It might be not ideal to visit a local tourist attraction on a holiday. The mud volcano 50 km northeast of Cartagena rises 20 m above its surroundings. A wooden stairs leads up to the five meters wide mud hole where you can take a healthy plunge. Emerging from the bath as grey zombie youd have to walk down to the fresh water lagoon to regain a healthy complexion. The resident fast food stall staff had a couple of too many sips from their own beer look askance at us. From an open trunk ear-splitting music blares. We find the entire ambience such unpleasant that we quickly decide to head south. But the day will give us some other experiences: In each village the music bawls as loud as at the volcano. Are we already to old to understand that? Or is the enormous volume a forced funtainment for inhabitants and by-passers? Side roads arent paved, what wouldnt be bad, but in catastrophic condition.
As soon as a road is at least mainly paved we have to pay toll. Not much, sometimes two or three dollars, but if cleaned up every couple of dozens of kilometres, it accumulates. But the high point is the search for an overnight place: Most parks and touristic attractions close early, their parking lots are locked. We ask in a restaurant with a small lake in front of their door. After letting us wait for a whole quarter of an hour, we receive a positive reply, but they want 50,000 COP 27.50 $! For nothing than parking, there is no bathroom, water, electricity or other luxury. We keep going, although it is getting dark. Behind the village Turbaco at the Pan Am we find a lunch snack bar where they are friendlier: N 10°1813.5 W 75°2333.8 (but check price for overnight carefully in advance).