during one of my weekend trips we decided to go to mompox. this is a city in an island made by the magdalena river. it is beautiful and forgotten, mostly because to get there is so difficult. it is in the middle of nowhere far from everywhere. getting there was challenging and made us feel like traveling back in time. we rented a car in cartagena and drove south east for several hours through beautiful roads. we went through small towns near the main road all with loud music playing from huge speakers from the small houses. I bet the speakers are bigger than their sofas or any other piece of furniture inside the house. and they are pointing towards the road! Its like hey are aimed to entertain the village itself and not the people inside the house. (this is typical from the coastal living culture in colombia).
we enjoyed the trip as always, just as much as the destination. we arrived in magangue, a city with lots of motorcycles and a lot of traffic. this was the place where we were to get the ferry to cross the river to mompox. after driving around the city we went to look for a port, as one normally would when trying to find the place where a ferry usually docks. we drove up and down the river banks and kept asking where the ferry docked and people would signal south… and after several minutes driving in that direction we would ask again and people would point north as is we had passed it already. so we drove up and down and were getting a bit frustrated to see we were missing it… but there was nothing there.. we just saw a little cliff and the river itself. to our surprise that was it. no port or sign or anything. the ferry just comes and somehow docks against the cliff and the cars drive down a little pebble path and get in and out. very simple and totally not sophisticated.
we got in, were on the ferry for 40 minutes and arrived in the other side. there we drove another couple of hours until we finally reached mompox.
What a beautiful place. quiet in the evenings (although loud and with a lot of motorcycle traffic during the day) with beautiful churches and houses with internal yards. We stayed in a very charming bed and breakfast called Bioma. the owners were very good hosts and we felt very comfortable in this little boutique hotel. we enjoyed the town so much that when the weekend was over we were sad to leave. even though the trip was long we were happy we made it. not many people go to this town because the difficult access, but having done it, we think it is well worth the effort!
