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Thursday March 24, 2016
We got away before 7am, 5 of us, and we made a bee line for Pereira, a mountain town north of Tulua, almost a 2-hour drive. The highways are in fantastic shape, with 2 tolls totalling about $7 helping to pay for the maintenance. There must have been a major bicycle race happening, because we encountered at least 20 different groups of many bikes along the way. Between the bikes and motorbikes on the road, it is a miracle that nobody gets killed daily.
The whole idea behind the visit to the Pereira area is to find a nice, cool place to live like Cuenca.
First impressions of Pereira:
Big, with usual good and bad areas. Great highways, but somewhat poor city streets. Modern buildings, buses, cabs, and very many tall apartments. Overall I liked the feel of the city.
We checked out one of the safer neighbourhoods, Santa Monica, at the recommendation of a niece that works in the city. Frankly, it was no different than most barrios in Cuenca, and I did not see one house that would fit my desires of room, privacy, yard, etc. Out of the city there were many, but most certainly out of my pauper price range.
We did stop for a nice breakfast, I had sausage and eggs and it was really good.
I started to change the words to the Too Fat Polka to "You can have her, I don't want her, she's too hot for me…" We were melting in the late morning heat.
So we headed further north, further up in the mountains to Santa Rosa. Again the highways were exceptional but the city streets in Santa Rosa haven't had a repair in 20 years! I wouldn't want to be riding Toxic through there, especially at night... many of those potholes would swallow us whole. We did check out a gated neighbourhood and found 2 nice homes for sale. We rang the bell at the first place and they let us come in to take a look. The house had ceramic walls, a jacuzzi,
small swimming pool, tiny kitchen, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, a bar, loft, garage, and talking parrots, for about $150,000. It had a reasonable view but the 3 open lots across the street would soon have construction and delete the view.
Down the street was House #2, definitely more private, and with a better view of a rough ravine, roughly $130,000, but we couldn't see the interior, only the maid was home.
Santa Rosa is famous for its sausages, so we had to try some. I was flabbergasted that they had no mustard, so I headed to the nearby tienda and bought some. Actually, I have had better sausage, in Canada. The city has a gorgeous church with lovely stained wood inside, and stained glass. The park had several craft booths so we bought a few trinkets. Cristina is good for getting trinkets for other people, not me.
One thing for sale was a handmade wooden version of a game, probably the same as our "Aggravation" game. The cheap one was $150, negotiable....
We saw a poor biker get clotheslined by some dummies trying to string a banner across the road. If I was him, those idiots would be hanging from that tree on their own stupid rope. The poor guy had a neck bruise like Clint Eastwood in "Hang 'Em High".
I was still singing the new "Too Hot Polka" here, which was really disappointing. I just can't find a cool enough place in this country. It probably doesn't help that the sun is almost directly overhead at this time of year.
So back to Pereira we went and had to stop there for one of our passengers to have a special meal for her diet. I contented myself with some baby cinnabons (yes, decadent, but I don't care, ..one has to enjoy those little pleasures when they present themselves).
We listened to the World Cup qualifying futbol game between Colombia and Bolivia on the way back, and caught the end on TV back in Tulua. Everyone was happy that Colombia won in extra time 3-2, in La Paz! Then we were switched over to the Ecuador vs Paraguay match which ended up tied 2-2 late, on an offside goal by Ecuador. Ecuador is still on top, and still undefeated. Go Ecuador.
At dusk we were treated to the battle between 3 hummingbirds and a small kiskadee at the feeder.
I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's
excitement, Cheers,
Al
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| And off we go..... |
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| This is the area near Pereira. |
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| It is almost like cloud forest. Lots of mist. |
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| Very green and fertile, quite tropical. |
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| This is the big futbol stadium |
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| Lots of bikers all over Colombia |
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| Many tall buildings |
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| Not often that you get to see Simon Bolivar naked... |
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| This is the main square in Pereira |
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| Lots of street vendors here too, very narrow main street |
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| Very tropical, and quite modern |
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| They are not scared to build tall in this earthquake zone |
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| This is quite a bridge over a large ravine |
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| A very typical Latin American city |
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| Heading toward Santa Rosa |
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| Looking back over Pereira |
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| Santa Rosa is noted for its thermal pools |
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| This is House #1 that we checked out |
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| Jacuzzi and small wading pool |
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| The parrot on the right would ask "Como estas??" |
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| Second level, many bedrooms, ceramic walls |
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| Main level, bar, living room, tiny kitchen |
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| Side view of House #2 and the ravine |
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| A couple of outer patios could be expanded |
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| Did I mention tropical??? |
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| Street closures negated visitin the church at the end |
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| This is the older church downtown |
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| The interior is breathtaking |
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| The main square had many craft booths on the far side |
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| Santa Rosa's famous sausage |
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| Natalia is another dog lover |
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| Fancy multi-level version of "Aggravation"?? |
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| Also, a hand-made flatter version for $150 |
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| Goodbye to Santa Rosa |
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| Hello again to Pereira |
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| View of pereira through that fancy bridge |
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| Misty hills flanking our return |
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| Very pretty country, very green |
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| Hummer chasing away the kiskadee |
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| 2 hummers callenging |
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| Wary for each other |
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| An uneasy truce? |
