I had found a truly interesting and historical place to sleep yesterday, the courtyard of an old Spanish cortijo which had become now the local hospital. I woke up with the impressions from yesterday, the scenic spectacular drive, the amazing family and the fact that I had made more than 400 kilometers in a day; that I had made it to historical Santa Fe de Antioquia; that I had made it to the doorsteps of Medellin.

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The streets were still empty and the morning sun was shining golden into the streets and illuminating most of the facades of the historical colonial houses. I walked to the main square and found a plug at one of the closed market stands to quickly recharge the battery and gain 30 minutes of energy and take the first pictures of the church and the square in the warm light.

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Santa Fe de Antioquia was a small village and the center appeared to not have change in the last 450 years, the streets were of cobblestone, all houses were in the original historical architectural style and the 3 main churches still had their original square. The facades of the houses were all equally well maintained and painted; parking in the historical streets was very limited or completely forbidden.

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The time was up; the battery was empty again so I went back to the same market stand and recharged for another 30 minutes. This time I went all the way to the end of the historical center, entered the courtyard of the town hall, the courtyard of the cultural center and the courtyard of the hospital, my hospital from last night, my cortijo.

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I had seen a cyber right next to the main church, walked in and asked the assistant for a cable to connect my computer. She pointed to desk number 3 and I sat down and worked for 3 hours. I became thirsty and wanted to buy a drink somewhere outside, so I thought I better pay already for the 3 hours before leaving the cyber to not create suspicion. The assistant wanted to charge the usual 1000 Pesos per hour for internet plus another 500 Pesos per hour for the electricity because I was using a plug.

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I had been in 20 or 30 cyber so far and had always been working with my own computer but had never been asked to pay extra for electricity. I tried to negotiate; they obviously did not have an amount for electricity per hour. My case was unique and the price was random. I began to speak louder and louder and at the end I had to shout to put reason into the head of the assistant and the manager.

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I had seen the village and had won the cyber battle. I actually wanted to work all day and only leave tomorrow morning but now I felt it was time to move on and I tried thumbs up but without success, only 1 moto stopped and offered me money, money for transport or food. He must have really felt pity for me. Thank you very much.

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After more than 1 hour in the afternoon sun I decided to take the next bus for 10.000 Pesos to Medellin. I was a tired and had a Siesta on the bus. The bus arrived at the bus terminal north after 2 hours. The terminal was a new 4 story commercial complex; shopping mall, bus terminal, metro station and my hotel for the night. The huge complex had only 2 recharge stations, but 4 notebooks at each station and Wifi in all areas. I had to wait in line but then connected the computer and worked.

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The cheap snack stands were outside and I had a portion of French fries at one of them and later a Snickers and a drink from the supermarket. It was almost midnight; I was ready for the night, some rest and some sleep. I had found my place and was ready when the security informed me that I could not lie down. The regulations were, that passengers could stay for the night, that passengers could sleep, that passengers could sleep sitting and only sitting.

For a small understanding of the days travel, I have included a Google Earth map. The red pins mark the locations I have stopped and taken pictures. At the bottom of the page you will find a link for all the pictures I have taken. The link will open in a Google+ Album.

Please click on map to enlarge!!!

See map and distances / Siehe Karte und Entfernungen / Ver mapa e distâncias / Ver mapa y distancias

0 km      Santa Fe de Antioquia

75 km    Medellin

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