We caught three buses to get to Macondo, one from El Centro to the bus terminal, it took nearly and hour going every which way around the town and stopping at every lamppost. The next bus we caught outside the terminal where it is cheaper, after bargaining our ticket down to a reasonable price we had to deal with the guy who grabbed Carols backpack off one bus and carried it 10 feet to the next bus then wanted payment.
The second bus dropped us outside Barranquilla where we bargained hard for the next leg. The first guy said 15,000pesos each but in the end we paid 20,000 for us both. That bus dropped us at the end of the road we had to walk down to our new couchsurfing friends. It was a little hard to find the house but with the help of locals at last we were there.
We met Jorge and Nora and they showed us their home which they want to turn into a hostel. We were staying for the first night free but the second night had to pay. It was a little strange as it definitely wasn't a hostel, just their house and we slept in their friend Tim's bedroom (on the second night he slept on the floor beside us) on his bed which is a couch. However that all said we had a great time with them, had dinner and talked and laughed a lot.
We were meant to have been camping in the big yard but it had been raining a lot and still was off and on so we ended up staying inside. Next morning we met Tim who is a crazy dude from Holland who is living here now. Jorge is a local poet who showed us his work, Tim is also and this friday they are putting on an evening in Fundacion but we can't be there.
We walked up town and had a look around, it's nothing really special but on the way back Carol stopped under the bridge and watched half the population of the town enjoying the river. Boys were jumping off the railway bridge and out of trees into the river, women were washing clothes and children, there was a big area of sand on the far bank and kids were playing and larking about. It was a wonderful scene.
That evening Tim and Carol biked into the pueblo and came back with a cake to celebrate the anniversary of Jorge and Nora (12 years). Another good evening followed, everyone in hysterics when the kitten jumped on the table and lit his bum on the candle flame.
Next - heading towards Bucaramanga.
