I woke up in a panic, assuming I have overslept and jumped off my bed to go outside the room where I kept my boots out after the heavily rainy day yesterday! I got my boots inside the room to get my gear in and run for a quick breakfast then hit the road. As I was wearing my boots, I got an SMS from my bank to inform that my credit card has been blocked from usage in Colombia! I thought of calling the bank when I sit for breakfast and try to unblock my card or try to find out what the issue was. On the breakfast table, I was waiting for my fried eggs, and holding my 2 phones one calling the bank and the other calling the telecom company as they don’t have any travelers package for discounted calls, both lines I was on waiting to speak to any employees with no luck, until I heard from the bank who told me that Colombia is a critical country and therefore, they can’t unblock the card until I leave to the next country!
on the waiting during a long call with the bank
Without noticing that I haven’t got my fried eggs, I left the table very angry headed to my bike to do the final packing as I was heading to Cartagena that day, I was worried about my starter motor which wasn’t working well and worried that my credit card not working, about my mobile phone line and international roaming internet that I might need and the provider wouldn’t accept Colombia as a safe country too. I was also worried that I left the hotel without breakfast, I left with a blocked credit card, a disconnected line, a broken stater motor and an empty stomach! I was just hoping my day wouldn’t be as worse as how it started!
Most of Colombia is located on high ground, and humidity is always extreme, which explains the bad mood I had when I started my day, but luckily, I would be descending down towards the north and towards the ocean again! On my way to Cartagena, I stopped at more than three petrol stations and all of them didn’t have any Petrol to serve! And the 4th one had a very long queue which took me around 40 minutes to reach the pump, my biggest worry that moment wasn’t the fuel but I was worried if I had enough money to pay for the fuel but luckily, I had some US Dollars with me which are always accepted wherever I go in Latin America! I continued on the road and I was riding towards the north of Colombia towards the Caribbean Sea and that relief didn’t stop my worries about my starter motor. On one of the coffee stops I bumped into Tim and Jeannout and continued riding with them until I reached Cartagena!
I was hoping to reach the hotel just before the starter motor dies, as it was struggling every time I stopped at the fuel stations, luckily, I have reached the city, but the bike decided to stop just on the middle of the main road, in the middle of the downtown, and on the middle of a very busy tiny road, just in front of a beauty saloon that was completely empty and staff were bored, and I was their entertaining program for the day! Two policemen approached telling me that I shouldn’t park there and it took me 5 minutes to convince them that my bike broke down and I am waiting for a support van to pick me up, meanwhile all the ladies of the beauty saloon were having a chat, a laugh and lots of photos of me and my bike, until I have spotted Jeannout and Tim arriving, they helped me move the bike to the Plaza where I could easily spot the support van. It took me around couple of hours until Pete and Tiffany arrived in the support van to get the bike into it and carry on to the hotel.
Jeannot helping me to get the bike on the Plaza
I got into the van in the middle between Pete and Tiffany, driving all together to the hotel, and driving through the seawater on all the streets that are near the coast! In the beginning I thought it heavily rained and all that water was what left of the rain, but it was a clear sky, humid and sticky, later on I understood that when the sea tide is high, the water drifts into the city which makes it look like Venice. I was hoping I throw myself on the bed before any more trouble happens during the day. After a successful check in, which was luckily no credit card needed, I had a short nap before deciding to explore the city, but I should worry on how to repair the bike and find a starter motor in the middle of nowhere in Colombia!
With a bit of calls by kevin, I got to know that in few days once I reach Medallin, I could replace my starter motor and get a new one at the BMW dealer there, so, part of my worried has gone a way that I had some energy to walk around the old city to explore. Cartagena known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias is one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. most important of all, the city itself is listed in the UNESCO because of its rich heritage and historical and clean building since the colonial years.
I woke up next morning to hear the great news that my starter motor has been fixed by Pete, the van driver, but it was a temporary repair until I reach Medajine in couple of days, and that was the first good news I heard since 2 days, couple of hours later, I was also told by the bank that I got an exception to use my credit cards in Colombia for the next 2 weeks until I leave to Ecuador, I was relieved to know things have been finally moving forwards, except that I felt a bit sick with a fever and sore throat, probably from the humidity and Air condition which was on in every indoor place I used to go to.
