Out of the bubble......... One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.-- Henry Miller

We stopped early, in fact, since we left Popayan we stop early every day. It seems like James and I take turns feeling not quite "up to snuff". The scenery as promised got stunning at every turn, but the roads got bad too. I started feeling seasick from all the bumps in the road and having to keep finding a path on the pavement glueing my eyes to the road while making sure the trucks are in a safe distance to my bike and me.

Colombians find a way to make you feel good though when- and where ever we stop there is a smile, a gift something different, new and amazing to eat. We discovered Kumis which is basically a sweet yoghurt. Home made and freaking delicious!!! Accompanied by a fresh squeeeeeeeeezed  orange juice and we are good to go for a few more km. But we stopped for lunch (home made soup!!! Yumm!!), made it a little further in the same village to a Kumis/chocolate  stop and then we found a hotel - feeling too full and done to make it even all the way up that little hill out of the village. So we stayed. A warm shower, a bed, clean.......The day was only half done, but I was fully done.  Laying on the bed I couldn't sleep and listened to my German audio book.....The voice, the book takes me home and I forget who and where I am for the duration. It was the end of the book - a love, well written, well read, but the guy died of tuberculosis at the end and my bubble burst, my body aching.......It blows my mind how fast I think I can't do this and to be honest the guy dying didn't help .....REALLY? This feeling of "I can" and "I can't" are from one extreme to the other. I don't have to, but I want to.....but I can. I am doing this because I can AND because I REALLY LIKE IT - actually!

So, I lay quiet.....feeling some weight of the world. A friend died at home a few days ago. A friend that was different, a human who didn't quite fit in, but was (and is) close to my mind and heart. I miss him....and the tears are rolling.........no matter where we are, our feelings and who we are, are with us all the time. To travel is to feel.