Wednesday Day 4: Manizales to Anserma, 69km, 1500m

Lunch view

We stayed last night in the very busy sprawling conurbation Manizales. It was hugely busy and the traffic even in the evening was manic! In Colombia it feels that in terms of the pandemic the towns and cities are back to normal. Busy bustling places. However here masks are worn everywhere inside and outside. Our English guide commented that Colombians usually ignore rules, so he’s amazed they are so compliant on masks. I even saw an old lady one day, on one of the mountains, outside a shack washin clothes in an outside stone sink, on her own, wearing a mask.

View from the hotel first thing today

The route out of the city was very busy this morning so quite an experience on the bikes. Having stopped at a square to look at some statue, we headed down hill into the country, descending further off the cordillera Central. The area was really beautiful with lots of agricultural plantations. I am aware though that I’m posting a lot of photos of green hills though, that may all look the same. The trip is actually called Emerald Mountains by Skedaddle.

First descent

First descent

We descended about 35km dropping from about 2200m to around 1000m. It was much hotter down there. In this part of the world temperature is defined by altitude, not seasons, as we are close to the equator. Then a brutal climb up to lunch about 15km and 900m of ascent. The scenery remained similar with lots of cultivations by the road. I really struggled today with the after effects of the tummy upset, leaving me washed out and no energy. Not idea for a 900m climb in the midday sun. It was mid 30s C I reckon, and I was drinking a water bottle in about 20 mins. I had to say I thought about taking the easy option and getting in the van, but our Colombian guide Tomas was really helpful and encouraging, and we rode together up the last 3km chatting about his business. Lunch was at a hill top in a restaurant overlooking the valley we had just crossed and climbed out of.

Lunchtime view

After lunch we just has a short section and a brisk 3km climb into our night spot town Anserma. This is another noisy bustling place and our hotel is a few rooms on the top floor of a sort of shopping mall. Very weird. We do have hot water again tonight (I’m not sure if I mentioned that the first few night stops were cold water only!!). I’m hoping with a good rest tonight my tummy issues will be gone tomorrow and I can enjoy the riding more. I think we are at about 2000m again tonight so more chance to descent tomorrow.

Todays route

Tonight’s hotel rooms! Interesting