Colombian Road Trip to Los Nevados - Day 3

Juntas – Ibagué – Armero – Onda – Mariquita

View from my car window on Day 3

Juan Carlos and I in Lérida

With our plans out the window, we had to regroup.  We decided to give the other mountain a try and so another early morning, into Ibagué for lunch with Juan Carlos’ family, and then we headed towards Nevado Ruiz.  Along the way we stopped in Lérida, the hometown of Juan Carlos’ dad and Armero.  Armero is a town that was wiped off the map in the 80’s.  Nevado Ruiz (also a volcano) erupted.  The snow melted and caused a major flooding.  A rush of mud swept over the town and took away everything that was there including many, many lives.  What is now there is a few remains of buildings and grass and trees that have grown in since the catastrophy.  The place felt of death and was very difficult for me.  Juan Carlos lived there for a very short time when he was younger and he grandmother left the town only a week before the eruption.  There were gravestones marking the homes of the various families that were killed, including the family of a girl that lived across the street from Juan Carlos with who he used to play as a child.  Oof.  Terrible.  

Floor of the church.

What remains of the church.

We drove in silence until we reached Mariquita.  We agreed on staying there because there were more options of places to stay.  We arrived a hotel that seemed nice and the price they quoted was about $55 dollars for the night.  Juan Carlos talked them down to $45.  It seems you can negotiate just about anything here in Colombia.  Lucky for me I had a Colombian with me because I am sure that I would not have had the guts to try it or the same luck being the gringa that I am. 

Once we settled into our room we left for lunch in Onda.  Onda is a small town along two rivers with colonial architecture.  I was exhausted and so failed to take the pictures that I should have.  Juan Carlos tried to tell me that I would regret it.  I told him the pictures would be captured in my mind forever.  What an idiot I am.  Anyhow, we had a delicious lunch of fish (cannot remember the name, but native to the river that passes through the town) and lemonade.  We purchased snacks for the following day and then headed back to the hotel to relax a bit.  In the evening, after a nap, we headed back to Onda to enjoy the perfect weather and had great conversation over a few beers.  Beer seems to be a theme of this vacation – I promise it really was not – it just seems to be a detail I keep choosing to include. 

In Honda for the evening