Ubi Boni Ibi Patria: Santa Cruz de Mompox, Colombia (Part 1)

It took me at least 20 hours (maybe a bit more) to get from Cabo de la vela to Santa Cruz de Mompox, in the Bolivar Department of Colombia.

To arrive in this little colonial-style village - declared UNESCO World Heritage in 1995 - at the junction between Magdalena and Cauca rivers I had to travel two days no-stop, to change 7 times of vehicle, and to use 4 different means of transport (colectivo, taxi, motocycle and raft).

On the last part of the trip, while struggling to survive after 4 hours of extreme religious music and roadbumps, a bit of conversation started with one of my travelmates. He's a middle aged man with a small suitcase and the air of someone who's barely controlling his curiosity.

It must indeed take a lot of self-restrain not to ask a gringo what he's doing on a uncomfortable, slow, dirty, cheap collective bus in one of the most remote areas of the country, out of the tourist season.

After some small talk, he grew more and more curious to realize if I was purely crazy or just a liar. He couldn't believe someone would travel in a foreign country with no reservation done, no travelmate, no contacts on the ground, not even a mobile phone! Well, to be completely honest the latter got stolen at the very beginning of the trip, and I didn't have enough money to buy another one, so it wasn't really a choice...

However, the more we spoke the more I got curious about him, too. What was a businessman in the IT sector doing in a place like that: far from his city and his family, traveling with few personal stuff to a region where computer and internet are an insignificant part of people's life?!

His "reason" (doing some kind of business with a local client) was a bit weak to push someone in such a long, tiring and expensive trip, and he himself didn't look to sure of his point.

We spent the last part of the trip chatting pleasantly. Villages and crossroads passed and at every stop less and less passengers were still in the small bus, until finally the night found us at some kilometers from our destination.

Suddenly, my travelmate fell silent. When he spoke, it was with a quiet mix of feelings: shyness, confidence, curiosity, and god only knows how many others. Ho offered me to share his room at the hotel for the first night. His company is always booking a double room - he explained - and I won't find any other option so late in the evening anyway.

I briefly evaluated his proposal. He was right. I already knew most hotels were closed in this season, and the ones working would probably have closed much earlier if no customer showed up during the day. He got a good point there.

I evaluated his profile. He looked ok. Not just fine, much more than that. He looked sincere, and with no b-plans. His story - however - was not chrystal clear to me. I wavered a second.

He used this pause to say something he was clearly weighting in his head before speaking up. Only condition was - he added -, I should leave the room before the arrival of a person, the following morning.

Gotcha. The picture was clear, all pieces found their place. I accepted.

The rest of the story in the following post ("Santa Cruz de Mompox, Colombia (Part 2)").