Mark Wallace travels the world on his BMW R1200 GS Adventure
I left Manizales on a foggy wet morning. I’d gotten word from friends in the south that the Pan-American highway would be open for 36 hours. Now was my chance to get to Ecuador. The roads down the mountain where curvy but devoid of the normal onslaught of killer semi trucks. It was a beautiful ride that would only get better. In a short time I found myself on a two lane divided highway. I was actually able to ride at speeds above 100kmh. The day was absolutely spectacular.
After a fun week in Cartagena I rode south to Medellín. This was my first taste of the twisty congested roads that were in my future. I passed 18 wheelers, dodged smaller bikes, and discovered that the weather can change quickly in Colombia. At one point a trucks back doors flew open and two giant containers of gas and oil smashed down on the road. This shut the highway down for almost an hour as everyone scurried to figure out how to get them off the road (with a rope tied to the truck).
Just over a year ago I spent a few weeks in Cartagena and loved it. I’d made some great friends, Oscar and Daniella, and they invited me to come back and stay for a while on this trip. When I was in the US I’d talked to a few friends about the possibility of joining up for a few stops along the way. My friend Keith thought Cartagena sounded pretty good and he decided to fly down.