¿Cuanto Cuesta?
Friday, September 2nd, 200529 August 2005 (Monday) – Cienaga to Santa Marta, Colombia
Being in a new country, means making more mistakes on the first day as you try to get used to things, especially the prices of everything.
As there was no direct bus to Santa Marta from Cucutá, I had taken the bus to Cienaga, as suggested by the guys from the bus company. However, I had forgotten to check if Cienaga was the END of the route, or did I have to jump off ‘suddenly’ when we reached the town. The bus guys had told me the journey would be around 15 hours.
For the last 15 or 16 hours, the journey had been winding through bumpy mountainous roads as we descended from the cordillera to the coast. I was awake and reading by day-break, and at various tiny towns, people got off. I simply had no idea where I was.
Finally, at 9am or so, at a stop, the Colombian man sitting in front of me got ready to alight. I happened to ask him where we were. “Cienaga”, he replied. Whooops!! That was me as well! Darn! I had taken off my boots and my stuff was spread over the other seat!!
Shove shove, tie shoe lace… And I managed to get off in time. As we waited at the side road, strangers on the street were trying to help us flag down busetas heading to Santa Marta. Very helpful of the locals. But the busetas were, however, all awfully full. Finally, for a small price, someone took us to the town centre where the busetas started their routes so we could get onto an empty one…
The bus terminal of Santa Marta was also a long way from the centre. Somehow, another buseta later, I managed to blunder my way around and victoriously found my hotel.
After a shower, I walked around the town, had lunch, bought juices, found a laundry that could remove the chewing gum stain on my shirt and jacket (thank goodness, Wallace & Gromit is saved!), etc… and tried to discern the right price for things. At first, I thought everything here seemed more expensive than in Venezuela. But it turned out later, I realised that the US dollar exchange rate I got yesterday from the friendly money-exchange guys was very, very, very low indeed. No wonder, I thought things were more expensive!! Darn, that’s for changing money at the border. Anyway, I needed money for the bus and stuff, what could I do?
I wanted to visit Parque Nacional Tayrona tomorrow. The guide book was several years old. In it, it said never to bring valuables on the hike as robberies do occur. Hmm… in a national park?? I made inquiries at my hotel and they assured me it is very safe in the national park. It is a national park, after all. OK, I would trust them. I would go hiking tomorrow by myself. If I meet other tourists, great, I would hook up with them.
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