Sunday, March 23, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

The plan for today is to go to a pueblo called San Pablo. Teresa said something about lots of horses and cows but admitted to not visited in a long time. She says the weather is similar to Medellin so I wore shorts with a t-shirt and brought my jacket.

We left the apt at 10:30 and walked to Ayura station. It was a short wait for a train but we didn’t get seats until lots of people got off at San Antonio station.

At Terminal Norte we bought bus tickets for 11,000 pesos each. The next bus was scheduled to leave at 11:45 so we had time to make a last trip to the restroom. A bus left at 11:30 and we were one of the first to get on the next bus. We took seats about midway but unfortunately we were on the port side and I was in the sun until we left Medellin.

There were lots of cows on both sides of the road eating grass as we neared San Pedro.

We arrived in San Pedro at 1:30. We walked a block in the direction the bus had been heading, turned left and walked uphill (a pretty gentle slope) four blocks to the park. Teresa asked someone for a restaurant suggestion and we had lunch in a little restaurant whose name I don’t recall. Teresa had been looking forward to their sancocho and I had their pechuga de pollo (chicken breast). It was okay, nothing special.

I found it pretty stuffy in the restaurant, wishing I had worn my sleeveless t-shirt and left my jacket behind.

Teresa ducked into the church for about 5 minutes while I waited outside. She then went into the religious store next door and I took a seat outside.

We looked around for a nice café for coffee and finally found one with what looked like an appropriately fancy coffee machine.

I ordered a latte and Teresa ordered something cold. My latte was nothing like what I was expecting and her drink was much better.

We left at 4pm and when we stepped outside there was a cold breeze, happy I had a t-shirt on with sleeves. It wasn’t so bad that I had to put on my jacket though.

Walking down the hill Teresa stopped in a varieties store. I saw some doodads in a display case, googled carabiner and showed the photo to the clerk. He said in very good English, “yes, right over here”. They had about 6, all the locking type and I bought the smallest they had for 1,500 pesos. I attached it to my tech bag so I could attach my Apice cap to it when I’m not wearing it. It will be perfect for locking our umbrella to my backpack when we’re walking through airports but I still want to buy a few more that are non-locking.

We continued on to the bus station and at 4:45 caught a van back to Medellin for 13,000 pesos. We got the last seats - up front so Teresa had to sit between me and the driver.

I noticed numerous potholes the driver had to work around. We had a delay at one spot where there was a motorcycle accident.

Close to Medellin there were a number of overlooks with beautiful views of the Medellin lights that were very busy, their parking lots filled with cars and motorcycles. Colombians enjoying their last few hours before returning to work on Monday. We arrived back in Medellin at 6:30.

In Terminal Norte we walked to the metro and got seats again when lots of people got off at San Antonio station. At Ayura station we caught a taxi back to the apt. I now realize that the taxi meters start at 5,100 pesos where before it was 4,900 pesos.

We were back in the apt by 7pm.

Yeah, I have no desire to return to San Pedro.

Teresa declared the rainy season is over; hope she’s right.

 

EL ARROYO