HelenWhile hundreds of tourists pile into various coloured jeeps and head off into the Valle de Cocora to see the famous wax palms, we head off in a slightly different direction, and it makes all the difference.
This three day route has to be the highlight of the whole trip for me so far. Sixty five miles of cycling on a quiet dirt track where we barely pass another vehicle, climbing to over 3000m high before descending into Toche valley, surrounded by thousands of beautiful wax palms. A journey where the mind doesn’t need to wander, it’s perfectly happy exactly where it is.
Starting in Salento at 2000m high, whilst hoards of people are flying past in colourful jeeps on their way to the Valle de Cocora, we take a different route and are rewarded with three days of magnificent scenery, the dirt road pretty much to ourselves, the sound of nature, and my beating heart. We set off early to try to avoid climbing uphill in the mid day heat. It’s a steady but ongoing climb for 13 miles, we’re grateful for the clouds that are hanging over us but it’s still incredibly humid. By 2900m I’m definitely feeling the altitude, I’m cycling slow and breathing hard! But the silence that surrounds us is beautiful, humming birds dance in the trees, wild horses come out of the shadows and we even encounter two wild boars who seem more shocked to see us then we are to see them!
A beautiful collie dog we later name Rufus, is wandering on the track, and decides to follow us. He has a bit of rope for a collar but there are no fincas or haciendas around for miles. After pointless discussions with Rufus telling him not to follow us, we give up and he takes the lead! After what seemed like an age we finally reached the top, it was definitely cooler at 3300m so we didn’t hang around. The descent was a welcome relief, and made the long climb up seem worthwhile. Before long we emerged out of the cloud and into the most beautiful immense valley. Around each corner we were greeted with a different vista, and eventually hundreds of Wax palms in the valley. It was beautiful, I wanted to find my flow in descending but I kept having to stop around each corner to take another photo.
We descended to 2600m before finding a perfect green space next to a river to camp for the night. It’s beautiful listening to the river flowing, and Rufus is the perfect guard dog, although I had hoped he’d get bored and wander off in the night. We head off down the valley the next morning towards Toche, the first village on our route. The first few miles are undulating, and my legs are screaming from yesterdays climb. However the last few miles into Toche are mainly downhill, and I let go of the breaks and enjoy the descent. At Toche we stop outside a cafe and have second breakfast. It’s completely different to Salento, more authentic and less touristy. We meet a man from Bogota who speaks good English, we tell him about Rufus following us and he says it’s perfectly normal in this area and that it happens a lot, most of the dogs in this area don’t have owners as such but they’re well fed by the locals. There’s no police station, and after discussion with the cafe owner who says she’ll look after Rufus, we leave him sleeping inside, while we head off towards Volcan Cerro Machin.
The road is steep and rocky and the sun has come out with a vengeance! But I time my many stops for air with beautiful vistas, as we undulate for 5 or 6 miles before we finally reach the top, before descending and stopping at the Termales, some hot springs, which fortunately aren’t too hot, as I’m already two stone lighter through sweat loss! It’s 3.30pm so we head off and descend in the sun, the view noticeably changes from wax palms back to banana plantations as we head towards Tapias, which is a climb back up the valley. Here we stop for some supplies before heading off and finding a camping spot under a sheltered area just off the road, with beautiful views down into the valley.
The next morning we climb gradually around the valley for 5 miles, the sky is blue but in the valley we’re currently avoiding the sun, it’s a beautifully peaceful morning. Birds and butterflies surround us as we steadily climb. And then for the rest of the day, another 18 miles, we descend! It’s stunning, to let go and fully relax, knowing the hard work is done done for the day and you can enjoy the ride. We descend past waterfalls, banana and coffee plantations, until we head into some cloud and back out through the other side. The road is muddy in places and previous landslides show how rain can really affect the valley and the only road in and out.
We take our time, we’re in no rush. We stop at a coffee plantation to look at the berries and decide to make some coffee whilst we’re there. Butterflies and bees surround us. We carry on and eventually stop for lunch at a small restaurant 3 miles from Ibague. On the final descent to Ibague it starts to get noticeably busier, and a short journey through a tunnel sees us on the other side back to urban life. I feel sad to be leaving this perfect tranquility but it was a truly amazing 3 days of adventure I’m grateful to have experienced.
