Looking back, we would never have done it this way. But, hey; we're all geniuses in hindsight, right?
As we enter of third continent in our world travels; our nomadic family experienced the longest, hardest journey to date. This journey, lasting two never-ending days and nights was from Panama City, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia. It entailed a taxi, a plane, two boats, a minibus, a bus, and one final taxi. Total en route time of 40 hours, in which 30 hours of it was in motion.
Day One began with a 6:00 am wake up and rush to the airport; it ended at 1:00 am after a painful, Murphy-kissed boat and minibus HELL ride. This day included (but was not limited to) boat rides that pulverized our backs and fried us in the sun; landing in the scariest, smelliest toilet bowl being sardined into a suffocating, claustrophobic, nausea-producing, back-killing, breaking-down-twice minibus. We literally collapsed onto two mattresses on the floor at the home of Colombia man who took pity on us stranded at a shady bus terminal in the middle of the night, in a strange country.
Day Two began whenever it was we peeled ourselves off the mattresses. It was a kinder day for the weary traveling nomadic family. The Colombian roads and their drivers left us nauseous after the seven hour bus ride. Add to that the exhaustion of the previous day, and all in all, our family arrived in one, limping but grateful piece to Cartagena, Colombia at 9:30pm.
With camera in hand, we video taped every painful kilometer of road, sky, sea, and pot-holed muddy "road" (if you can call it that) that we went over. We documented every melt down point, desperate breaking point, and lovely kind stranger on the way that gave us the strength to keep going.
And, so, without further ado...
HELL JOURNEY TO COLOMBIA- PART ONE- TAXI (rating: lovely)
An alarm ringing at 6am is a bucket of ice water poured on a sleeping owl at noon. We're not used to alarms, nor to 6 am. So, the day started off challenging before it really even started.
Part 1 is the taxi ride from our hotel in Panama City to the smaller airport just 30 minutes away. With our driver Jorge as our guide to Panamanian life philosophy, it was great. Part one was just lovely. It was.
As we're ready to open them up, we'll post more footage of our HELL journey to Colombia. We're looking at this transcontinental step with a half-glance over our shoulder at what we put our family through in the name of money.
It was grueling, and definitely not recommended. We can tell you now that this is the absolute cheapest way to get from here to there; but we're not sure if it's worth the emotional toll involved. Talk about family adventure travel. Sure, we saved a thousand dollars (which to us translates to almost another month on the road), but was it worth it?
Two days of hell for another month of world travel? We still can't decide.
Maybe you, of sounder body and mind and the value of an objective non-emotionally involved witness can help us out. Was it worth it? What do you think? We'd love to hear your thoughts.
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4 Comments:
Well, it's hard to say just yet. Let's wait a bit and see if there's any permanent damage!
Here's a suggestion for next time though - plan ahead for an early wake-up by shifting your sleep cycle back 15 minutes each day until you can comfortable awaken at the right time on your travel day.
Dear Anonymous,
:-) Thanks for taking the time to write. Genius! Start slowly getting our bodies accustomed to early wake up by gradual change. I'll take it. Next time we foresee it, we'll try, and we'll let you know!
Thanks for discussing with us! Gabi
Wow - that does sound like a journey from hell - but relief is knowing you got there safely. It is all character building, and will form some of the brightest colours in your tapestry when you finally look back at the whole trip. I think the benefits and experiences you are having will be of enormous value to your childrens growing, and your own stories when you finish your travels.
Thinking of you all...................
Wendi. I breathe in your words. every one of them!
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