Cycling Colombia Part 4: Ibagué to Neiva

It was time for us to leave the high mountains, at least for a little while. A rapid descent from the Central Andean Ridge landed us in the fertile Magdalena Valley. Over the next week we cycled through Colombia’s heartland, bordered by the distant, blue-gray ridges of the Andes that rise nearly three miles into the sky. We crossed a wide, rushing river to reach Colombia’s largest inland desert, where we lost ourselves among strange, ghostly shapes. Then a final, quiet bike ride through the countryside brought us back to the shores of the fabled Magdalena River, among monuments to some the region’s strange, mythical inhabitants.

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Cycling Colombia Part 3: Medellín to Ibagué

We departed Medellín in the company of a couple of hundred other cyclists, all climbing a big mountain on a Sunday just for fun. The descent brought us into Colombia’s coffee heartland, but we still had to cycle up and over the Central Andes. We climbed up to a picturesque mountain town, and then over the 11,083 ft (3,378 m) Alto de La Línea pass - one of the highest in the country - where forests of wax palms (Colombia’s national tree) grow among the clouds. From there we dropped back down to the Music Capital of Colombia, and spent a couple of weeks enjoying the Colombian National Folk Festival, where groups from all over the country come to celebrate their cultural heritage.

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