at 10pm after a 36 hour flight from Australia and we were packed up and on the road out of Bogota at 10am the next morning with Luis and Annabella as our guides out of town!

Poor Kate had to battle sleep deprivation, jet lag, the heaviest traffic of the whole trip AND on the wrong side of the road! Truck conjestion on these narrow mountain roads, full of potholes, is VERY stressful but Kate seems to be loving the thrill of darting around these slow moving trucks and trying not to lose sight of us ahead of her!
At the end of our first day and 8 hours of riding we found it hard to find a Hotel with a vacancy as it is the start of the Christmas season. Eventually we came across a cheap Motel in the middle of nowhere and park our bikes in their reception area! We unload the bikes and head for the nearest truckers cafe for some dinner and we all collapse in bed at 7.30pm absolutely exhausted with huge smiles on our faces!

We have moved out of the mountains and are now in the flat, hot part of Colombia heading north towards Santa Marta on the Caribbean Sea. We are riding long days with very early starts as we are trying to beat the rush to get to Cartagena before Christmas Day. We make it in 2.5 days... record timing thanks to a new short cut outside of Honda that Luis told us about!

The coast has some great scenery and surprisingly uncrowded roads and we get to Colombia's crown jewel: Colonial city Cartagena one day before Christmas Day! Cartagena's old walled town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site- a wonderful maze of cobbled alleys, balconies covered in bougainvillea, massive churches, lovely plazas and awesome shopping and restaurants!

We soaked it all up and watched the sunset with cocktails in our hands on top of the walls that surround the old town! What a wonderful Christmas Day in a very special place with awesome company!

We rise VERY early Boxing Day to avoid the anticipated traffic jam into Cartagena and arrive at a tiny coastal town called Tolu. We cruised along the Esplanade and did a boat trip out to some of the islands, then pushed on for Medellin for New Years Eve. We pre booked a room in Hotel Diez which had a 50% discount! Kate was very sceptical, but it turned out to be an amazing bargain with an awesome rooftop bar and spa with amazing city and sunset views! Coming into Medellin on the road we met Rhys Lawrey, a 22 year old guy travelling around the world on his motorbike to get a Guinness World Record as the youngest RTW biker. We also met, at a stop light, a Colombian couple on a Vstrom exactly like ours, same colour and all! Sonja Porras and Andres Velez then had a convoy going and we followed them into Medellin and celebrated New Years together! Friends for life!

We were all up VERY early New Years Day to beat the traffic with Sonja and Andres guiding us out, we saw 2 car rollovers within 2 hours... perhaps we were up too early and there were still some drunks on the road at daybreak!
We will leave you hanging and continue Colombia part 2 next rainy day!! You havent heard the last about our new mates Sonja and Andres and of course, Kate! Stay tuned!