"What are those things on the right?" Patrick jokes about seeing hills. Today is another day of flat riding. Also it is not very far because we do not want to by-pass Buga. It has one of the few brewpubs in this part of the world.
We wake to heavy rain pounding the atrium roof of our hotel. Since we don't have to go far today we decide to sleep-in a little and try to wait it out. But somehow we arranged to get our breakfast earlier than the normal 7:30 time and at about 6:15 the breakfast lady delivers a nice breakfast with coffee, juice and ham and cheese omelette. We dawdle and leave at about 8:00 just as the rain is slacking-off a bit. We don't mind the rain and cool temps though, this can be a pretty hot section at other times.
After leaving the city we re-join the 4-lane divided highway headed north. We make good time and reach the Buga Hostel before lunchtime. This town is a pilgrimage site, we see quite a few disabled people on the square in front of the Cathedral, and lots of shops selling religious trinkets. "And this town has a microbrewery" Rachel says. Must be some connection like in Belgium with the Trappists beers.
We had emailed ahead and reserved a room at the hostel. They have two double rooms and a dorm, but it is not busy. The hostel is combined with a restaurant and brewpub. We have an excellent salami sandwich for lunch and kick-off our beer tasting session with a liter of Stout at lunch. Not bad, and very nice considering we have not had a good beer since leaving Holland.
Later we take a stroll around the town center, visiting the Basilica and central plaza. On our way back we spot Bob and Amanda, two cyclists from Wales on their way from Medellin to Lima. They also take a room at the hostel and join us for another beer, this time we sample the Heffeweizen. Very nice with a Belgium flavor even though the brewer hails from Germany.
A Scottish volunteer working here temporarily takes us to the brewery a couple of blocks away and shows us the brewing process. The brew from scratch with barley, grains and hops, but due to the low and inconsistent quality of local products they have to import all from the US or Belgium. With the excellent kitchen here at the hostel, we see no need to find another restaurant for dinner, they make nice pasta dishes. We wash it down with their fruity Summer Ale.
It has already been a busy afternoon, but there is one more outing on our agenda. Today is the "Dia Mundial de Bicicletas", or at least so says a flyer in our hostel, and there is a Buga gathering to honor this at 7:30pm. We don't want to ride our bikes in the dark though, so the four of us take a taxi to the park where the gathering is supposed to be. Quite a few cyclists show up, many on beautifully restored and maintained vintage bikes. We meet some fun people and watch them ride off in the night with no lights whatsoever, but a police escort, for their fun ride.
More flat land scenery. Sugarcane fields and the mountains on the horizon.
We meet Bob and Amanda, cyclists from Wales who are on a tour from Medellin to Lima. Previously they made their way from Alaska to Panama. This is not their first biketrip!
